Buldir Island (also sometimes written Buldyr; ; ) is a small island in the western Aleutian Islands of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is long and wide with an area of . Buldir is farther from the nearest land than any other Aleutian Island. Its nearest neighbors are Kiska in the Rat Island group, to the east, and Shemya in the Near Island group, to the west. Buldir Island is uninhabited. It is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. It has been designated a Research Natural Area. Geology Buldir is the most westerly of the Aleutian Islands which formed as a result of volcanic activity in the late Quaternary or Recent times. The rocks from which the island formed are of two different ages with a considerable time gap. The rocks of the older dome are mainly olivine basalts and the younger dome consists of hornblende basalts and basaltic andesites. That this island is younger than some of the neighboring islands is also suggested by the fact that there are fewer species of flowering plant on this island. The two major volcanoes on the island are the Buldir Volcano, which forms most of the island, and the East Cape Volcano, which forms the island's northeast section. Buldir Volcano is the taller, reaching in height, the highest point on the island. There is no harbor of any sort on Buldir Island. The coast is mostly steep cliffs or boulder beaches backed by cliffs. There is only one small flat area abutting a relatively gentle beach, North Bight Beach, suitable for landing small boats in good weather. It is on the northwest shore of the island. This area is the site of both prehistoric and modern habitation on the island. Human history Archeological evidence of human occupation on Shemya and Kiska, on either side of Buldir, dates back to at least 2000 B.C.E. Given the long distance between the Rat Islands and the Near Islands, it is likely that prehistoric peoples stopped at Buldir in transit between the two larger groups, but they left no evidence that has yet been found. Archeologists visited Buldir in 1991, 1993, 1997, and 2001. Their research showed that prehistoric peoples lived on Buldir periodically beginning over a thousand years ago. The water soaked clay on the island has preserved wooden and other organic artifacts unusually well, allowing scientists to carbon date the periods