Overview
The US claimed uninhabited Navassa Island 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 was transferred from the US Coast Guard to the Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs. 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, 30 nm west of Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti
- Total Area
- 5 sq km
- Climate
- marine, tropical
- Terrain
- raised flat to undulating coral and limestone plateau; ringed by vertical white cliffs (9 to 15 m high)
- Natural Resources
- guano (mining discontinued in 1898)
- Coastline
- 8 km
- Land Borders
- 0 km
People & Society
- Population
- uninhabited
Government
- Legal System
- the laws of the US apply