claim: Serranilla Bank is a territory of United States
evidence: Also known as the Petrel Islands, Bajo Nuevo Bank is a 15-mile-long reef with some grassy island outcrops in the otherwise open Caribbean Sea, midway between Jamaica and Central America. It was claimed by the US in 1869, under the Guano Islands Act. Though most of the islands in the region claimed by this act were renounced by the USA in a 1972 treaty with Colombia, this atoll-like structure, as well as another, Serranilla Bank, 70 miles west, were not mentioned by name, unlike the others, so they continued to be claimed as Territories of the USA, though not aggressively so. [...] Serranilla Bank is 70 miles west of Bajo Nuevo Bank, and 220 miles from Nicaragua, in the middle of the otherwise open sea. Its physical attributes and jurisdictional status are like that of Bajo Nuevo Bank: it is a submerged atoll-like reef, around 25 miles long, with three small islands above water. The largest island is Beacon Cay, which has buildings, and is sometimes used to house a garrison of the Colombian Navy. There is also a 100-foot-tall metal lighthouse tower, which flashes every 20 seconds. It was built and rebuilt at the same time as the lighthouse on Bajo Nuevo Bank (1982, and 2008). Serranilla Bank has been claimed by the US since 1879, as part of the Guano Islands Act. The US still claims ownership, though it has conceded administrative oversight to Colombia. Serranilla Bank has lingering claims by Honduras, Jamaica, and Nicaragua too.