Navassa Island
Encyclopedia
Navassa Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea
, claimed as an unorganized unincorporated territory
of the United States
, which administers it through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
. Haiti
, which claims to have had sovereignty over Navassa since 1801, also claims the island in its constitution.
, about one-quarter of the way from Haiti to Jamaica
in the Jamaica Channel
. It reaches an elevation of 250 feet (76.2 m) at Dunning Hill 110 yards (100.6 m) south of the lighthouse, Navassa Island Light. This location is 440 yards (402.3 m) from the southwestern coast or 655 yard east of Lulu Bay. The island's latitude
and longitude
is 18°24′10"N 75°0′45"W.
The terrain
of Navassa Island consists mostly of exposed coral
and limestone
, the island being ringed by vertical white cliffs 30 to 50 ft (9.1 to 15.2 ) high, but with enough grassland
to support goat
herds. The island is covered in a forest of just four tree species: short-leaf fig
(Ficus populnea var. brevifolia), pigeon plum (Coccoloba diversifolia), mastic (Sideroxylon foetidissimum
) and poisonwood (Metopium brownei
). Its topography and ecology is similar to that of Mona Island
, a small limestone island located in the Mona Passage
, between Puerto Rico
and the Dominican Republic
. It shares historical similarities with Mona Island since both are U.S. territories, were once centers of guano
mining, and presently are nature reserves. Transient Haitian fishermen and others camp on the island but the island is otherwise uninhabited. It has no ports or harbors, only offshore anchorages, and its only natural resource is guano; economic activity consists of subsistence fishing and commercial trawling activities.
There were 8 species of native reptiles, all of which are believed to be, or to have been, endemic to Navassa Island: Celestus badius (an anguid lizards
), Aristelliger cochranae (a gecko
), Sphaerodactylus becki (a gecko), Anolis longiceps (an anole), Cyclura (cornuta) onchiopsis
(a rock iguana
), Leiocephalus eremitus (a curly-tailed lizard), Tropidophis bucculentus
(a dwarf boa
), and Typhlops sulcatus
(a tiny snake). Of these, the first four remain common, but the last four are likely extinct.
, stranded on Jamaica
, sent some crew members by canoe to Hispaniola
for help. They ran into the island on the way, but it had no water. They called it Navaza (from "nava-" meaning plain, or field), and it was avoided by mariners for the next 350 years.
Despite an earlier claim by Haiti, Navassa Island was claimed for the United States on September 19, 1857 by Peter Duncan, an American sea captain, under the Guano Islands Act
of August 18, 1856: for the rich guano
deposits found on the island, and for not being within the lawful jurisdiction of any other government, nor occupied by another government's citizens. Haiti
protested the annexation, but on July 7, 1858 U.S. President James Buchanan issued an Executive Order upholding the American claim, which also called for military action to enforce it. Navassa Island has since been maintained by the United States as an unincorporated territory (according to the Insular Cases
). The United States Supreme Court on November 24, 1890 in Jones v. United States, 137 U.S. 202 (1890) Id. at 224 found that Navassa Island must be considered as appertaining to the United States, creating a legal history for the island under US law much different than many other islands originally claimed under the Guano Islands Act.
Guano phosphate was a superior organic fertilizer that became a mainstay of American agriculture in the mid-19th century. Duncan transferred his discoverer's rights to his employer, an American guano trader in Jamaica, who sold them to the newly formed Navassa Phosphate Company of Baltimore. After an interruption for the U.S. Civil War, the Company built larger mining facilities on Navassa with barrack housing for 140 black contract laborers from Maryland
, houses for white supervisors, a blacksmith shop, warehouses, and a church. Mining began in 1865. The workers dug out the guano by dynamite and pick-axe and hauled it in rail cars to the landing point at Lulu Bay, where it was sacked and lowered onto boats for transfer to the Company barque
, the S.S. Romance. The living quarters at Lulu Bay were called Lulu Town, as appears on old maps. Railway tracks eventually extended inland.
