Iwo Island part of Tokyo region
By the United Press
The reported landing on Iwo Jima would put U.S. troops on soil administered as part of the Tokyo Prefecture for the first time.
The tiny gourd-shaped island is strategically situated for use as an air base and observation point despite its small size and lack of developed harbors. It has an area of only eight square miles, but lies on a direct route from the Marianas to Japan.
Good escort base
The Japanese Domei News Agency has pointed out that if Iwo fell to the Americans, it would provide an escort base for B-29 Superfortresses.
Iwo lies in the range of the warm Japanese current and this is one of its driest months, despite the fact that this is considered part of the winter monsoon season.
Successful conquest of Iwo Jima would bring the Japanese capital within the range of land-based fighter planes and would free B-29 bases on the Marianas from the threat of enemy air raids.
Built on two volcanoes
The island has been built up by two volcanoes, Suribachi Yama on the southwest and Moto Yama on the northwest. The volcanoes are connected by a narrow neck of lowland.
Moto Yama rises 358 feet high in a flat-topped dome shape. It is surrounded by terrace cut by the Waves and has a number of vents, some of which expel steam and sulfurous vapors. Suribachi Yama is an extinct volcano rising to 546 feet.
The Volcanic Islands, including Kita Iwo on the north and Minami Iwo on the south, were absorbed into the Japanese Empire in 1891. The inhabitants of Iwo Jima are almost entirely pure Japanese, although somewhat taller than the usual inhabitants of the home island. In 1940, the population was 1,151.
The largest village on the island is Higashi, less than a mile inland from the northeast coast. Other principal settlements are Minami, on the east central coast; Nishi, on the northwest; and Moto Yama, in the north central part of the island. The main villages are connected by roads and trains.