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Guano Islands Act

The Guano Islands Act (11 Stat. 119, enacted August 18, 1856, codified at 48 U.S.C. ch. 8 §§ 1411-1419) is a United States federal law passed by the Congress that enables citizens of the United States to take possession of unclaimed islands containing guano deposits in the name of the United States. The islands can be located anywhere, so long as they are not occupied by citizens of another country and not within the jurisdiction of another government. It also empowers the president to use the military to protect such interests and establishes the criminal jurisdiction of the United States in these territories.

"Guano Islands" redirects here. For the island in Kiribati, see Enderbury Island. For the island in Antarctica, see Guano Island (Antarctica).

Long title

An Act to authorize Protection to be given to Citizens of the United States who may discover Deposits of Guano

the 34th United States Congress

August 18, 1856

Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 34–164

11 Stat. 119

Criminal jurisdiction[edit]

Section 6 provides that criminal acts on or adjacent to these territories "shall be deemed committed on the high seas, on board a merchant ship or vessel belonging to the United States; and shall be punished according to the laws of the United States relating to such ships or vessels and offenses on the high seas".[6] The provision was considered and ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Jones v. United States, 137 U.S. 202 (1890).

Result[edit]

The Act continues to be part of the law of the United States. The most recent Guano Islands Act claim was made in 1997 to Navassa Island. However, the claim was denied because an American court ruled the island was already under American jurisdiction (a claim Haiti disputes).[7][8]

[9]

Baker Island

[9]

Howland Island

[9]

Jarvis Island

[9]

Johnston Atoll

/Danger Rock[9]

Kingman Reef

[10]

Midway Atoll

[9] (claimed by Haiti)

Navassa Island

[9] (disputed with Colombia)

Bajo Nuevo Bank

[9] (disputed with Colombia)

Serranilla Bank

(part of American Samoa; no evidence that guano was mined. Claimed by Tokelau)[11]

Swains Island

While more than 100 islands have been claimed for the United States under the Guano Islands Act, all but 10 have been withdrawn. The Act specifically allows the islands to be considered possessions of the U.S. The Act does not specify what the status of the territory is after it is abandoned by private U.S. interests or the guano is exhausted, creating neither obligation to nor prohibition of retaining possession.


As of 2022, the islands still claimed by the United States under the Act are:

Navassa Island — de facto US control. To cement the U.S. claim to against Haiti, President James Buchanan issued Executive Orders establishing United States territorial jurisdiction beyond just the Guano Act of 1856. The United States Supreme Court in 1890 ruled the Guano Act constitutional; and, citing the actions of the Executive Branch, amongst other points in law, determined Navassa Island as pertaining to the United States.[12] Control of Navassa Island was transferred by the Department of the Interior to the Director of the Office of Insular Affairs under Order No. 3205 on January 16, 1997. Both the Department of the Interior and Insular Affairs would later grant administration responsibilities to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service under Order No. 3210 on December 3, 1999. Order No 3210 also established a 12-nautical-mile (22 km; 14 mi) territorial sea boundary for the United States around Navassa Island.

Navassa Island

List of Guano Island claims

United States Miscellaneous Pacific Islands

United States Minor Outlying Islands

Text of U.S. Code, Title 48, Chapter 8

34th Congress Statutes at Large

43rd Congress Statutes at Large

U.S. Department of State Legal Advisor, January 9, 1933. .

The Sovereignty of Guano Islands in the Pacific Ocean