Hauling guano by muscle-power in the fierce tropical heat, combined with general disgruntlement with conditions on the island, eventually provoked a rebellion in 1889, in which five supervisors died. A U.S. warship returned eighteen of the workers to Baltimore for three separate trials on murder charges. A black fraternal society
, the Order of Galilean Fisherman, raised money to defend the miners in federal court, and the defense built its case on the contention that the men acted in self-defense or in the heat of passion, and that the United States did not have jurisdiction over the island. The cases, including Jones v. United States
, went to the U.S. Supreme Court in October 1890, which ruled the Guano Act constitutional, and three of the miners were scheduled for execution in the spring of 1891. A grass-roots petition drive by black churches around the country, also signed by white jurors from the three trials, reached President Benjamin Harrison
, who commuted the sentences to imprisonment.
Guano mining resumed on Navassa at a much reduced level. The Spanish-American War
of 1898 forced the Phosphate Company to evacuate the island and file for bankruptcy, and the new owners abandoned the island after 1901.
Navassa became significant again with the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. Shipping between the American eastern seaboard and the Canal goes through the Windward Passage
between Cuba and Haiti. Navassa, a hazard to navigation, needed a lighthouse. The U.S. Lighthouse Service built Navassa Island Light, a 162 foot (46 m) tower on the island in 1917, 395 feet (120 m) above sea level. A keeper and two assistants were assigned to live there until the United States Lighthouse Service
installed an automatic beacon in 1929. After absorbing the Lighthouse Service in 1939, the U.S. Coast Guard serviced the light twice each year. The U.S. Navy set up an observation post for the duration of World War II
. The island has been uninhabited since then.
A scientific expedition from Harvard University
studied the land and marine life of the island in 1930. After World War II
amateur radio operators occasionally visited to operate from the territory, which is accorded "entity" (country) status by the American Radio Relay League
. The callsign prefix
is KP1. Fishermen, mainly from Haiti, fish the waters around Navassa.
From 1903 to 1917, Navassa was a dependency of the U.S. Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
, and from 1917 to 1996 it was under United States Coast Guard
administration. Since January 16, 1996, it has been administered by U.S. Department of the Interior.
On August 29, 1996, the United States Coast Guard
dismantled the light on Navassa. An inter-agency task force headed by the U.S. Department of State transferred oversight of the island to the U.S. Department of the Interior. By Secretary's Order No. 3205 of January 16, 1997, the Interior Department assumed control of the island and placed the island under its Office of Insular Affairs. For statistical purposes, Navassa was grouped with the now-obsolete term United States Miscellaneous Caribbean Islands
and is now grouped with other islands claimed by the U.S. under the Guano Islands Act as the United States Minor Outlying Islands
.
A 1998 scientific expedition led by the Center for Marine Conservation
in Washington D.C. described Navassa as "a unique preserve of Caribbean biodiversity." The island's land and offshore ecosystems have survived the twentieth century virtually untouched.
By Secretary's Order No. 3210 of December 3, 1999, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
assumed administrative responsibility for Navassa, which became a National Wildlife Refuge
Overlay, also known as Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge
. The Office of Insular Affairs
retains authority for the island's political affairs and judicial authority is exercised directly by the nearest U.S. Circuit Court. Access to Navassa is hazardous and visitors need permission from the Fish and Wildlife Office in Boquerón
, Puerto Rico
in order to enter its territorial waters or land. Since this change of status, amateur radio
operators have repeatedly been denied entry.
.svg.png)
The unofficial flag of Navassa Island was designed for and first flown at a World War II
memorial tribute at the USS Arizona Memorial
at Pearl Harbor
, Hawaii
on December 7, 2001. It is a white and blue horizontal bicolor, with a profile of the island (and its landmark lighthouse
, with exaggerated size) in the white band.
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
, claimed as an unorganized unincorporated territory
Incorporated territory
Territories of the United States are one of the four types of political division of the United States, overseen directly by the federal government of the United States and not any part of a U.S. state. These territories were created to govern newly acquired land while the borders of the United...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which administers it through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
. Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, which claims to have had sovereignty over Navassa since 1801, also claims the island in its constitution.
Geography, topography and ecology
Navassa Island is about 2 square miles (5.2 km²). It is found at a strategic location 90 nmi (103.6 mi; 166.7 km) south of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, about one-quarter of the way from Haiti to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
in the Jamaica Channel
Jamaica Channel
The Jamaica Channel is a strait separating the islands of Jamaica and Hispaniola, in the Caribbean Sea. Along with the Windward Passage to its north, it connects the Caribbean Sea to the North Atlantic Ocean...
