Andros Island is the largest island of the Bahamas and the fifth largest island in the West Indies at roughly 2300 square miles (6,000 km²) in area and 104 miles (167 km) long and 40 miles (64 km) wide at its widest point. It is actually composed of three major islands: North Andros, Mangrove Cay, and South Andros. The island has the world's third largest barrier reef, which is over 140 miles long. It is affectionately known by Bahamians as the "Big Yard". Map of the Bahamas. ... South Andros is a district of the nation of The Bahamas. ...

History

There is some evidence that suggests that the first inhabitants of Andros Island were the indigenous Lucayan people. The Lucayans throughout the Bahamas were wiped out mainly by exposure to disease following the arrival of the Spanish in the 1550s. The island was given the name “Espiritu Santo,” the Island of the Holy Spirit, by the Spanish, but is also called San Andreas on a 1782 map. The modern name is believed to be in honour of Sir Edmund Andros, Commander of Her Majesty’s Forces in Barbados in 1672 and Governor successively of New York, Massachusetts, and New England. It is also believed that the island could have been named after the inhabitants of St. Andro Island (St. Andrew or San Andrés) on the Mosquito Coast as 1,400 of them settled in Andros in 1787. Still another theory suggests that the island was name after the Greek isle of Andros, by Greek sponge fisherman. The Lucayan were those Arawak which inhabited the Bahamas at the time of Christopher Columbus landing. ... The Lucayan were Arawakan People who inhabited the Bahamas at the time of Christopher Columbus landing on October 12, 1492. ... Sir Edmund Andros Sir Edmund Andros (December 6, 1637 - February 24, 1714), was an early colonial governor in North America, and head of the short-lived Dominion of New England. ... Motto: Capital San Andrés Governor Area 52 km² Population  - Total (2003)  - Density   83,491 1,600 people/km² Adjective San Andrés and Providencia (Spanish: San Andrés y Providencia) is one of the departments of Colombia. ... The article is about the Central American area. ... Andros, or Andro (Greek: Άνδρος), an island of the Greek archipelago, the most northerly of the Cyclades, approximately 10 km (6 miles) south east of Euboea, and about 3 km (about 2 miles) north of Tinos. ...

During the 1700s pirates occupied the island. Morgan's Bluff and Morgan's Cave on North Andros are named after the famous privateer-pirate, Henry Morgan. Loyalists and their slaves also settled in Andros in the late 18th Century. Events and trends The Bonneville Slide blocks the Columbia River near the site of present-day Cascade Locks, Oregon with a land bridge 200 feet (60 m) high. ... Look up pirate and piracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Sir Henry Morgan (Hari Morgan in Welsh), (ca. ... For the township in Canada, see Loyalist, Ontario In general, a loyalist is an individual who is loyal to the powers that be. ...

Andros Island's port of Fresh Creek was once a popular hangout for the "Rat Pack", including Sammy Davis Junior. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

In the 1960s and 1970s the Owens Lumber company, a U.S. owned company, deforested much of the indigenous pine forests that grew on North Andros. As a result of poor planning for re-growth, what is found on the island today consists mainly of young, over-crowded tree forests.

Due to its proximity to the Tongue of the Ocean and network of fresh and saltwater blue holes, Andros Island became a popular Scuba diving destination in the early day's of the sport, frequented by such well known divers as Jacques Cousteau. The first dive resort on Andros was built by Archie Forfar, a Canada native who later died trying to break the Guinness world record for deep diving. His resort, in Blanket Sound, is now home to Forfar Field station, an environmental education facility owned and operated by International Field Studies. Scuba diving is swimming underwater while using self-contained breathing equipment. ... Jacques-Yves Cousteau (June 11, 1910 - June 25, 1997) was a French naval officer, explorer and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water. ...

The island today

Andros has a population of over six thousand and has the fewest people per unit area of all of the Bahamas. Most of these people live on the east coast of the island in the three major towns on the island; Nicholl's Town and Andros Town on North Andros, and Congo Town, on South Andros.

Much fresh water comes from this island, with about seven thousand US gallons (26 m³) of fresh water being shipped to Nassau a day. Andros has thousands of kilometres of fresh water rivers that come from rain water collected in the many caves in the island's interior. For other uses of Nassau, see Nassau (disambiguation). ...

A type of fabric called Androsia is manufactured in Andros. Androsia is the local type of batik fabric, which is produced in a variety of bright vibrant colors and designs, and is distributed widely throughout the Bahamas. Androsia is a type of textiles produced by the Androsia Batik Factory on Andros Island, Bahamas. ... Indonesian batik fabric Batik (Javanese-Indonesian-Malay pronunciation: , but often, in English, is or ) is an Indonesian word and refers to a generic wax-resist dyeing technique used on textile. ...

