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Navassa Island travel guides

Navassa Island - General Country Information

Introduction
Geography
People
Government
Economy
Transnational Issues

Introduction

General Information: Navassa Island

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.

Geography

Location:	Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, 35 miles west of Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti
Coordinates:	18 25 N, 75 02 W
Area:	total: 5.4 sq km land: 5.4 sq km water: 0 sq km
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% (2001)
Irrigated Land:	0 sq km (1998 est.)
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

People

Population: Navassa Island

uninhabited
note: transient Haitian fishermen and others camp on the island (July 2004 est.)

Gouvernment

Country Name:	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Navassa Island
Legal System:	the laws of the US, where applicable, apply
Flag Description:	the flag of the US is used