Grand Bahama

Grand Bahama is a large island in the Bahamas. It sits at the very top of the island chain. This chain has about 700 islands and 2,400 smaller cays. Grand Bahama is the third largest island in the whole group.

The island is shaped roughly like a square. It is about as long from east to west as it is wide. The town of West End sits on the western edge. It is located east of Palm Beach in Florida. The island is divided into three main areas. These are the City of Freeport and two other districts.

The weather on the island follows a tropical pattern. There is a hot and rainy season from May to October. A warm and dry season follows from November to April. This pattern helps decide when people visit the island. The hurricane season lasts from June through November. The months of August, September, and October have the highest risk. In early September 2019, Hurricane Dorian hit the island. It was a Category 5 hurricane. This storm caused very large amounts of damage. Nearly half of the homes were damaged or destroyed.

Many people lived on the island long ago. The indigenous Lucayan people had their own name for it. They called it 'large upper middle island.' Later, Spanish ships passed by the island. The reefs around the island were very dangerous. These reefs often stopped Spanish ships from staying. Instead, pirates used the reefs to trap ships. Pirates would run ships aground to take their goods. By 1828, the island had very few people living there. Later, the town of West End became a place for smuggling liquor.

Grand Bahama changed a lot in the middle of the 1900s. In 1955, a man named Wallace Groves began to build Freeport. He worked with the government to create a new city. This helped the island find a steady way to make money. The city grew very fast after that. New things like a harbor and an airport were built. The tourist center of Port Lucaya opened in 1962. Today, many people live and work on the island. In 2004, the population was over 50,000 people.

Many different living things call the island home. You can find many types of bats in dark caves. The buffy flower bat has white and brown hair. Small birds like the Bahama swallow also live here. These birds have green heads and blue wings. In the water, you might see a tiger shark. These sharks have stripes on their bodies. On land, the yellow elder grows as a shrub. It has bright yellow flowers that attract bees. These flowers are very pretty to see.