Exuma is a district of the Bahamas, consisting of over 360 islands (or cays). The largest of the cays is Great Exuma, which is 37 mi (60 km) in length. The largest city in the district is George Town (permanent population 1,000), founded 1793 and located on Great Exuma. The Tropic of Cancer runs through the city. The entire island chain is 130 mi (209 km) long and 27 sq. mi (72 sq. km) in area.

Exuma was settled in or around 1783 by American loyalists fleeing the Revolutionary War. The expatriates brought a cotton plantation economy to the islands. George Town was named in honor of George III, to whom the settlers maintained their sovereignty.

Lord John Rolle, a major Loyalist settler of the Exumas, is a major figure in the islands' heritage. Upon his death in 1835, he bestowed all of his significant Exuma land holdings to his slaves. As a result, a number of towns on Great Exuma have been named after him (such as Rolleville and Rolletown).

The islands are a popular spot for yachting, sailing, diving, and coral reef and cave exploring. Much of the unnamed beaches and coves of the island, including extensive offshore reef areas, are part of the protected Exuma National Land and Sea Park of the Bahamas National Trust.

The Exumas are the historic home of the Lucayan Indians, who were wholly enslaved in the 1500s, leaving the islands uninhabited until the 1700s. In the intervening period, the Exumas provided many hideouts and stashes for pirates.

External links

• Bahamas Government page on Exuma (http://www.bahamas.gov.bs/bahamasweb/aboutbahamas.nsf/0/e9461147a0efeaf806256a88004f003f?OpenDocument)
• Exuma Bahamas.com (http://www.exumabahamas.com/)
• Exuma History (http://www.peaceandplenty.com/en/history.html) at Peace and Plenty.com