Freeport

Freeport is a city, district and free trade zone located on the island of Grand Bahama of the North-west Bahamas. In 1955, Wallace Groves, a Virginian financier with lumber interests in Grand Bahama, was granted 50,000 acres (or 202 sq km of pineyard with substantial areas of swamp and scrubland by the Bahamian government with a mandate to economically develop the area. Freeport has grown to become the second most populous city in the Bahamas.The main airport serving the city is the Grand Bahama International Airport.

The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) operates the free trade zone, under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement signed in August 1955 whereby the Bahamian Government agreed that businesses in the Freeport area will pay no taxes before 2054. The area of the land grants has been increased to 138,000 acres or 526 sq km. Freeport is a 230-square-mile (600 sq km) free trade zone on Grand Bahama Island, established in 1955 by the Government of The Bahamas. The city of Freeport emerged from a land grant comprising 50,000 acres (200 sq km) of swamp and scrub to become a cosmopolitan centre.