Navassa Island:
Geography

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Navassa Island Page

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Background	Definition 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.

Location	Definition Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, 35 miles west of Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti
Geographic coordinates	Definition 18 25 N, 75 02 W
Map references	Definition Central America and the Caribbean
Area	Definition - World rank and map total: 5.4 sq km land: 5.4 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	Definition about nine times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundaries	Definition 0 km
Coastline	Definition 8 km
Maritime claims	Definition territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate	Definition marine, tropical
Terrain	Definition raised coral and limestone plateau, flat to undulating; ringed by vertical white cliffs (9 to 15 m high)
Elevation extremes	Definition lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: unnamed location on southwest side 77 m
Natural resources	Definition guano
Land use	Definition - World rank and map arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005)
Natural hazards	Definition hurricanes
Environment - current issues	Definition NA
Geography - note	Definition strategic location 160 km south of the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; mostly exposed rock with numerous solution holes but with enough grassland to support goat herds; dense stands of fig trees, scattered cactus