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Unique
Facts about the Islands
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Unique Facts
Unique Facts About The Islands Of The Bahamas
History
1. The Bahamas comes from the Spanish words “baja mar”
meaning shallow sea, and is an archipelago of over 700 islands
stretching over 100,000 square miles in the Western Atlantic
Ocean
2. The Lucayan Indians were the original inhabitants who lived
throughout from 900-1500 A.D.
3. Christopher Columbus (the first European visitor) made
his first landfall in the New World on San Salvador (called
Guanahani by the Lucayan Indians) in 1492
4. The first English settlers of Eleuthera shipped Braselitto
wood to Boston as a thank you for the support given by the
people of Massachusetts. The proceeds from the sale of this
precious wood went to purchase the land for Harvard College,
which eventually became Harvard University.
5. Charles Town on New Providence Island was burnt to the
ground by the Spanish in 1684, but later rebuilt and renamed
Nassau in 1695 to honor King William III (formerly Prince
of Orange-Nassau)
6. The Bahamas House of Assembly first officially convened
in 1729
7. In 1788, The Bahamas exported 450 tons of cotton to Britain
8. Nassau was officially promoted as a fashionable winter
season resort in 1898 with the Hotel and Steam Ship Service
Act
9. Became the free and sovereign Commonwealth of The Bahamas
on 10th July 1973 ending 325 years of British rule (but remains
part of the Commonwealth)
10. Over 270 years of democratic rule is one of the most politically
stable countries in the world
11. The Bahamas does not have an army Geography/Geology
12. There are no rivers in The Bahamas
13. The Bahamas has the world's third longest barrier reef
14. 5% of the world's coral can be found in the waters of
The Bahamas
15. The Islands of the Bahamas are made entirely of calcium
carbonate, which is mainly produced or precipitated by the
organisms of coral reefs
16. The Lucayan National Park on Grand Bahama Island is the
site of the world's longest known underwater cave and cavern
system
17. The Bahamas has the clearest waters in the world with
visibility of over 200 feet (61 meters). It has been scientifically
proven that a specific alga, which requires light to live,
is found deeper in The Bahamas than anywhere else on earth.
18. If you travel from the northernmost to the southernmost
point of The Bahamas, it is roughly the same distance as between
the northernmost point of Scotland and the southernmost point
of England
19. Andros (2,300 square miles) is the fifth largest island
in the Caribbean, but only has a population of 8,000 people
20. Mount Alvernia on Cat Island at 206 ft (63 meters) is
the highest point in The Bahamas
www.bahamas.com
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