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Caribbean Islands Geography
The Bahamas is an archipelago of approximately 700 flat, lowlying islands in the western Atlantic Ocean (see fig. 1). It
extends from eighty kilometers east of Florida to eighty kilometers
northeast of Cuba. In addition to the United States and Cuba,
neighbors of the Bahamas include Haiti and the Turks and Caicos
Islands; both are located to the southeast of the Bahamas. The
Tropic of Cancer runs through the middle of the archipelago,
passing across the lower part of Great Exuma Island and the upper
part of Long Island. Although the total land area of the
archipelago is 13,934 square kilometers, slightly larger than New
Jersey and Connecticut combined, the islands are sprawled over an
area of approximately 259,000 square kilometers (see fig. 18; table
6, Appendix A).
The islands are surface projections of two oceanic banks, the
Little Bahama Bank and the Great Bahama Bank. The highest point is
only sixty-three meters above sea level on Cat Island; the island
of New Providence, where the capital city of Nassau is located,
reaches a maximum elevation of only thirty-seven meters. The land
on the Bahamas has a foundation of fossil coral, but much of the
rock is oolitic limestone; the stone is derived from the
disintegration of coral reefs and seashells. The land is primarily
either rocky or mangrove swamp. Low scrub covers much of the
surface area. Timber is found in abundance on four of the northern
islands: Grand Bahama, Great Abaco, New Providence, and Andros. On
some of the southern islands, low-growing tropical hardwood
flourishes. Although some soil is very fertile, it is also very
thin. Only a few freshwater lakes and just one river, located on
Andros Island, are found in the Bahamas.
The climate of the archipelago is semitropical and has two
seasons, summer and winter. During the summer, which extends from
May through November, the climate is dominated by warm, moist
tropical air masses moving north through the Caribbean. Midsummer
temperatures range from 21o C to 34o C with a relative humidity of
60 to 100 percent. In winter months, extending from December
through April, the climate is affected by the movement of cold
polar masses from North America. Temperatures during the winter
months range from 15o C to 24o C.
Yearly rainfall averages 132 centimeters and is usually
concentrated in the May-June and September-October periods.
Rainfall often occurs in short-lived, fairly intense showers
accompanied by strong gusty winds, which are then followed by clear
skies.
Winds are predominantly easterly throughout the year but tend
to become northeasterly from October to April and southeasterly
from May to September. These winds seldom exceed twenty-four
kilometers per hour except during hurricane season. Although the
hurricane season officially lasts from June to November, most
hurricanes in the Bahamas occur between July and October; as of
late 1987, the last one to strike was Hurricane David in September
1979. Damage was estimated at US$1.8 million and mainly affected
agricultural products. The most intense twentieth-century hurricane
to strike the Bahamas was in 1929; winds of up to 225 kilometers
per hour were recorded. Many lives were lost, and there was
extensive damage to buildings, homes, and boats.
Data as of November 1987
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