BAHAMAS PHOTOGRAPHY

Sun. Sea. Sand. And all that goes along with it -- is what the Bahamas is made of.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered the Bahamas for Western Civilization when he made landfall on the island of San Salvador in the eastern Bahamas (called Guanahani by the Lucayan Indians). After observing the shallow sea around the islands, he said "Baja Mar" (shallow water or sea), and effectively named the area The Bahamas, or Islands of the Shallow Sea.

The Bahamas forms a 100,000 square mile archipelago that extends over five hundred miles over some the most gorgeous waters in the world. The 700 islands, including uninhabited cays and large rocks, total an estimated land area of over five thousand square miles, and register a highest land elevation of 206 ft. on Cat Island. With 700 islands sprinkled out over 100,000 sq. miles of ocean, The Bahamas offers the largest assortment of vacation spots of any tropical destination. Islands are circled by cays (pronounced “keys”).

Since it was located so close to Florida, the Bahamas has attracted the attention of explorers, pirates, smugglers and tourists. These people shaped the history of the Bahamas and made it into the country that it is today.