A number of islands were claimed as insular areas on behalf of the United States under the Guano Islands Act of 1856. These claims were made by private individuals to the U.S. Department of State and were not accepted by the United States unless certain conditions were met. The islands had to be unoccupied and outside the jurisdiction of another government; the claims also had to be bonded before the U.S. government would consider them insular areas of the country. As of 2023, only the eight islands administered as the US Minor Islands and the ones now part of Hawaii and American Samoa remain under the jurisdiction of the United States. Any other unresolved claims, if they exist, are dormant, and have not been contested by the United States in many years with the exception of Navassa.
Table
Images
Guano tramway on Jarvis Island
Hermit crabs on Baker Island
Navassa Island Lighthouse
See also
References
- ↑ "Formerly Disputed Islands". Office of Insular Affairs. 2007-01-11. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ "History: Under the American Flag". Office of Insular Affairs. 2006-01-30. Archived from the original on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ↑ Magoon 1900, p. 16.
- ↑ Skaggs, Jimmy M. (1994). The Great Guano Rush: Entrepreneurs and American Overseas Expansion. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 213. ISBN 0-312-10316-6. OCLC 28506113..
Further reading
- Magoon, Charles E. (1900). Report on the Legal Status of the Territory and Inhabitants of the Islands Acquired by the United States During the War with Spain. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
- Moore, J.B.; Wharton, F.; United States. President; United States. Dept. of State; United States. Dept. of Justice (1906). A Digest of International Law: As Embodied in Diplomatic Discussions, Treaties and Other International Agreements, International Awards, the Decisions of Municipal Courts, and the Writings of Jurists ... U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 574. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
- Rogers, E.S. (August 9, 1932). The Sovereignty of Islands Claimed Under the Guano Act and of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, Midway and Wake (Report). Washington, D.C.: Department of State, Office of the Legal Advisor.
- Rogers, E.S. (September 30, 1932). The Sovereignty of Guano Islands in the Caribbean Sea (Report). Washington, D.C.: Department of State, Office of the Legal Advisor.
- Rogers, E.S. (January 9, 1933). The Sovereignty of Guano Islands in the Pacific Ocean (Report). Washington, D.C.: Department of State, Office of the Legal Advisor.
