Freeport is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

and

free trade zone A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to cu ...

on the island of

Grand Bahama Grand Bahama is the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas, with the town of West End located east of Palm Beach, Florida. It is the third largest island in the Bahamas island chain of approximately 700 islands and 2,400 cays. The island i ...

of the northwest

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

. In 1955, Wallace Groves, a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

n financier with lumber interests in

, was granted of pineyard with substantial areas of

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

and scrubland by the Bahamian government with a mandate to economically develop the area. Freeport has grown to become the second most populous city in the Bahamas. The main airport serving the city is the Grand Bahama International Airport, which receives domestic flights from various islands of the Bahamas as well as several international flights from the United States and Canada. Freeport is also served by domestic Bahamian ferry services to other islands. The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) operates the free trade zone, under the

Hawksbill Creek Agreement {{Refimprove, date=September 2009 The Hawksbill Creek Agreement named in honour of the Hawksbill Sea Turtle was an agreement signed in 1955 between the government of the Bahamas and Wallace Groves to establish a city and free trade zone on Grand ...

signed in August 1955 whereby the Bahamian government agreed that businesses in the Freeport area would pay no taxes before 1980, later extended to 2054. The area of the land grants within which the Hawksbill Creek Agreement applies has been increased to .

History

Freeport is a free trade zone on Grand Bahama Island, established in 1955 by the government of The Bahamas. The city of Freeport emerged from a land grant comprising of swamp and scrub to become a cosmopolitan centre. The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) operates the

free-trade zone A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to cus ...

, under special powers conferred by the government under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, which was recently extended until August 3, 2054. The agreement also increased the land grants to . The city was severely impacted by

Hurricane Dorian Hurricane Dorian was an extremely powerful and catastrophic Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, which became the most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the Bahamas, and tied for strongest landfall in the Atlantic basin. It is also rega ...

with damage still being assessed as of 12 September 2019.

Geography

Freeport is located just off the coast of

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intrac ...

, and on the major EW–NS shipping routes. This has positioned it as an ideal centre for international business. Consequently, a growing number of international companies use Freeport for a business site.

National parks

Parks include the Rand Nature Centre, named after its founder James Rand; Petersons Cay, a small isle about 300 yards off the shore of Grand Bahama; and the Lucayan National Park founded by Peter Barratt, a former architect and town planner of Freeport. The Lucayan National Park is in extent and includes five ecological zones stretching from the south shore to the pineyard. There is an extensive underwater cave system beneath the park. One cave entrance is accessible by stairs at the national park, while other caves are accessible for certified scubas.

Climate

Freeport features a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southe ...

, similar to South Florida's. According to

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

(''Af''), more specifically with hot humid conditions that vary only a little throughout the year. Seldom do temperatures drop below . Average temperatures are around , with water temperature varying between . The winters are usually mild and dry (with the exception of some rainfall due to

cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface trough of low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropical cyclone (to the west in the Northern ...

s), while the summers are usually hot and wet. Although a freeze has never been reported in the Bahamas, snow was reported to have mixed with rain in Freeport in January 1977, the same time that it snowed in the

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

area. The temperature was about at the time. The temperature of was tied, on the 30th of January 2022.

Economy

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

draws more than 1 million visitors per year, but has diminished since 2004, when major hurricanes

Hurricane Frances Hurricane Frances was the second most intense tropical cyclone in the Atlantic during 2004 and proved to be very destructive in Florida. It was the sixth named storm, the fourth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic ...

and

Hurricane Jeanne Hurricane Jeanne was a Category 3 hurricane that struck the Caribbean and the Eastern United States in September 2004. It was the deadliest hurricane in the Atlantic basin since Mitch in 1998. It was the tenth named storm, the seventh hurric ...

made landfall; in 2016,

Hurricane Matthew Hurricane Matthew was an extremely powerful Atlantic hurricane which caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane since ...

hit the island. In early September 2019,

moved over the area and stalled for over a day, causing extensive devastation. Several cruise ships stop weekly at the island. Much of the tourist industry is centered on the seaside suburb of

Lucaya Lucaya is a suburb of Freeport, Bahamas, a city on the island of Grand Bahama, approximately 105 mi (160 km) east-northeast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Lucaya's primary industry is tourism. Major hotels and attractions in the resort ...

, owing its name to the pre-Columbian Lucayan inhabitants of the island evidence of whom has been found on the island. Freeport features at least two Junkanoo festivals near New Year's. The city is often promoted as Freeport/Lucaya. Most hotels on the island are located in Lucaya along the southern shore facing the Northwest Providence Channel. The primary shopping venue for tourists is the Port Lucaya Marketplace in Lucaya. Recovery from the 2004 Hurricanes Jeanne and Frances took nearly a decade and led to closure of the older shopping venue International Bazaar and neighboring Bahamas Princess Resort and Casino.

Notable natives and residents

Janine Antoni Janine Antoni (born January 19, 1964) is a Bahamian–born American artist, who creates contemporary work in performance art, sculpture, and photography. Antoni's work focuses on process and the transitions between the making and finished product, ...

