The World Factbook (1990)/Navassa Island
Navassa Island (territory of the US)
See regional map III
Geography
Total area: 5.2 km²; land area: 5.2 km²
Comparative area: about nine times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 8 km
Maritime claims:
- Contiguous zone: 1 2 nm
- Continental shelf: 200 m
- Extended economic zone: 200 nm
- Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: claimed by Haiti
Climate: marine, tropical
Terrain: raised coral and limestone plateau, flat to undulating; ringed by vertical white cliffs (9 to 15 meters high)
Natural resources: guano
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 10% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 90% other
Environment: mostly exposed rock, but enough grassland to support goat herds; dense stands of fig-like trees, scattered cactus
Note: strategic location between Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica in the Caribbean Sea; 160 km south of the US Naval Base at Guantánamo, Cuba
People
Population: uninhabited; transient Haitian
fishermen and others camp on the island
Government
Long-form name: none (territory of the
US)
Type: unincorporated territory of the US administered by the US Coast Guard
Economy
Overview: no economic activity
Communications
Ports: none; offshore anchorage only
Defense Forces
Note: defense is the responsibility of the
US