Hatteras Island is a barrier island located off the North Carolina coast. Dividing the Atlantic Ocean and the Pamlico Sound, it runs parallel to the coast, forming a bend at Cape Hatteras. It is part of North Carolina's Outer Banks and includes the communities of Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton, Frisco, and Hatteras. It contains the largest part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It is almost entirely in Dare County, North Carolina, though there is a small sliver of about 45 acres extending southwest into Hyde County. Prior to European colonization the Island was inhabited by Croatoan indigenous peoples.
The island has a land area of 85.56 km² and a population of 4,322, as of the 2010 census. It lies in parts of Kinnakeet Township and Hatteras Township in Dare County, and Ocracoke Township in Hyde County. Hatteras Island is known for sport fishing, surfing, windsurfing and kiteboarding, and Hatteras Village is known as the "Blue Marlin Capital of the World".
The island is one of the longest in the contiguous United States, measuring 42 miles along a straight line from end to end, or roughly 50 miles along the curve of the land.