Grand Bahama is one of the islands north of the Bahamas at about 90 km from the coast of Florida.Grand Bahama is the fourth largest island in the Bahamas by its size. The island is about 160 km long for a maximum width of 28 km.

The Spaniards named the island Gran Bajamar (large deep sea) and it is probably for that appellation Bahamas that the islands take their name.

The future of Grand Bahama for almost two centuries was largely influenced by the deep sea that made coral reefs surrounding the island dangerous for navigation, and push Spaniards (who left the island on the sidelines of routes ravitailement their boats) while attracting pirates who leurraient boats for failures on coral reefs, and then loot.

The Spanish therefore abandoned the island after the enslavement of Indians Lucayas, and the island was annexed by Britain in 1670. The piracy continued to rage during the half century that followed, then the British came to the end. Grand Bahama should remain relatively quiet until the mid-nineteenth century, with only 200 to 400 permanent residents in the town of West End.

In 1834, the cities of Pinder’s point, Russell Town Town and Williams were founded by former slaves in the Bahamas as a result of the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. The island experienced an economic boom that at the time of the Civil War through smuggling with the Confederate States of America (especially arms, sugar and cotton). A second expansion will take place with smuggling during Prohibition in the United States.

Around half of the twentieth century, the population of Grand Bahama is about 500 people and the island remains one of the least developed in the Bahamas archipelago.

However the island finally won a stable source of revenue when, in 1955, an American businessman named Wallace Groves reached an agreement with the government to build bahaméen the city of Freeport under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement and manage port with the Grand Bahama Port Authority.

Shortly after, Edouard Saint George and Jack Hayward developed tourism in Freeport, which accelerated the development of the city. They équipèrent the city from the airport and then built tourist complex of Lucaya in 1962.

Towns

The main towns on the island are Freeport High Rock, Eight Mile Rock, Hawksbill Creek, Pinder’s Point, Lewis Yard, Hunter’s, Pelican Point, McClean Town and Sweetings Cay.

District

• The island of Grand Bahama is divided into 3 districts:
• East Grand Bahama
• West Grand Bahama
• City of Freeport

Acklins Island Beach
Image courtesy to: www.jogroadbaptist.org

Acklins Island is an island in the Bahamas. It is part of the same atoll as Crooked Island and Long Cay.

The history of the island is closely linked to that of the island of Crooked Island. The island was populated by American colonists loyalists islands, which were ousted from the United States in the years 1780 and who settled in the island to practice cultivating cotton with slave. After the abolition of slavery, the people developed a fishing and farming and trade fit sponges.

The population of the island to sharply declined since 1561 had residents in 1901, compared with 428 in 2000. The main city is Salina Point (129 inhabitants). Its area according to the Government bahaméen is 403 km2, but it varies from 311 km2 to 507.5 km2 [1] according to other agencies.

Acklins is one of 32 districts in the Bahamas. The district consists of the island of Acklins and some smaller islands and bears the number 1 on the map.

The Bahamas, or the Commonwealth of the Bahamas for official purposes, is an English-speaking country located in the Caribbean. The Bahamas is an archipelago of 700 islands in the Atlantic Ocean, east of Florida, north of Cuba and the rest of the Caribbean and west of the Turks and Caicos Islands under British dependency.

The History

The first step of Christopher Columbus in the New World in 1492 was undoubtedly on the island of San Salvador, located in the Bahamas. There are met with friendly Arawaks (otherwise known as Lucaian, who gave his first name to the archipelago: the islands Lucayes) American with whom they exchanged present. The Americans also live in Jamaica. Britain has been established in the islands in the seventeenth century and turned into a colony in 1783. Since gaining independence in 1973, the Bahamas have developed their tourism, international banks and investment management.

Since 1999, the Bahamas include 32 districts:

• Acklins
• Berry Islands
• Bimini Islands
• Black Point
• Cat Island
• Central Abaco
• Central Andros
• Central Eleuthera
• City of Freeport
• Crooked Island
• East Grand Bahama
• Exuma
• Grand Cay
• Harbour Island
• Hope Town
• Inagua
• Long Island
• Mangrove Cay
• Mayaguana
• Moore’s Island
• New Providence
• North Abaco
• North Andros
• North Eleuthera
• Ragged Island
• Rum Cay
• San Salvador
• South Abaco
• South Andros
• South Eleuthera
• Spanish Wells

The largest island of Andros Bahamas is in the west. The island of New Providence, east of Andros, is the site of the capital, Nassau and accounts for two-thirds of the total population. The other major islands are Grand Bahama in the north and Inagua in the south.

Most of the islands - coral formations - are relatively flat, with some low hills, the highest of which is Mount Alvernia on Cat Island, 63 m. The local climate is tropical, moderated by the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, with a few hurricanes or tropical storms.Weather

Weather

Bahamas has a tropical and subtropical climate between being moderated by the influence of the waters of the Gulf Stream, especially in winter. These islands, as the whole Caribbean, suffer the brunt of hurricanes, whose season lasts from late summer to late fall. “Hurricane Andrew” hit the northern islands in 1992, “almost all” Floyd in 1999, and “French”, in 2004, is regarded as one of the worst.