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Alcatraz Island
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View of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, showing the former prison buildings, water tower, and rocky shoreline under a clear sky. Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island Night view inside a cell block at Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, showing rows of barred prison cells on two levels with a central walkway. Alcatraz Island: Native American occupation Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay, California Alcatraz Island, seen from Hyde Street in San Francisco. Alcatraz Island
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Alcatraz Island
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Island, New Caledonia.
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View of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, showing the former prison buildings, water tower, and rocky shoreline under a clear sky.
Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay, California.

Alcatraz Island

island, California, United States
Also known as: Isla de Alcatraces, The Rock
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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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Alcatraz Island, rocky island in San Francisco Bay, California, U.S. The island occupies an area of 22 acres (9 hectares) and is located 1.5 miles (2 km) offshore. The island had little vegetation and was a seabird habitat when it was explored in 1775 by Lieut. Juan Manuel de Ayala, who named it Isla de los Alcatraces (“Isle of the Pelicans”). Sold in 1849 to the U.S. government, Alcatraz was the site of the first...

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