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Where is Navassa Island? Also known as La Navase in French and Lanavaz in Haitian Creole, it is a small, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea. The island is currently the subject of an ongoing territorial dispute between Haiti and the United States.
Navassa Island: Geography and Location
Size: The island covers approximately 5 square kilometers (2 square miles) and is located in the Jamaica Channel, 30 to 40 miles (50 km) west of Cape Tiburon, Haiti, between Jamaica and Cuba.
Terrain: The island is characterized by steep, vertical white limestone cliffs that rise 20 meters, and an interior that ranges from flat to undulating. Natural harbors and safe sandy beaches are absent.
Navassa Island: Sovereignty Dispute
Haitian Claim: Haiti has asserted sovereignty over Navassa Island since its early constitutions, explicitly naming la Navase beginning with the 1874 constitution. The United States claimed the island in 1857 under the Guano Islands Act, designating it as an unincorporated territory administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
History and Wildlife
Guano Mining: In the late 1800s, miners collected large amounts of guano, which is seabird droppings used as fertilizer. Today, the area is a protected National Wildlife Refuge. It is closed to the public because of dangerous cliffs and limited facilities. The refuge is home to unique reptiles, seabirds, and native plants found nowhere else.
Did the United States Steal Navassa Island from Haiti?
The characterization of the dispute as the United States having “stolen” Navassa Island from Haiti is only accurate when acknowledging the contested nature of the legal history. The United States did not invade Haiti or seize Navassa Island from an established Haitian administration. Rather, the United States claimed the island in the 1850s under the Guano Islands Act, while Haiti simultaneously asserted that Navassa was already Haitian territory.
What happened?
1. Haiti had claimed Navassa as its territory for a long time.
The Haitian governments saw Navassa as part of their country. When Haiti updated its constitution in 1932, it clearly included Navassa as one of its islands. Haitian officials also told the Americans that they had always viewed the island as Haitian.
2. In 1857, American explorers identified guano deposits on Navassa Island.
American citizens employed by Edward K. Cooper reported that the island was apparently uninhabited and identified significant guano deposits. They subsequently sought protection under the U.S. Guano Islands Act of 1856, which authorized the President to claim an unoccupied island containing guano as United States territory if statutory requirements were met.
The key condition was that the island could not be “within the lawful jurisdiction of any other government.”
3. Haiti registered its objection promptly.
Haiti did not simply withdraw from the matter. Haitian authorities formally asserted a claim to Navassa, which the United States government subsequently rejected. In 1858, President James Buchanan’s administration responded to Haiti’s claim by stating that the American claimant had provided evidence that Navassa was abandoned and therefore eligible for claim under the Guano Act.
4. The United States officially considered Navassa to be American territory.
In 1859, the United States issued a proclamation that recognized the American claimant’s rights under the Guano Islands Act. Later, in Jones v. United States (1890), the Supreme Court decided that the President’s actions meant Navassa belonged to the United States.
The United States subsequently exercised jurisdiction over the island and operated a lighthouse there. In 1916, the President officially designated Navassa Island for lighthouse purposes.
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But there is a major problem with the U.S. argument.
The entire American claim was based on the idea that Navassa was not already part of Haitian territory.
This is where the controversy lies.
The Guano Islands Act was not meant to let the United States take land that belonged to someone else. It only applied to islands that were not already under another government’s legal control.
This leads to the central question:
Was Navassa considered Haitian territory in 1857?
The United States denied this claim, while Haiti affirmed it.
There was never a treaty that both Haiti and the United States agreed to that officially transferred Navassa to the United States.
Did Haiti actually have a government presence on the island?
This situation is different from when the United States took territory during a war.
Navassa was a small, uninhabited island. The United States argued that it was abandoned, so it qualified under the Guano Islands Act. The Supreme Court agreed with the U.S. government’s decision.
However, just because the island was uninhabited does not mean that nobody owned it. Countries can still make international territorial claims even if there is no permanent population or government on the land.
Haiti never agreed with the American claim. The disagreement lasted for decades. For example, in 1932, the United States officially objected when Haiti included Navassa in its constitution. In 1946, the U.S. again stated its claim after Haiti’s new constitution still listed Navassa as Haitian territory.
The issue can be framed as follows:
From the perspective of United States law: No. The United States asserted a lawful claim to Navassa Island under the 1856 Guano Islands Act. The President recognized this claim, and the Supreme Court subsequently upheld the United States’ position.
From the Haitian government’s perspective: Yes, essentially. Haiti maintained that Navassa Island was already Haitian territory. Therefore, the United States had no legitimate right to claim it based solely on the discovery of guano by an American citizen.
From a neutral historical perspective:
It is more accurate to characterize the situation as a prolonged sovereignty dispute. The United States unilaterally asserted sovereignty over an island already claimed by Haiti, rather than conquering Navassa Island from Haiti.
An important point arises from the U.S. statute: the Guano Islands Act applied only if the island was not already under another government’s lawful jurisdiction. Therefore, determining whether Haiti already possessed sovereignty was the foundational issue.
If desired, I can also examine the strongest evidence supporting Haiti’s claim to Navassa Island prior to 1857. This includes Haitian maps, Spanish colonial records, French and Haitian claims, and relevant international law regarding so-called “abandoned” islands. This article is written by Mathieu Louis, founder of BestOfHaitiRealEstate.com. You can also watch the video on our YouTube Channel here.
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