San Salvador Island, also known as
Watling Island, is an island and
districtThe Districts of the Bahamas provide a system of local government everywhere in The Bahamas except New Providence, whose affairs are handled directly by the central government...
of the Bahamas. Until 1986, when the
National Geographic SocietyThe National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...
suggested
Samana CaySamana Cay is a small uninhabited island in the central Bahamas, believed by some researchers to have been the location of Columbus's first landfall in the Americas, on October 12, 1492....
, it was widely believed that during his first expedition to the
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the non-Afro-Eurasian parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and possibly Australia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia,...
, San Salvador Island was the first land sighted and visited by
Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus was a navigator, colonizer and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean led to general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere...
on October 12, 1492. Columbus' records indicate that the native inhabitants of the territory where he landed called the island
GuanahaniGuanahani was the name the natives gave to the island that Columbus called San Salvador when he arrived at the Americas. Columbus reached the island on 12 October 1492, the first island he sighted and visited in the Americas. Guanahani is one of the islands of the Lucayan archipelago in the...
.
The
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
gained control of what are now The Bahamas in the early 1700s.
San Salvador Island, also known as
Watling Island, is an island and
districtThe Districts of the Bahamas provide a system of local government everywhere in The Bahamas except New Providence, whose affairs are handled directly by the central government...
of the Bahamas. Until 1986, when the
National Geographic SocietyThe National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...
suggested
Samana CaySamana Cay is a small uninhabited island in the central Bahamas, believed by some researchers to have been the location of Columbus's first landfall in the Americas, on October 12, 1492....
, it was widely believed that during his first expedition to the
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the non-Afro-Eurasian parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and possibly Australia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia,...
, San Salvador Island was the first land sighted and visited by
Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus was a navigator, colonizer and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean led to general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere...
on October 12, 1492. Columbus' records indicate that the native inhabitants of the territory where he landed called the island
GuanahaniGuanahani was the name the natives gave to the island that Columbus called San Salvador when he arrived at the Americas. Columbus reached the island on 12 October 1492, the first island he sighted and visited in the Americas. Guanahani is one of the islands of the Lucayan archipelago in the...
.
The
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
gained control of what are now The Bahamas in the early 1700s. For some time, San Salvador was the home of
John WatlingJohn, or George, Watling was a 17th century English buccaneer. It was said that he would never plunder on the Sabbath and refused even to allow his crew to play cards on this holy day....
(alternately referred to as George Watling), who gave the island its alternative name by which it was officially known until 1925. At that time, the name "San Salvador" was transferred from another place, now called Cat Island, and given to "Watling Island" under the belief that it seemed a much more likely match for Columbus' description of
GuanahaniGuanahani was the name the natives gave to the island that Columbus called San Salvador when he arrived at the Americas. Columbus reached the island on 12 October 1492, the first island he sighted and visited in the Americas. Guanahani is one of the islands of the Lucayan archipelago in the...
.
Today, thanks to its many sandy beaches, the island's prosperous main industry is tourism. About 500 people reside on San Salvador Island and its principal community is Cockburn Town, the seat of local government.
The Gerace Research Center (formerly the Bahamian Field Station) is located on the north end of the island on the shores of Graham's Harbour. Over a thousand students and researchers use the station every year as a base of operations from which to study tropical marine
geologyGeology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structure, physical properties, dynamics, and history of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed...
,
biologyBiology is the natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy...
, and
archaeologyArchaeology or archeology is the science that studies human cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material culture and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, and landscapes...
.
The island is home to many shallow-water reefs which allow snorkelers to observe hundreds of fish species without the use of SCUBA equipment. It is also known for its quick drop in the continental shelf, allowing for numerous dive sites.
The administrator is Jordan Ritchie, Sr. Dep. Administrator.
External links