d around the
disputed Machias Seal Island and North Rock; The Bahamas and US have
not been able to agree on a maritime boundary; US Naval Base at
Guantanamo Bay is leased from Cuba and only mutual agreement or US
abandonment of the area can terminate the lease; Haiti claims
US-administered Navassa Island; US has made no territorial claim in
Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not
recognize the claims of any other states; Marshall Islands claims
Wake Island; Tokelau included American Samoa's Swains Island among
the islands listed in its 2006 draft constitution

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

refugees (country of origin): the US admitted 62,643 refugees during
FY04/05 including; 10,586 (Somalia); 8,549 (Laos); 6,666 (Russia);
6,479 (Cuba); 3,100 (Haiti); 2,136 (Iran) (2006)

Illicit drugs:

world's largest consumer of cocaine (shipped from Colombia through
Mexico and the Caribbean), Colombian heroin, and Mexican heroin and
marijuana; major consumer of ecstasy and Mexican methamphetamine;
minor consumer of high-quality Southeast Asian heroin; illicit
producer of cannabis, marijuana, depressants, stimulants,
hallucinogens, and methamphetamine; money-laundering center

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges

Introduction
United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges

Background:

All of the following US Pacific island territories except Midway
Atoll constitute the Pacific Remote Islands National Wildlife Refuge
Complex and as such are managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service of
the US Department of the Interior. Midway Atoll NWR has been
included in a Refuge Complex with the Hawaiian Islands NWR and also
designated as part of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.
These remote refuges are the most widespread collection of marine-
and terrestrial-life protected areas on the planet under a single
country's jurisdiction. They sustain many endemic species including
corals, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, seabirds, water birds, land
birds, insects, and vegetation not found elsewhere.
Baker Island: The US took possession of the island in 1857, and its
guano deposits were mined by US and British companies during the
second half of the 19th century. In 1935, a short-lived attempt at
colonization began on this island but was di