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San Salvador Island, also known as Watling Island, is an island and district
Districts of the Bahamas

|||}The 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 Society
National Geographic Society

The 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....
 suggested Samana Cay
Samana Cay

Samana Cay is a small island in the central Bahamas, uninhabited most of the time, and believed by some researchers to have been the location of Christopher Columbus's first landfall, on October 12, 1492....
, it was widely believed that during his first expedition to the New World
New World

The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and Australasia. 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, and Africa ....
, San Salvador Island was the first land sighted and visited by Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was a Republic of Genoa navigator, colonialist and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean?funded by Queen Isabella of Spain?led to general European awareness of the America in the Western Hemisphere....
 on October 12, 1492.






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Things to do on San Salvador Island
History of San Salvador Island
Gerace Research Center
What was San Salvador called before it was renamed so?
Why was it called Watling Island?
Were the Guanahani people from Cat Island or San Salvador?
What is the astounding natural architecture that the San Salvador has?
Is it a very largely populated section of the Bahamas?








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Bf Map With San Salvador
San Salvador Island, also known as Watling Island, is an island and district
Districts of the Bahamas

|||}The 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 Society
National Geographic Society

The 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....
 suggested Samana Cay
Samana Cay

Samana Cay is a small island in the central Bahamas, uninhabited most of the time, and believed by some researchers to have been the location of Christopher Columbus's first landfall, on October 12, 1492....
, it was widely believed that during his first expedition to the New World
New World

The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and Australasia. 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, and Africa ....
, San Salvador Island was the first land sighted and visited by Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was a Republic of Genoa navigator, colonialist and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean?funded by Queen Isabella of Spain?led to general European awareness of the America in the Western Hemisphere....
 on October 12, 1492. Columbus' records indicate that the native inhabitants of the territory where he landed called the island Guanahani
Guanahani

Guanahani was the name the natives gave to the island that Christopher 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....
.

The Spainish
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 gained control of what are now The Bahamas in the early 1700s. For some time, San Salvador was the home of John Watling
John Watling

John, or George, Watling was a 17th century England buccaneer. It was said that he would never plunder on the Sabbath in Christianity 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 Guanahani
Guanahani

Guanahani was the name the natives gave to the island that Christopher 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....
.

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 Centre (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 geology
Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitute the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structural geology, physical properties, dynamics, and History of the Earth of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed....
, biology
Biology

Biology is a branch of the natural sciences concerned with the study of living organisms and their interaction with each other and their environment ....
, and archaeology
Archaeology

Archaeology, archeology, or arch?ology is the science that studies Homo cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, Artifact , features, Biofact s, and cultural landscape....
.

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.

See also

  • Columbian Exchange
    Columbian Exchange

    The Columbian Exchange has been one of the most significant events in the history of world ecology, agriculture, and culture. The term is used to describe the enormous widespread exchange of plants, animals, foods, human populations , communicable diseases, and ideas between the Eastern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere hemispheres that oc...


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