Samana Cay is a now uninhabited island in the

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 ...

believed by some researchers to have been the location of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

's first landfall in the Americas on October 12, 1492. It is an islet in the eastern Bahamas, northeast of

Acklins Island Acklins is an island and district of the Bahamas. It is one of a group of islands arranged along a large, shallow lagoon called the Bight of Acklins, of which the largest are Crooked Island () in the north and Acklins () in the southeast, and ...

. About long and up to wide with an area of about it is bound by reefs. The verdant cay has long been uninhabited, but figurines, pottery shards, and other artifacts discovered there in the mid-1980s have been ascribed to Lucayan Indians, who lived on the cay around the time of Columbus's voyages. The indigenous people of the island on which Columbus first landed called it "

Guanahani Guanahaní is an island in the Bahamas that was the first land in the New World sighted and visited by Christopher Columbus' first voyage, on 12 October 1492. It is a bean-shaped island that Columbus changed from its native Taíno name to San ...

." Samana Cay was first proposed to be Guanahani by

Gustavus Fox Gustavus Vasa Fox (June 13, 1821 – October 29, 1883) was an officer of the United States Navy, who served during the Mexican–American War, and as Assistant Secretary of the Navy during the Civil War. Life and career Fox was born at Saugus, M ...

in 1882, but the predominant theory gives the honour to

San Salvador Island San Salvador Island (known as Watling's Island from the 1680s until 1925) is an island and district of The Bahamas. It is widely believed that during Christopher Columbus's first expedition to the New World, this island was the first land he ...

. However, in 1986,

Joseph Judge Joseph Judge (February 4, 1928—April 20, 1996) was a writer and editor for '' National Geographic'' magazine, retiring as Senior Associate Editor in 1990 after 25 years of service. Early life Judge was born in Washington, D.C. His parents we ...

of ''

National Geographic Magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'' made different calculations based on extracts from Columbus's logs and argued for Samana Cay as the location, but his methodology has also been criticised. ''Samana'' was a name of apparent Lucayan origin (meaning "Small Middle Forest") used by the Spanish to designate one of the islands in the Bahamas. Granberry and Vesceliuus identify that island as the present-day Samana Cay.Julian Granberry and Gary S. Vescelius. (2004) ''Languages of the Pre-Columbian Antilles.'' The University of Alabama Press. p. 83 Samana Cay had a permanent population during the first half of the 20th century, and the ruins of the settlement are visible on the south side of the island, near the western end. The island is now uninhabited, but residents of nearby

Acklins Acklins is an island and district of the Bahamas. It is one of a group of islands arranged along a large, shallow lagoon called the Bight of Acklins, of which the largest are Crooked Island () in the north and Acklins () in the southeast, and ...

Island visit occasionally to collect cascarilla bark, which grows in abundance on the island.

Notes

External links

Paleogeographic evaluation furthering the Samana Cay landfall theory
Uninhabited islands of the Bahamas Former populated places in the Bahamas {{Bahamas-geo-stub