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Bahamas is a coral archipelago consisting of some 700
low-lying islands, and over 2,000 cays (pronounced
“keys”). The highest hills, on Cat Island, are less than
400 ft and most islands have a maximum height of 100 ft. The
total area of the islands is about 5,400 square miles,
roughly the same as Jamaica.
The
whole archipelago extends for about 600 miles southeast from
the Mantanilla shoal off the coast of Florida to 50 miles
north of Haiti. Some of the smaller cays are privately owned
but most of them are uninhabited. The main tourist areas are
Paradise Island and Cable Beach, on New Providence, and
Freeport, on Grand Bahama, where huge resorts attract mass
tourism. Most cruise ships come in to Nassau, the capital,
on New Providence, and its main shopping street can be
packed when several ships are in port. The other islands,
known as the “Family Islands”, or “Out Islands”, are
largely unspoilt and include Bimini, the Berry Islands,
Abaco, Eleuthera (these two are particularly attractive),
the Exumas, Andros, Cat Island, Long Island, San Salvador,
Rum Cay, Inagua, Acklins and Crooked Island. The water
around these islands and the smaller cays changes from deep
blue to pale turquoise according to depth and underwater
features, producing spectacularly beautiful colour schemes
when seen from the air and a huge playground for all manner
of watersports: sailing, fishing, diving, snorkelling and
anything else you can think of.
The
islands are made up of limestone over 5,000 m deep, most of
it Oolite, laid down for more than 150 million years on a
gradually sinking sea bed. New material accumulated
constantly and the seas of the Bahamas Platform remained
remarkedly shallow, often only a few metres deep. From the
air, the different shades of turquoise, ultramarine and blue
in these shallow waters are spectacular. On land, the soil
is thin and infertile except for a few pockets of fertile
soil. In many places, bare limestone rock is exposed at the
surface while much land is swampy, impenetrable and
uninhabitable. There are many large cave systems, including
the impressive blue holes, formed when sea levels were lower
and since flooded. There are no rivers or streams on any of
the islands, but there is some freshwater, found close to
the surface but resting on underlying saltwater. If wells
are drilled too deep, they produce brackish or saltwater.
Andros has a surplus of freshwater, which is barged to
Nassau. Most people drink bottled water. Desalination plants
are being built.
About
15 island areas have been developed. They have a total
population of about 287,000; about two thirds live in New
Providence and 16% in Grand Bahama. The weather can be
pleasant in the winter season although cold fronts from the
North American continent can bring strong north winds, heavy
rain and surprisingly low temperatures. The summer months
are hot, humid and often windless, with frequent
thunderstorms. In August 1992 Hurricane Andrew hit the
Bahamas, making over 1,200 homeless, killing four people and
causing damage of over US$250mn. North Eleuthera was badly
damaged. In October 1996 Hurricane Lili destroyed houses and
crops and cut power lines in Exuma, Long Island and other
islands after passing over Cuba. In June 1997 unprecedented
rainfall and a spring tide caused flooding in New Providence
while a tornado struck Hope Town, damaging boats and power
supplies. In 1999 Hurricane Floyd hit Abaco, Cat Island and
Eleuthera before heading for Grand Bahama and Florida. Wind
speeds of 100 mph were recorded on Nassau, where coastal
areas were flooded and power cut off, but on Eleuthera winds
reached 155 mph and about 25% of houses were damaged.
Businesses soon got back to normal, however, and there is
little evidence of storm damage now.
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