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Roncador Bank is a mostly-submerged
atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...
with several sandy cays. It lies 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. ...
.


Geography

It is about 15 by 6 kilometers in size, with an area of 65 km2 composed mostly of
lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'' ...
. In the northern area lies Roncador Cay.


History

Originally 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 territo ...
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 uncla ...
of 1856, the atoll was ceded by the United States to
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 Cari ...
on September 17, 1981, as the result of a treaty signed in 1972. There are several dilapidated houses on it built by American troops during the
Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United ...
. In 1894, the USS ''Kearsarge'' was shipwrecked on Roncador Bank.


Lighthouse

An old disused lighthouse is at its northern end. A new lighthouse has been operating since 1977.


See also

*
List of Guano Island claims The United States claimed a number of islands as insular areas under the Guano Islands Act of 1856. Only the eight administered as the US Minor Islands and the ones part of Hawaii and American Samoa remain under the jurisdiction of the United Sta ...


References


External links


Lighthouse DetailsSerrana Bank and Roncador BankPhotos
Landforms of Colombia Atolls of Colombia Caribbean islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act Former regions and territories of the United States Islands of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina Former disputed islands {{Colombia-geo-stub