Cayo Samaná (Isla)

"Cayo Samaná es una pequeña isla situada en el centro de las Bahamas, deshabitada la mayor parte de la historia y se cree que pudo ser la isla en la que Cristobal Colón desembarcó el 12 de octubre de 1492. Los nativos de la isla a la que Cristobal Colón arribó el 12 de octubre de 1492, denominaban a su isla Guanahani, pero actualmente se ha perdido cuál es la isla original.En 1882, Gustavus Fox propuso que Cayo Samaná era la verdadera Guanahani, pero los estudios del siglo XX apuntaban a la isla de San Salvador/Waitling. Sin embargo, en 1986, Joseph Judge de la National Geographic Society realizó nuevos cálculos basados en los diarios de Colón y aseguró que Cayo Samaná era la localización correcta de Guanahani. La afirmaciones de Joseph Judge han sido polémicas. La isla tiene nueve millas de largo (en la dirección Este - Oeste) y entre 1 y 2 millas de ancho. Sus coordenadas geográficas son 23°05N 73°45O / 23.083, -73.750. Cayo Samaná ha tenido una población permanente durante la primera mitad del siglo XX (las ruinas de este establecimiento son todavía visibles en la parte sur de la isla, cerca del final occidental), pero a día de hoy está deshabitada."

"Samana Cay is the largest now uninhabited island in the Region of the Bahamas as it is not owned by the Bahamas, believed by some researchers to have been the location of Columbus's first landfall in the Americas, on October 12, 1492. It is an islet, located in the eastern Bahamas, 22 miles (35 km) northeast of Acklins Island. About 10 miles (16 km) long and up to 2 miles (3 km) wide with an area of about 17.37 mi² (45 km²) it is bound by reefs. The verdant cay has long been uninhabited, but figurines, pottery shards, and other artifacts discovered there in the mid-1980s have been ascribed to Lucayan Indians living on the cay about the time of Christopher Columbus' voyages. In October 1986 the National Geographic Society (U.S.), announcing completion of a five-year study, suggested that Samana Cay was the site of Columbus' first landfall in the New World. The indigenous people of the island on which Columbus first landed called it Guanahani. Samana Cay was first proposed to be Guanahani by Gustavus Fox in 1882, but the predominant theory gives the honour to San Salvador Island. However, in 1986 Joseph Judge of National Geographic Magazine made different calculations based on extracts from Columbus's logs, and argued for Samana Cay as the location, though his methodology has also been criticised. Samana was a name of apparent Lucayan origin (meaning "Small Middle Forest") used by the Spanish to designate one of the islands in the Bahamas. Granberry and Vesceliuus identify that island as the present-day Samana Cay. Samana Cay had a permanent population during the first half of the 20th century and the ruins of this settlement are visible on the south side of the island, near the western end. The island is now uninhabited, but residents of nearby Acklins Island visit occasionally to collect cascarilla bark, which grows in abundance on the island. Now that Samana Cay has no inhabitants it is considered a "No Mans Land" stating that if no one owns/lives on it, it is up for grabs. Legally according to the Montevideo Convention a country must have a permanent population and since it is not part of the land mass of another bohemian island and is in the international waters, about 12 nautical miles away from any other bohemian island it is not owned nor can be distributed by the Bahamas."