Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 3, 2026

Rum Cay

Rum Cay is an island and district of The Bahamas. It measures 30 square miles (78 km2) in area. It is located at Lat.: N23 42' 30" – Long.: W 74 50' 00". It has many rolling hills that rise to about 120 feet.

Last revised
Jun 3, 2026
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Rum Cay
Mamana
Coordinates: 23°40′26″N 74°52′16″W / 23.6739°N 74.8711°W / 23.6739; -74.8711
CountryThe Bahamas
IslandRum Cay
Established1996
Government
 • TypeDistrict Council
Area
 • Total
78 km2 (30 sq mi)
Elevation
37 m (121 ft)
Population
 (2022)
 • Total
901
 • Density1.2/km2 (3.0/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)

Rum Cay (formerly known as Mamana and Santa Maria de la Concepción) is an island and district of The Bahamas. It measures 30 square miles (78 km2) in area. It is located at Lat.: N23 42' 30" – Long.: W 74 50' 00". It has many rolling hills that rise to about 120 feet (37 m).

The main settlement is Port Nelson. Its population was recorded as 90 as of 2022. Before 1996 the island was part of a combined district of San Salvador and Rum Cay.2

Location

Rum Cay is 20 miles (32 km) southwest of San Salvador Island.

History

Aboriginals

Rum Cay was called Mamana (or Manigua), meaning "mid waters land", by the native Lucayans.3 In the north there is a cave containing Lucayan drawings and carvings. Various artifacts from the Arawak period have been found by farmers in the fertile soil, which the natives enriched with bat guano.

Spanish

Some writers, such as Samuel Eliot Morison, identified Rum Cay as the site of one of Christopher Columbus's landfalls during his 1492 voyage, as the island Columbus called Santa María de la Concepción.3 However, a variety of other historians, geographers, and other writers identify that island as corresponding to different islands in the Bahamas or Caicos.4

Transportation

The island is served by Port Nelson Airport.

References

References

  1. "Census population and housing" (PDF). Bahamas Gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  2. "Census population and housing" (PDF). Bahamas Gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  3. Ahrens, Wolfgang P. (2015). "Naming the Bahamas Islands: History and Folk Etymology". Onomastica Canadiana. 94 (2): 101. ISSN 2816-7015. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  4. Wilcomb E. Washburn, "Landfall Controversy" in The Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia, Vol. 1 (ed. Silvio A. Bedin: Simon & Schuster, 1992).
External links