Disputes - international:
none
Illicit drugs:
broad-based money-laundering center
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003
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@Navassa Island
Introduction Navassa Island
Background:
This uninhabited island was claimed by the US in 1857 for its
guano, and 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.
Geography Navassa Island
Location:
Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, about one-fourth of the way
from Haiti to Jamaica
Geographic coordinates:
18 25 N, 75 02 W