United States Miscellaneous Caribbean Islands
Encyclopedia
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
:
The islands were given the FIPS country code of BQ before 1974. With the transfer of sovereignty of most of the islands, the FIPS country code of BQ now represent only Navassa Island, still controlled by the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the Caribbean Sea
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....
. Most of the islands were acquired through claims made via 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...
:
- Navassa IslandNavassa IslandNavassa 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...
(U.S. unincorporated territory, claimed by HaitiHaitiHaiti , 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...
) - Serranilla BankSerranilla BankSerranilla Bank is a partially submerged reef, with small uninhabited islets, in the western Caribbean Sea. It is situated about northeast of Punta Gorda, Nicaragua, and roughly southwest of Jamaica. The closest neighbouring land feature is Bajo Nuevo Bank, located 110 km to the east.Serranilla...
(occupied by ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, claimed by NicaraguaNicaraguaNicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, HondurasHondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
and, until 1994, JamaicaJamaicaJamaica 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...
) - Bajo Nuevo BankBajo Nuevo BankBajo Nuevo Bank, also known as the Petrel Islands , is a small, uninhabited reef with some small islets, covered with grass, located in the western Caribbean Sea at , with a lighthouse on Low Cay at . The closest neighbouring land feature is Serranilla Bank, located to the west.The reef was first...
(claimed by ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, claimed by JamaicaJamaicaJamaica 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...
, and NicaraguaNicaraguaNicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
) - Quita Sueño BankQuita Sueño BankQuita Sueño Bank is a reef formation of Colombia which was once claimed by the United States, located 110 km North-northeast of Providencia Island.-History:...
(ceded on September 17, 1981, occupied by ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
) - Serrana BankSerrana BankThe Serrana Bank is one of the few atolls in the Atlantic Ocean. Its mostly underwater reef of about 50 km long and 13 km wide has six cays or islets, the most prominent of which is Southwest Cay.The cays from south to north are:...
(ceded to ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
on September 17, 1981) - Roncador BankRoncador BankRoncador Bank is a mostly-submerged atoll with several sandy cays. It lies in the west Caribbean Sea off the coast of Central America. Originally claimed by the United States under the Guano Islands Act of 1856, the atoll was returned by the United States to Colombia on September 17, 1981, as the...
(ceded to ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
on September 17, 1981) - Corn IslandsCorn IslandsThe Corn Islands are two islands about east off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, constituting one of 12 municipalities of the Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur department...
(returned to NicaraguaNicaraguaNicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
on April 25, 1971) - Swan IslandsSwan Islands, HondurasThe Swan Islands, or Islas Santanilla, are a chain of three islands located in the northwestern Caribbean Sea, approximately ninety miles off the coastline of Honduras, with a land area of .-Detailed location and features:...
(ceded to HondurasHondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
on September 1, 1972)
The islands were given the FIPS country code of BQ before 1974. With the transfer of sovereignty of most of the islands, the FIPS country code of BQ now represent only Navassa Island, still controlled by the U.S.
See also
- United States Miscellaneous Pacific IslandsUnited States Miscellaneous Pacific IslandsThe United States Miscellaneous Pacific Islands is an obsolete term used to collectively describe Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Kingman Reef, and Palmyra Atoll, all of them territories controlled by the United States by the Guano Islands Act in the Pacific Ocean.The islands were...
- United States Minor Outlying IslandsUnited States Minor Outlying IslandsThe 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,...