. It reaches an elevation of 250 feet (76.2 m) at Dunning Hill 110 yards (100.6 m) south of the lighthouse, Navassa Island Light. This location is 440 yards (402.3 m) from the southwestern coast or 655 yard east of Lulu Bay. The island's latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
and longitude
Longitude
Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
is 18°24′10"N 75°0′45"W.
Terrain
Terrain, or land relief, is the vertical and horizontal dimension of land surface. When relief is described underwater, the term bathymetry is used...
of Navassa Island consists mostly of exposed coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
and limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, the island being ringed by vertical white cliffs 30 to 50 ft (9.1 to 15.2 ) high, but with enough grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
to support goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
herds. The island is covered in a forest of just four tree species: short-leaf fig
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
(Ficus populnea var. brevifolia), pigeon plum (Coccoloba diversifolia), mastic (Sideroxylon foetidissimum
Sideroxylon foetidissimum
Sideroxylon foetidissimum, commonly known as False Mastic, is a species of flowering plant in the chicle family, Sapotaceae. It is native to Florida in the United States, the Caribbean, and northern Central America.-External links:...
) and poisonwood (Metopium brownei
Metopium brownei
Metopium brownei is a species of plant in the Anacardiaceae family. It is found in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica, northern Guatemala, Belize, and from the Yucatan to Veracruz in Mexico. The wood of this tree is a valuable source of lumber in Central America and the West Indies...
). Its topography and ecology is similar to that of Mona Island
Mona, Puerto Rico
Mona is the third largest island of the archipelago of Puerto Rico, after the main island of Puerto Rico and Vieques. It is the largest of three islands located in the Mona Passage, a strait between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, the others being Monito Island and Desecheo Island...
, a small limestone island located in the Mona Passage
Mona Passage
The Mona Passage is a strait that separates the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. The Mona Passage connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea, and is an important shipping route between the Atlantic and the Panama Canal....
, between Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
. It shares historical similarities with Mona Island since both are U.S. territories, were once centers of guano
Guano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
mining, and presently are nature reserves. Transient Haitian fishermen and others camp on the island but the island is otherwise uninhabited. It has no ports or harbors, only offshore anchorages, and its only natural resource is guano; economic activity consists of subsistence fishing and commercial trawling activities.
There were 8 species of native reptiles, all of which are believed to be, or to have been, endemic to Navassa Island: Celestus badius (an anguid lizards
Anguidae
The Anguidae is a large and diverse family of lizards native to the northern hemisphere. The group includes the slowworms, glass lizards, and alligator lizards, among others. Anguidae is divided into three subfamilies and contains 94 species in eight genera. Their closest living relatives are the...
), Aristelliger cochranae (a gecko
Gecko
Geckos are lizards belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from 1.6 cm to 60 cm....
), Sphaerodactylus becki (a gecko), Anolis longiceps (an anole), Cyclura (cornuta) onchiopsis
Cyclura cornuta onchiopsis
The Navassa Island iguana was a subspecies of rhinoceros iguana of the genus Cyclura that was found on the Caribbean island of Navassa...
(a rock iguana
Rock Iguana
Rock Iguana may refer to:* The Rock Iguana, Iggy Pop, American punk rock singer and occasional actor* Rock iguana any species of the Genus Cyclura, that are found in the West Indies...
), Leiocephalus eremitus (a curly-tailed lizard), Tropidophis bucculentus
Tropidophis bucculentus
Tropidophis bucculentus was a nonvenomous dwarf boa species endemic to Navassa Island. No subspecies are currently recognized.It is commonly referred to as the Navassa Island dwarf boa.-Geographic range:The type locality given is "Navassa Id."...
(a dwarf boa
Dwarf boa
The Tropidophiinae, common name dwarf boas, are a subfamily of snakes found from Mexico and the West Indies south to southeastern Brazil. These are small to medium-sized fossorial snakes, some with beautiful and striking color patterns...
), and Typhlops sulcatus
Typhlops sulcatus
Typhlops sulcatus, the sulcate blind snake or island worm snake, is a species of snake in the Typhlopidae family.-Geographic range:...
(a tiny snake). Of these, the first four remain common, but the last four are likely extinct.
