When Christopher Columbus sailed to America, what was the first region he arrived in?

The story behind the answer

The Bahamas Archipelago is correct because Columbus’s first landfall in 1492 was on an island he named San Salvador (likely Guanahani), part of today’s Bahamas. He did not reach Florida, Nicaragua, or the Isthmus of Panama on that first voyage; those areas were contacted by Spaniards years later.

Context: On his first voyage, Columbus explored parts of the Caribbean—Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola—believing he’d reached Asia. He only saw the Central American coast, including Panama, on his fourth voyage (1502–1504). Memory tip: “In fourteen ninety-two, Columbus’s first view—Bahamas blue.”