Quita Sueño Bank (claimed as Quitasueño) is a reef formation of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

which was once claimed by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, located 110 km north-northeast of

Providencia Island Isla de Providencia, historically Old Providence, and generally known as Providencia, is a mountainous Caribbean island that is part of the Colombian department of Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina and the municipality ...

History

In 1869, James Jennett claimed the bank for the United States under the

Guano Islands Act The Guano Islands Act (, enacted August 18, 1856, codified at §§ 1411-1419) is a United States federal law passed by the U.S. Congress that enables citizens of the United States to take possession, in the name of the United States, of unclai ...

of 1856. In 1972 the United States and Colombia signed a treaty (ratified in 1981) that abandoned the U.S. claim to the reef. Unlike some islands included in the treaty that were ceded to Colombia, Quita Sueño Bank was regarded by the United States as having no emergent land and thus ineligible for the basis of a sovereignty claim. Rather than being ceded to any particular nation, the claim was simply abandoned with American fishing rights retained. Colombia, which had also made previous claims on the reef, considers the bank to be a part of its San Andres and Providencia Department. In the northern part of the eastern reef is Quita Sueño Light. The location is named ''Cayo Quitasueño'' on the official nautical chart at , but no emergent land is indicated around the lighthouse. The light is erected on top of a square platform. This lighthouse had originally been established by the United States in 1919. The current structure is from 1977. It is now called ''Faro Quitasueño Norte'' since in 2008, a second lighthouse ''Faro Quitasueño Sur'' was established in the southern part of the reef at .

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

also had a claim to the bank. On November 19, 2012 the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

ruled the bank is a part of Colombia. The ICJ found that only one of the 54 features identified by Nicaragua in Quitasueño is an island at high tide and thus eligible for a sovereignty claim.Colombia salva los cayos pero Nicaragua gana mar territorial. 19 Nov 2012. Urgente24.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quita Sueno Bank Caribbean islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act Former regions and territories of the United States International territorial disputes of the United States Territorial disputes of Colombia Territorial disputes of Nicaragua Islands of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina Reefs of Colombia Caribbean islands of Colombia Former disputed islands

History

See also

References