Navassa Island

Navassa Island l'île de la Navasse
Island
Parts	Lulu Town
Location	Caribbean Sea
- coordinates	18°24′10″N 75°0′45″W / 18.40278°N 75.01250°W / 18.40278; -75.01250Coordinates: 18°24′10″N 75°0′45″W / 18.40278°N 75.01250°W / 18.40278; -75.01250
Length	4.7 km (3 mi)
Width	2.1 km (1 mi)
Area	5.4 km2 (2 sq mi)
Population	Uninhabited
Animal	Wildlife preserve
Material	Coral, limestone
Easiest access	Offshore anchorage only; steep cliffs make boat landing impossible
Discovered by	Christopher Columbus
- date	1504
FIPS	bq
A map of Navassa Island.
Claimed by Haiti and United States

Navassa Island (/nəˈvæsə/; French: l'île de la Navasse; also La Navasse) is a small, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea. The island is subject of an ongoing territorial dispute and is claimed as an unorganized unincorporated territory of the United States, which administers it through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and Haiti which claimed sovereignty over Navassa since 1801 through its constitution, as the basis of its objection over the later 1850s U.S. claim.

Navassa Island is about 2 square miles (5.2 km²) in area. It is located 35 miles (56 km) west of Haiti's southwest peninsula, 103 miles (166 km) south of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and about one-quarter of the way from Haiti to Jamaica in the Jamaica Channel.

Navassa reaches an elevation of 250 feet (76 m) at Dunning Hill 110 yards (100 m) south of the lighthouse, Navassa Island Light. This location is 440 yards (400 m) from the southwestern coast or 655 yards (600 m) east of Lulu Bay.

The terrain of Navassa Island consists mostly of exposed coral and limestone, the island being ringed by vertical white cliffs 30 to 50 feet (9.1 to 15.2 m) high, but with enough grassland to support goat herds. The island is covered in a forest of just four tree species: short-leaf fig (Ficus populnea var. brevifolia), pigeon plum (Coccoloba diversifolia), mastic (Sideroxylon foetidissimum), and poisonwood (Metopium brownei).