Long Island, Bahamas

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This article is about the island in the Bahamas. For other uses of the word "Long Island", see Long Island (disambiguation).

Long Island is a sixty-mile (nearly 100km) long island in the Bahamas that is split by the Tropic of Cancer. The island is only about four miles (6km) wide, but a road spans most of the length. Long Island is about 150 miles or 240 kilometres southeast of Nassau. Some of the main settlements are Clarence Town, Deadman's Cay, and Scrub Hill. Long Island is one of the Districts of the Bahamas.

The island originally was called by the Arawak name "Yuma". It was rechristened "Fernandina" by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage in 1492. Archaeological evidence shows that the Lucayan Taíno tribe settled on Long Island, as they did throughout the Bahamian chain of islands. After the demise of the Lucayans, who were carried as slaves to Hispaniola and Cuba, there was no large settlement until the arrival of the Loyalists.

The Loyalists were people mainly from New England and New Jersey who fled the American Revolution. Numerous Loyalist families settled on Long Island, some setting up cotton plantations and other raising cattle and sheep. The plantations flourished for only a few years and, by the time of the abolition of slavery in 1834, most of them had collapsed and been abandoned. There are many ruins from this era today, the majority of which are overgrown by bush. There are also remains of some of the houses built after slavery, which are usually small and built of stone. Orginally they had thatched roofs; today, most are shingled. The descendants of these families continue to be widespread on the island. The population of Long Island is roughly 3,600 inhabitants.

Part of the economy is based on tourism and fishing, but subsistence farming dominates the economy. The inhabitants grow peas, corn, bananas, and pineapples, and they raise small livestock such as pigs, chickens, goats, and sheep. Some cattle are raised for export. Tourists enjoy sailing, fishing, scuba diving, snorkeling and relaxing on fine beaches and exploring its distinctive landscapes, comprised of rugged hills and crashing waves along the Atlantic east coast, with more tranquil waters on the west coast.