Navassa Island

Navassa Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea, claimed by Haiti and administered by the United States as a wildlife refuge.

Guano Islands Act: A 1856 United States law allowing citizens to claim unoccupied islands containing guano for the United States. The act provided the legal basis for the American claim to Navassa.
United States Minor Outlying Islands: A group of small United States island territories and possessions, mostly in the Pacific and Caribbean. Navassa is included in this administrative grouping of remote American islands.
Caribbean Sea: A tropical sea bounded by the Antilles, Central America, and northern South America. Navassa lies in this sea between Haiti and Jamaica.
Navassa Island lighthouse: A lighthouse established on Navassa Island in 1917 to warn ships of its hazardous reefs. The lighthouse marked the island's strategic maritime role after the guano era.
Guano: Accumulated seabird or bat excrement used historically as a concentrated fertilizer. Navassa's phosphate-rich guano deposits attracted American claimants in the nineteenth century.
United States Fish and Wildlife Service: A federal agency that conserves fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats. The agency manages Navassa as a protected wildlife refuge.
Island biogeography: The study of how island area, isolation, and history shape species diversity and distribution. Navassa's isolation and small size make it a distinct setting for studying island ecosystems.
Navassa Island riot of 1889: A violent uprising by Black workers against oppressive conditions at Navassa's guano mine in 1889. The revolt exposed the dangerous labor regime behind the island's commercial exploitation.
Haiti: A Caribbean country occupying the western part of the island of Hispaniola. Haiti has maintained a territorial claim to Navassa since the nineteenth century.
National Wildlife Refuge: A protected area administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for wildlife conservation. This designation governs conservation management and limits ordinary public access to Navassa.

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