Natural hazards: NA

Environment - current issues: NA

Geography - note: strategic location 160 km south of the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; mostly exposed rock, but enough grassland to support goat herds; dense stands of fig-like trees, scattered cactus

People Navassa Island

Population: uninhabited note: transient Haitian fishermen and others camp on the island (July 2002 est.)

Population growth rate: NA

Government Navassa Island

Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form:
Navassa Island

Dependency status: unincorporated territory of the US; administered from Washington, DC, by the Fish and Wildlife Service, US Department of the Interior; in September 1996, the Coast Guard ceased operations and maintenance of Navassa Island Light, a 46-meter-tall lighthouse on the southern side of the island; there has also been a private claim advanced against the island

Legal system: the laws of the US, where applicable, apply