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Bikini Atoll submitted for listing as World Heritage Site

Bikini Atoll, the North Pacific site of US nuclear testing 60 years ago and namesake of the swimsuit, has been submitted for listing as a World Heritage Site.

Locals hope the impact of the 12 years of nuclear testing will aid their bid, and in turn bring tourism back to the atoll, which forms part of the Marshall Islands in Micronesia in the North Pacific.

Jack Niedenthal, a spokesman for the people of the Bikini Islands, told The Times that Bikinians believe the “tremendous amount of history” at their former Pacific island home should validate its entry into the World Heritage list.

If approved, he said that it would be one of only a few 20th-century listings to feature on the World Heritage list, which also features sites such as Hiroshima and Auschwitz.

Read entire article at Times (UK)