Navassa Island

§1. Navassa Island Introduction

Background:
  This uninhabited island was claimed by the US in 1857 for its guano. Mining
  took place between 1865 and 1898. The lighthouse, built in 1917, was shut
  down in 1996 and administration of Navassa Island transferred from the
  Coast Guard to the Department of the Interior. A 1998 scientific expedition
  to the island described it as a unique preserve of Caribbean biodiversity;
  the following year it became a National Wildlife Refuge and annual
  scientific expeditions have continued.

§2. Navassa Island Geography

Location:
  Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, 35 miles west of Tiburon Peninsula
  of Haiti

Geographic coordinates:
  18 25 N, 75 02 W

Map references:
  Central_America_and_the_Caribbean

Area:
  total: 5.4 kmē
  land: 5.4 kmē
  water: 0 kmē

Area - comparative:
  about nine times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
  0 km

Coastline:
  8 km

Maritime claims:
  territorial sea: 12 nm
  exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate:
  marine, tropical

Terrain:
  raised coral and limestone plateau, flat to undulating; ringed by vertical
  white cliffs (9 to 15 m high)

Elevation extremes:
  lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
  highest point: unnamed location on southwest side 77 m

Natural resources:
  guano

Land use:
  arable land: 0%
  permanent crops: 0%
  other: 100% (2005)

Irrigated land:
  0 kmē (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
  hurricanes

Environment - current issues:
  NA

Geography - note:
  strategic location 160 km south of the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay,
  Cuba; mostly exposed rock but with enough grassland to support goat herds;
  dense stands of fig-like trees, scattered cactus

§3. Navassa Island People

Population:
  uninhabited
  note: transient Haitian fishermen and others camp on the island (July 2006
    est.)

§4. Navassa Island Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: none
  conventional short form: Navassa Island

Dependency status:
  unincorporated territory of the US; administered by the Fish and Wildlife
  Service, US Department of the Interior, from the Caribbean Islands National
  Wildlife Refuge in Boqueron, Puerto Rico; in September 1996, the Coast
  Guard ceased operations and maintenance of Navassa Island Light, a
  46-meter-tall lighthouse on the southern side of the island; there has also
  been a private claim advanced against the island

Legal system:
  the laws of the US, where applicable, apply

Flag description:
  the flag of the US is used

§5. Navassa Island Economy

Economy - overview:
  Subsistence fishing and commercial trawling occur within refuge waters.

§6. Navassa Island Transportation

Ports and terminals:
  none; offshore anchorage only

§7. Navassa Island Military

Military - note:
  defense is the responsibility of the US

§8. Navassa Island Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  claimed by Haiti, source of subsistence fishing


<Factbook 2006>
