Freeport (Bahamas)

District

Freeport is a city and free trade zone on the island of Grand Bahama, located approximately 160 kilometers northeast of Fort Lauderdale ( Florida). The population was 26,910 inhabitants in 2000.

In 1955 Wallace Groves, a financier from Virginia who was interested in first for the wood growing on the island, over 200 km ² of land by the government of the Bahamas. On this land he founded the city of Freeport, which soon became the second largest in the Bahamas (after Nassau ).

The Grand Bahama Port Authority ( GBPA ) operates the free trade zone under the signed in August 1955 Hawksbill Creek Agreement. The agreement states that until 2054 no taxes are paid.

The port can be run even the largest ships and has a berth for cruise ships, a container port and a private marina, including scaffolds.

The airport of Freeport, Grand Bahama International Airport ( IATA airport code: FPO, ICAO airport code: MYGF ) handles per year from nearly 50,000 takeoffs and landings.

Tourism is the second source of income Freeport, with around one million visitors per year. Much of the tourist industry is located on the seafront at Lucaya, which has its name based on the pre-Columbian Lucayan natives.

The city is the birthplace of Quentin Hall, a basketball player, and Andre Deveaux, an ice hockey player who plays in the NHL, as well as Sebastian Bach, former lead singer of the rock group Skid Row.

• Place in the Bahamas