countries/BQ

Navassa Island

territoryFIPS: BQ|Edition: 1993|22 fields

COMMUNICATIONS(1 fields)

Ports

none; offshore anchorage only

DEFENSE FORCES(1 fields)

Note

defense is the responsibility of the US

ECONOMY(1 fields)

Overview

no economic activity

GEOGRAPHY(14 fields)

Area

total area: 5.2 km2 land area: 5.2 km2 comparative area: about nine times the size of the Mall in Washington, DC

Climate

marine, tropical

Coastline

8 km

Environment

mostly exposed rock, but enough grassland to support goat herds; dense stands of fig-like trees, scattered cactus

International disputes

claimed by Haiti

Irrigated land

0 km2

Land boundaries

0 km

Land use

arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 10% forest and woodland: 0% other: 90%

Location

in the Caribbean Sea, 160 km south of the US Naval Base at Guantanamo (Cuba), between Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica

Map references

Central America and the Caribbean

Maritime claims

contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200 m or depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

guano

Note

strategic location 160 km south of the US Naval Base at Guantanamo, Cuba

Terrain

raised coral and limestone plateau, flat to undulating; ringed by vertical white cliffs (9 to 15 meters high)

GOVERNMENT(4 fields)

Capital

none; administered from Washington, DC

Digraph

BQ

Names

conventional long form: none conventional short form: Navassa Island

Type

unincorporated territory of the US administered by the US Coast Guard

PEOPLE(1 fields)

Population

uninhabited; note - transient Haitian fishermen and others camp on the island