Roncador Cay is a small island of the
Roncador Bank
Roncador Bank is a mostly-submerged atoll with several sandy cays. It lies in the west Caribbean Sea off the coast of Central America. Geography
It is about 15 by 6 kilometers in size, with an area of 65 km2 composed mostly of lago ...
, located in the west
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
, off the coast of
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
, east-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 o ...
.
History
The
USS ''Kearsarge'' ran aground on a reef off the cay on February 2, 1894, and, being deemed unsalvageable, was declared lost by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
.
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 ...
and 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 ...
have claimed the cay but the United States abandoned its claim in a 1972 treaty.
References
''CIA World Factbook'' on Colombia1972 Treaty
Caribbean islands of Colombia
Islands of the West Caribbean
Islands of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina
Atolls of Colombia
Caribbean islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act
Former disputed islands
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