Crooked Island, island (93 sq mi/241 sq km; 1990 pop. 412), 250 mi/400 km SE of New Providence Isl., SE Bahamas; 22°45'N 74°10'W. A sparsely populated isl. producing aloe vera and cascarilla bark. Pop. figure includes neighboring Long Cay. Tourist development is very limited, and emigration has reduced the pop. by 75% since 1901. Visited by Columbus on Oct. 21, 1492. Amer. loyalists settled here and grew cotton in the 1780s, but later abandoned their plantations because of insect infestation.
