Rum Cay

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).

Rum Cay Mamana
Coordinates: 23°42′30″N 74°50′00″W
Country	Bahamas
Island	Rum Cay
Established	1996
Government
• Type	District Council
Area
• Total	78 km2 (30 sq mi)
Elevation	37 m (121 ft)
Population  (2022)
• Total	90[1]
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)

The main settlement is Port Nelson. Its population was recorded as 90 as of 2022^[update]. 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' 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 the island as corresponding to different islands in the Bahamas or Caicos.^[4]

Transportation

The island is served by Port Nelson Airport.