History
In 1504, Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
, stranded on Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, sent some crew members by canoe to Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
for help. They ran into the island on the way, but it had no water. They called it Navaza (from "nava-" meaning plain, or field), and it was avoided by mariners for the next 350 years.
Despite an earlier claim by Haiti, Navassa Island was claimed for the United States on September 19, 1857 by Peter Duncan, an American sea captain, under the Guano Islands Act
Guano Islands Act
The Guano Islands Act is federal legislation passed by the U.S. Congress, on August 18, 1856. It enables citizens of the U.S. to take possession of islands containing guano deposits. The islands can be located anywhere, so long as they are not occupied and not within the jurisdiction of other...
of August 18, 1856: for the rich guano
Guano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
deposits found on the island, and for not being within the lawful jurisdiction of any other government, nor occupied by another government's citizens. Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
protested the annexation, but on July 7, 1858 U.S. President James Buchanan issued an Executive Order upholding the American claim, which also called for military action to enforce it. Navassa Island has since been maintained by the United States as an unincorporated territory (according to the Insular Cases
Insular Cases
The Insular Cases are several U.S. Supreme Court cases concerning the status of territories acquired by the U.S. in the Spanish-American War . The name "insular" derives from the fact that these territories are islands and were administered by the War Department's Bureau of Insular Affairs...
). The United States Supreme Court on November 24, 1890 in Jones v. United States, 137 U.S. 202 (1890) Id. at 224 found that Navassa Island must be considered as appertaining to the United States, creating a legal history for the island under US law much different than many other islands originally claimed under the Guano Islands Act.
Guano phosphate was a superior organic fertilizer that became a mainstay of American agriculture in the mid-19th century. Duncan transferred his discoverer's rights to his employer, an American guano trader in Jamaica, who sold them to the newly formed Navassa Phosphate Company of Baltimore. After an interruption for the U.S. Civil War, the Company built larger mining facilities on Navassa with barrack housing for 140 black contract laborers from Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, houses for white supervisors, a blacksmith shop, warehouses, and a church. Mining began in 1865. The workers dug out the guano by dynamite and pick-axe and hauled it in rail cars to the landing point at Lulu Bay, where it was sacked and lowered onto boats for transfer to the Company barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
, the S.S. Romance. The living quarters at Lulu Bay were called Lulu Town, as appears on old maps. Railway tracks eventually extended inland.
Hauling guano by muscle-power in the fierce tropical heat, combined with general disgruntlement with conditions on the island, eventually provoked a rebellion in 1889, in which five supervisors died. A U.S. warship returned eighteen of the workers to Baltimore for three separate trials on murder charges. A black fraternal society
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
, the Order of Galilean Fisherman, raised money to defend the miners in federal court, and the defense built its case on the contention that the men acted in self-defense or in the heat of passion, and that the United States did not have jurisdiction over the island. The cases, including Jones v. United States
Jones v. United States
-Facts:Jones and two accomplices, Oliver and McMillan, held up two men, Mutanna and Mardaie. Jones and McMillan took the victims' money. Oliver beat Mutanna with a gun. Olver and McMillan left the scene in Jones's car, while Jones forced Mardaie into Mutanna's car and drove off in it. Jones...
, went to the U.S. Supreme Court in October 1890, which ruled the Guano Act constitutional, and three of the miners were scheduled for execution in the spring of 1891. A grass-roots petition drive by black churches around the country, also signed by white jurors from the three trials, reached President Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
, who commuted the sentences to imprisonment.
Guano mining resumed on Navassa at a much reduced level. The Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
of 1898 forced the Phosphate Company to evacuate the island and file for bankruptcy, and the new owners abandoned the island after 1901.
Windward Passage
The Windward Passage is a strait in the Caribbean Sea, between the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. The strait specifically lies between the easternmost region of Cuba and the northwest of Haiti.80km wide, the Windward Passage has a threshold depth of 1,700m...
between Cuba and Haiti. Navassa, a hazard to navigation, needed a lighthouse. The U.S. Lighthouse Service built Navassa Island Light, a 162 foot (46 m) tower on the island in 1917, 395 feet (120 m) above sea level. A keeper and two assistants were assigned to live there until the United States Lighthouse Service
United States Lighthouse Service
The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the US Federal Government that was responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all lighthouses in the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 until 1939...
installed an automatic beacon in 1929. After absorbing the Lighthouse Service in 1939, the U.S. Coast Guard serviced the light twice each year. The U.S. Navy set up an observation post for the duration of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The island has been uninhabited since then.
