Navassa Island

island in the Caribbean

Navassa Island is an uninhabited island in the Caribbean that is administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior of the United States of America as a National Wildlife Refuge. The island is also claimed by Haiti. It lies about one-quarter of the way from Haiti to Jamaica.

Currency United States dollar (USD)
Population 0 (2018)
Time zone UTC−05:00
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Understand

Map of Navassa Island

Located at 18° 25' N, 75° 02' W, 160 km south of the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the island has a land area of 5.2 km² consisting is mostly exposed coral and limestone rock. It is flat to undulating with a unnamed raised plateau on the southwest side. At 77 metres (84 yd) high this is the highest point. It is ringed by vertical white cliffs that are typically 9 to 15 metres (9.8 to 16.4 yd) high and has a 8-kilometre (8,700 yd) coastline. The island has marine, tropical climate and has enough grassland to support goat herds as well as dense stands of fig-like trees and scattered cactus.

History

This uninhabited island was claimed by the U.S. in 1857 for its guano, and mining took place between 1865 and 1898. In the 19th and early 20th century guano (a product originating from bird feces on limestone that is used as fertilizer and a basis for explosives) was so important that the US passed the Guano Islands Act allowing any US citizen to claim any island, not previously claimed by another nation, for the US if Guano deposits were to be found there. Navassa Island is just one of many islands and islets that entered US possession due to this curious piece of legislation, that is still in force. A 46-metre (50 yd) tall lighthouse was built in 1917, on the southern side of the island. The Coast Guard ceased operations and maintenance of Navassa Island Light in September 1996. After the lighthouse was shut down 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.

The island is considered an unincorporated territory of the US that is administered from Washington, DC, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. There has also been a private claim advanced against the island.

Landscape

Flora and fauna

Climate

Get in

Access to Navassa is hazardous.

By plane

There is no airstrip on the island.

By boat

There are no harbors and an offshore anchorage is the only option.

Fees and permits

Navassa Island is closed to the public. Visitors need permission from the Fish and Wildlife Office before entering the territory.

Get around

As there is no human settlement or infrastructure of any kind, you are probably best advised to walk.

See

Do

Buy

There is no economic activity on Navassa Island.

Sleep

Although the island is uninhabited, transient Haitian fishermen and others have been known to camp on the island.

Stay safe

The laws of the U.S. apply, although whether they can be and are enforced depends on the people that are on the island during your visit.

Stay healthy

There is no water on the island, be sure to bring enough with you.

Go next

  • Haiti, if you want civilization and human activity
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