San Salvador (island)

San Salvador island of the Bahamas , West Indies. Many historians believe that it was the first land sighted by Columbus in the New World in 1492. The indigenous population called it Guanahani, and it has also been named Watling or Watlings Island. It was formerly confused with what is now known as Cat Island.

San Salvador, Argentina, Bahamas, El Salvador, Galapagos Islands, Peru 1. ‘Holy Saviour’.2. Bahamas: an island, thought to be the first landfall made by Christopher Columbus^† after his first crossing of the Atlantic in 1492, although there is not universal agreement on this. The promotion of Christianity was one of the principal aims of Columbus, hence the name. Until his arrival the local name was Guanahani. The island is also called Watling's Island after a notorious pirate.3. El Salvador: a department and a city founded in 1525 on 6 August, the feast day of the Transfiguration of the Saviour, by the Spanish. It was near Suchitoto some 20 miles (32 km) north‐east of its present site to which it was moved three years later. It was the capital of the United Provinces of Central America in 1834–9 and has been the capital of El Salvador ever since. The nearby volcano of San Salvador has the Nahuatl name of Quetzaltepec ‘Mountain of Quetzal Birds’.4. Galapagos Islands: an island originally named James's Island after King James II^†. It was also known as York since he had been the Duke of York.