- conceptual artist *

Robert Antoni Robert Antoni (born 1958) is a West Indian writer who was awarded the 1999 Aga Khan Prize for Fiction by ''The Paris Review'' for ''My Grandmother's Tale of How Crab-o Lost His Head''. He is a Guggenheim Fellow for 2010 for his work on the histo ...

- novelist, professor * Sebastian Bach - Canadian singer, frontman of the band Skid Row * JoBeth Coleby-Davis - Bahamian Progressive Liberal Party politician, attorney * Andre Deveaux - NHL player * Joanna Evans Olympian Swimmer * Kevin Foxx - comedian/writer *

Tynia Gaither Tynia Gaither (born 16 March 1993) is a Bahamas, Bahamian athlete competing in Sprint (running), sprinting events. Gaither has represented the Bahamas at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Career She won the silver medal i ...

- sprint Olympian * Jeffery Gibson - 400mH world champ medalist & Olympian *

Shavez Hart Shavez Hart (6 September 1992 – 3 September 2022) was a Bahamian track and field sprinter from Coopers Town Abaco Islands, who mainly competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres. His 100 metres personal best of 10.10 seconds makes him the third ...

- sprint Olympian *

Jack Hayward Sir Jack Arnold Hayward (14 June 1923 – 13 January 2015) was an English businessman, property developer, philanthropist, and president of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. Biography Early life The only son of Charles William ...

- British businessman * Raymond Higgs - Olympian Jumper * Buddy Hield - NBA player *

Jonquel Jones Jonquel Orthea Jones (born January 5, 1994) is a Bahamian-Bosnian professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted with the 6th overall pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft. S ...

- WNBA player * Johnny Kemp- Singer/Songwriter * Justin Hill - British writer *

Michael Mathieu Michael Mathieu (born 24 June 1984) is a retired Bahamian sprinter from Freeport, Grand Bahama who specialized in the 200 metres and 400 metres. He was part of the Bahamian silver medal-winning team in the men's 4×400 metres relay at the 200 ...

- sprint Olympic medalist *

Demetrius Pinder Demetrius Pinder (born 13 February 1989) is a Bahamian male track and field sprint (running), sprint athlete who competes in the 400 metres. His personal best for the event is 44.77 seconds. At the 2012 London Olympics he was a 400 m finali ...

- sprint Olympic medalist *

Mate Pavic Mate may refer to: Science * Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in: ** Mate choice, intersexual selection ** Mating * Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins Person or title * Friendship ...

- Croatian professional tennis player *

Vasek Pospisil Vasek Pospisil ( ; cs, Vašek Pospíšil, ; known in born June 23, 1990) is a Canadian professional tennis player. Pospisil has a career-high world singles ranking of No. 25, and No. 4 in doubles. Along with partner Jack Sock, he won the 2014 ...

- Canadian professional tennis player *

Magnum Rolle ''Magnum'' is a Latin word meaning "great". Magnum may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Magnum Research, a firearms maker * Magnum Semiconductor, a spin-off of Cirrus Logic * Magnum Photos, a photojournalist cooperative * Magnum Co ...

- NBA Player * Alonzo Russell - sprint Olympian medalist * Nivea Smith - Sprint athlete *

Teray Smith Teray Smith (born 28 September 1994) is a Bahamian sprinter. He attended American Heritage School in Plantation, Florida, for his junior and senior year, after transferring from Everglades High School in Miramar. Smith won a bronze medal ...

- Sprint Olympian * Michael Strachan - NFL player * Donald Thomas - high jump world champion and Olympian * Andrae Williams - sprint Olympic medalist * LaToy Williams - sprint athlete * Chavez Young - baseball player

Twin towns – sister cities

Freeport is twin towns and sister cities with: *

Concord, North Carolina Concord is the county seat and largest city in Cabarrus County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 105,186, with an estimated population in 2021 of 107,697. In terms of population, the c ...

, United States, since 2019 *

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

, United States, since 1990

Gallery

File:TheInternationalBazaarEntrance.JPG, The International Bazaar File:PortLucayaMarketplaceEntrance.jpg, Port Lucaya Marketplace File:TheGardenOfTheGrovesEntrance.JPG, The Garden of the Groves File:TheGardenOfTheGrovesBridge.JPG, Bridge in the Garden of the Groves File:TainoBeachFreeportBahamas.JPG, Seagulls at Taino Beach File:TainoBeachFreeport.JPG, Taino Beach File:LucayanNationalParkBoardwalk.JPG, Boardwalk at Lucayan National Park File:LucayanNationalParkWater.JPG, Lucayan National Park File:GrandBahamaHighway.JPG, Grand Bahama Highway File:BananaBayKitesurf.JPG, Kitesurf at Banana Bay File:Freeport Harbor.agr.jpg, Freeport Harbor File:Freeport_Cruise_Ship_Terminal.jpg, Freeport Cruise Ship Terminal File:Freeport_Cruise_Terminal_Shops.jpg, Freeport Cruise Terminal Shops

References

External links

*
Freeport
( 2009-11-01)," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2008. * "Fast Facts," Grand Bahama Port Authority, http://www.gbpa.com/index.php/freeport, c.2008. {{Authority control Districts of the Bahamas Populated places in the Bahamas Grand Bahama Populated places established in 1955 1955 establishments in the British Empire