Cat Island

Island in the West Indies, part of the Bahamas; length 80 km/50 mi; area 388 sq km/150 sq mi; population (2000) 1,600. The main settlements are New Bight, Arthur's Town, Port Howe, and Devil's Point. The island's economy is based on agriculture and fishing. Cat Island is considered the most fertile island in the Bahamas. It also possesses magnificent beaches and since the 1950s it has been a popular tourist attraction. Mount Alvernia (63 m/206 ft), in the south of the island, is the highest point in the Bahamas.

There is evidence of pre-Hispanic settlement on Cat Island. The island was once known as San Salvador, and is believed by some to be the site of Columbus's first landfall in the ‘New World’. A form of Bahamian voodoo known as Obeah is practised here.