Taroa, also known as Tarawa, is an island in the east of Maloelap Atoll

Maloelap Atoll

The Maloelap Atoll is a coral atoll of 71 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area is only,. but that encloses a lagoon of . It is located north of the atoll of Aur...

 in the Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...

. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, it was the site of a major Japanese airfield (Taroa Airfield

Taroa Airfield

Taroa Airfield was a major air base approximately three miles long and one mile wide on Maloelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The airfield was the most eastern Japanese air base of the Second World War...

). The airfield was destroyed towards the end of World War II, and wreckage and remnants of the base can still be seen around the island.

The island was not resettled by the Marshallese until the 1970s, but is now the atoll's main economic center due to the re-opened airstrip and local copra production.

In World War II Marines invaded Tarawa targeting the three airfields.