Approximately 1,000 kilometers from the Mexican coast lies Clipperton, a French coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean that has remained uninhabited for over a century. The atoll, a French territory since the mid-19th century, has had no permanent residents since 1917. During the Mexican Revolution and the outbreak of the First World War, a small Mexican garrison stationed there was cut off from supplies and suffered greatly from scurvy, a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C. This event marked the end of any sustained human presence on the island. In 1906, the Pacific Island Company was granted the rights to extract guano, a type of bird droppings used as fertilizer, from the atoll. A lighthouse was built on the highest point of the island, called the Rock, which could be seen from 30 nautical miles away. In 1914, Mexico established a military garrison on the island under Captain Ramón Arnaud, which included about 100 people, including women and children. The garrison was supplied every two months by a ship from Acapulco, the only connection to the outside world. When the Mexican president was overthrown in a revolution, the supply ship stopped arriving, leaving the garrison stranded. The lighthouse keeper, Victoriano Álvarez, declared himself king of the atoll. Without fresh food, the group was gradually affected by scurvy. When the US Navy ship USS Lexington arrived at the end of 1915, most of the inhabitants had died, mainly from scurvy. The survivors wanted to leave, but the Mexican governor refused to allow it. Left as the only able-bodied man, Álvarez ruled with harsh authority over the remaining people. His rule, marked by accusations of abuse and violence, ended when he was assassinated by the wife of Captain Arnaud. The last surviving women and children were evacuated by the USS Yorktown, a US Navy cruiser, and taken to California. The question of sovereignty over the atoll was resolved in 1931 after a long legal process. In 1909, France and Mexico agreed to submit their dispute over Clipperton to the arbitration of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. After more than 22 years of negotiations, the decision was made in Rome, ruling that France had sovereignty over the island since 1858. Since then, Clipperton has remained French territory and uninhabited. In 1959, when Mexico officially recognized French sovereignty, France offered French nationality to the survivors of the tragedy and their descendants. However, no permanent residents have returned to the atoll, which is now visited only by scientists and occasional crews.