Lucayan Archipelago
Location within the Caribbean
Location within the Caribbean
Coordinates: 23°44′N 75°22′W / 23.74°N 75.37°W / 23.74; -75.37
ContinentNorth America
SubregionCaribbean
Countries and territories
Area
  Total14,308 km2 (5,524 sq mi)
Population
 (2016)
  Total443,000
  Density24.6/km2 (64/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Bahamian, Turks Islander, Caicos Islander
Time zoneUTC−05:00 (EST)
  Summer (DST)UTC−04:00 (EDT)

The Lucayan Archipelago (named for the original native Lucayan people), also known as the Bahamian Archipelago, is an island group comprising the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The archipelago is in the western North Atlantic Ocean, north of Cuba and the other Antillean Islands, and east and south-east of Florida.

William Keegan writes: "Modern political considerations aside, the islands form a single archipelago with common geological, ecological, and cultural roots."[1] Though part of the West Indies, the Lucayan Archipelago is not located on the Caribbean Sea.

Countries and territories

The Mouchoir Bank, the Silver Bank, and the Navidad Bank are a submerged continuation of the archipelago, to the southeast of the Turks and Caicos Islands.[2] Mouchoir Bank is disputed between the Turks and Caicos Islands and Dominican Republic, Silver Bank and Navidad Bank are part of the Dominican Republic.

Etymologies of island names

Julian Granberry and Gary Vescelius suggest the following Lucayan (Taíno) etymologies for various Lucayan islands.[3]

Spanish nameModern nameTaíno formMeaning
InaguaInaguai+na+waSmall Eastern Land
BanequeInaguaba+ne+keBig Water Island
GuanahaníLittle Inaguawa+na+ha+niSmall Upper Waters Land
UtiaquiaRagged Islandhuti+ya+kayaWestern Hutia Island
Jume(n)toCrooked/Jumentoha+wo+ma+teUpper Land of the Middle Distance
CurateoExumako+ra+te+woOuter Far Distant Land
GuaratíaExumawa+ra+te+yaFar Distant Land
BabuecaTurks Bankba+we+kaLarge Northern Basin
CacinaBig Sand Cayka+si+naLittle Northern Sand
CanamaniSalt Cayka+na+ma+niSmall Northern Mid-Waters
CacumaniSalt Cayka+ko+ma+niMid-Waters Northern Outlier
MacarequeCotton CayMa+ka+ri+keMiddle Northern Land
AmuanaGrand Turkaba+wa+naFirst Small Land
CacibaSouth Caicoska+sibaNorthern Rocky
GuanaEast Caicoswa+naSmall Country
AnianaMiddle Caicosa+ni+ya+naSmall Far Waters
CaicosNorth Caicoska+i+koNearby Northern Outlier
BuianaPine Caybu+ya+naSmall Western Home
BonianaPine Caysbo+ni+ya+naSmall Western Waters Home
YucanacanProvidencialesyuka+na+kaThe Peoples Small Northern [Land]
IanicanaProvidencialesya+ni+ka+naFar Waters Smaller [Land]
MacubizaWest Caicosma+ko+bi+saMid Unsettled Outlier
MayaguanaMayaguanama+ya+wa+naLesser Midwestern Land
AmaguayoPlana Caysa+ma+wa+yoToward the Middle Lands
YabaqueAcklins Islandya+ba+keLarge Western Land
SamanaSamanasa+ma+naSmall Middle Forest
YumaLong Islandyu+maHigher Middle
ManiguaRum Cayma+ni+waMid Waters Land
GuanahaníSan Salvadorwa+na+ha+hiSmall Upper Waters Land
GuateoLittle San Salvadorwa+te+yoToward the Distant Land
GuanimaCat Islandwa+ni+maMiddle Waters Land
AyraboGreat Guana Cayay+ra+boFar Distant Home
NemaNew Providencene+maMiddle Waters
CiguateoEleutherasiba+te+woDistant Rocky Place
LucayonequeGreat Abacoluka+ya+ne+keThe People's Distant Waters Land
BahamaGrand Bahamaba+ha+maLarge Upper Middle [Land]
HabacoaAndrosha+ba+ko+waLarge Upper Outlier Land
CanimisiWilliams Islandka+ni+misiNorthern Waters Swamp
BiminiBiminibiminiThe Twins

See also

References

  1. Keegan:20, 183
  2. Carew, James; Mylroie, John (1997). Vacher, H.L.; Quinn, T. (eds.). Geology of Bahamas, in Geology and Hydrology of Carbonate Islands, Developments in Sedimentology 54. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B.V. pp. 91-139. ISBN 9780444516442.
  3. Granberry, Julian, & Gary Vescelius (2004). Languages of the Pre-Columbian Antilles. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-5123-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Citations

  • Granberry, Julian (October 1991). "Lucayan Toponyms". Journal of the Bahamas Historical Society. 13. Retrieved 8 December 2013.

Further reading

  • Keegan, William F. (1992) The People Who Discovered Columbus: The Prehistory of the Bahamas. University Press of Florida ISBN 0-8130-1137-X
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