A scientific expedition from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
studied the land and marine life of the island in 1930. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
amateur radio operators occasionally visited to operate from the territory, which is accorded "entity" (country) status by the American Radio Relay League
American Radio Relay League
The American Radio Relay League is the largest membership association of amateur radio enthusiasts in the USA. ARRL is a non-profit organization, and was founded in May 1914 by Hiram Percy Maxim of Hartford, Connecticut...
. The callsign prefix
Prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the root of a word. Particularly in the study of languages,a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it is affixed.Examples of prefixes:...
is KP1. Fishermen, mainly from Haiti, fish the waters around Navassa.
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...
, and from 1917 to 1996 it was under United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
administration. Since January 16, 1996, it has been administered by U.S. Department of the Interior.
On August 29, 1996, the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
dismantled the light on Navassa. An inter-agency task force headed by the U.S. Department of State transferred oversight of the island to the U.S. Department of the Interior. By Secretary's Order No. 3205 of January 16, 1997, the Interior Department assumed control of the island and placed the island under its Office of Insular Affairs. For statistical purposes, Navassa was grouped with the now-obsolete term United States Miscellaneous Caribbean Islands
United States Miscellaneous Caribbean Islands
The United States Miscellaneous Caribbean Islands is an obsolete collective term for the territories currently or formerly controlled by the United States in the Caribbean Sea. Most of the islands were acquired through claims made via the Guano Islands Act:...
and is now grouped with other islands claimed by the U.S. under the Guano Islands Act as the United States Minor Outlying Islands
United States Minor Outlying Islands
The United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 3166-1 code, consists of nine United States insular areas in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea: Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll,...
.
A 1998 scientific expedition led by the Center for Marine Conservation
The Ocean Conservancy
The Ocean Conservancy is a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States.-History:...
in Washington D.C. described Navassa as "a unique preserve of Caribbean biodiversity." The island's land and offshore ecosystems have survived the twentieth century virtually untouched.
By Secretary's Order No. 3210 of December 3, 1999, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
assumed administrative responsibility for Navassa, which became a National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...
Overlay, also known as Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge
Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge
Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge protects coral reef ecosystems, native wildlife and plants, and provides opportunities for scientific research on and around Navassa Island . The National Wildlife Refuge is located 35 miles west of the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti...
. The Office of Insular Affairs
Office of Insular Affairs
The Office of Insular Affairs is a unit of the United States Department of the Interior that oversees federal administration of several United States possessions...
retains authority for the island's political affairs and judicial authority is exercised directly by the nearest U.S. Circuit Court. Access to Navassa is hazardous and visitors need permission from the Fish and Wildlife Office in Boquerón
Boquerón, Puerto Rico
Boquerón is a beach village located in the town of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. The village is one of the main tourist attractions in the southwestern part of the island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the barrio population was 4,963....
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
in order to enter its territorial waters or land. Since this change of status, amateur radio
Amateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
operators have repeatedly been denied entry.
Unofficial flag
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
memorial tribute at the USS Arizona Memorial
USS Arizona Memorial
The USS Arizona Memorial, located at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors killed on the USS Arizona during the Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by Japanese imperial forces and commemorates the events of that day...
at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
on December 7, 2001. It is a white and blue horizontal bicolor, with a profile of the island (and its landmark lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
, with exaggerated size) in the white band.
See also
- Caribbean SeaCaribbean SeaThe Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
- List of Guano Island claims
External links
- STATE OF NAVAZA
- - Poop Dreams Baltimore City Paper article on history
- Navassa Island profile - OIAOffice of Insular AffairsThe Office of Insular Affairs is a unit of the United States Department of the Interior that oversees federal administration of several United States possessions...
- A photographic tour of Navassa Island - USGS
- Navassa Island World Factbook entry - CIA
- Navassa Island Coral Reefs
- U.S Fish & Wildlife Service: Navassa National Wildlife Refuge
- The Navassa island riot. Illustrated. Published by the National Grand Tabernacle, Order of Galillean Fishermen, Baltimore, Md.
- Warren v. United States