The Chickcharnie, an extinct cryptid believed by some to be based on the flightless, 1 metre tall barn-owl, Tyto pollens, is said to have formerly occurred on Andros. Binomial name Tyto pollens, also known as Andros Island Barn Owl, Bahaman Barn Owl, Bahaman Great Owl, or Chickcharnie, was a 1 metre tall barn owl that lived in the old-growth pine forests of Andros Island. ... In biology and ecology, extinction is the ceasing of existence of a species or group of species. ... Cryptids are creatures presumed extinct, hypothetical species, or creatures known from anecdotal evidence and/or other evidence insufficient to prove their existence with scientific certainty. ... Binomial name Tyto alba (Scopoli, 1769) Synonyms Strix alba Scopoli, 1769 Lechusa stirtoni Miller, 1956 The Barn Owl (Tyto alba) or, to distinguish it from relatives, Common Barn Owl, is an owl in the barn owl family Tytonidae. ... Binomial name Tyto pollens, also known as Andros Island Barn Owl, Bahaman Barn Owl, Bahaman Great Owl, or Chickcharnie, was a 1 metre tall barn owl that lived in the old-growth pine forests of Andros Island. ...

Andros is hit by a hurricane on average every two and a half years. This article is about weather phenomena. ...

The AUTEC- Atlantic Underwater Testing and Evaluation Center Deep Water Weapons Range runs parallel to the east coast of the islands, and operates a base on North Andros. The U.S. Navys Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) is an instrumented laboratory that performs integrated three-dimensional hydrospace/aerospace trajectory measurements covering the entire spectrum of undersea simulated warfare: calibration, classifications, detection, and destruction. ...

Tourism

Unlike most of the Bahamian islands, Andros's interior has been largely free of commercial development for the tourism industry, preserving much of its natural beauty. Current Bahamian tourism efforts refer to it as the least-explored island in the chain. [1] There are currently efforts being made by the Bahamas National Trust and the Nature Conservancy to establish a national park on the island. Tourists on Oahu, Hawaii Tourism is travel for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes or the provision of services to support this leisure travel. ...

There are few hotels and resorts on the island. However Andros, famous for its bonefishing, is home to many lodges which cater to the sport.

The island is filled with natural beauty. It has the second largest barrier reef in the Northern Hemisphere and the third largest in the world, at one hundred and forty miles (225 km) long, and has a drop off of over six thousand feet (1.8 km). The water above the reef averages twelve feet (4 m) deep. There are more than forty square miles (104 km²) of subtropical forest area and the swamp land that is inhabited by more than 50 species of orchids. Andros is actually made up of three different major islands (North Andros, Mangrove Cay and South Andros Island) and hundreds of cays adjoined by these mangrove estuaries and tidal swamp lands. Two hundred different types of birds are native to the island. Satellite image of a part of the Great Barrier Reef. ... The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planets surface (or celestial sphere) that is north of the equator (the word hemisphere literally means half ball). On the Earth, the Northern Hemisphere contains most of the land and about 90% of the human population. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Orchid re-directs here; for alternate uses see Orchid (disambiguation) Genera Over 800 See List of Orchidaceae genera. ... “Aves” redirects here. ...

Andros Island draws thousands of visitors every year. Anglers come from all over the world to fish there. It is said to be "the bonefish capital of the world". Divers come to explore the blue holes and reefs. Andros Island is next to the Tongue of the Ocean, a deep oceanic trench and is famous for its wall diving. Fishing is the activity of hunting for fish by hooking, trapping, or gathering. ... Genera Albula Pterothrissa See text for species. ... Scuba diving is swimming underwater while using self-contained breathing equipment. ... The Tongue of the Ocean can be seen along the east coast of Andros Island. ...

Blue Holes

The islands Blue Holes^[1] are water filled cave systems. They attract cave divers from all over the world to dive sites such as 'Stargate', 'The Guardian' and 'Little Frenchman'. There are Blue Holes in the ocean and inland.

References

1. ^ Deep into Blue Holes by Rob Palmer. Published by Unwin Hyman Limited in 1989. ISBN 0-04-440380-1.

Photographs

South Andros Island, at Tiamo. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ...	Guardian Blue Hole Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 542 pixelsFull resolution (1728 × 1170 pixel, file size: 270 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Guardian Blue Hole on Andros Island in the Bahamas. ...	Saddleback Cay Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 587 pixelsFull resolution (3171 × 2325 pixel, file size: 1. ...	Sunset from Blanket Sound Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 446 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (2404 × 3230 pixel, file size: 1. ...
Captain Morgan's Cave Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 564 pixelsFull resolution (2771 × 1955 pixel, file size: 2. ...	Forfar Field Station Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3264 × 2448 pixel, file size: 2. ...	Church's Blue Hole Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 193 pixelsFull resolution (2658 × 640 pixel, file size: 1. ...

External links

• Blue Holes of Andros
• Blue Hole Foundation
• Blue Hole dive organiser
• Diving a Blue Hole
• Andros Wall Diving

See also

Tongue of the Ocean The Tongue of the Ocean can be seen along the east coast of Andros Island. ...

Coordinates: 24°26′N, 77°57′W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...