The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is an independent English-speaking nation in the West Indies. An archipelago of 700 islands and cays (which are small islands), the Bahamas is located in the Atlantic Ocean, east of Florida and the United States, north of Cuba and the Caribbean, and northwest of the British dependency of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

History

Christopher Columbus's first landfall in the New World in 1492 is believed to have been on the island of San Salvador (also called Watling's Island), in the southeastern Bahamas. He encountered Taino (also known as Lucayan) Amerindians and exchanged gifts with them.

Taino Indians from both northwestern Hispaniola and northeastern Cuba moved into the southern Bahamas about the 7th century AD and became the Lucayans. They appear to have settled the entire archipelago by the 12th century AD. There may have been as many as 40,000 Lucayans living in the Bahamas when Columbus arrived.

The Bahamian Lucayans were deported to Hispaniola as slaves, and within two decades Taino societies ceased to exist as a separate population due to forced labour, warfare, disease, emigration and outmarriage.

After the Lucayans were destroyed, the Bahamian islands were deserted until the arrival of English settlers from Bermuda in 1650. Known as the Eleutherian Adventurers, these people established settlements on the island now called Eleuthera (from the Greek word for freedom).

The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1718 but remained sparsely settled until the newly independent United States expelled thousands of American Tories and their slaves. Many of these British Loyalists were given compensatory land grants in Canada and the Bahamas. Some 8,000 loyalists and their slaves moved to the Bahamas in the late 1700s from New York, Florida and the Carolinas.

The British granted the islands internal self-government in 1964 and, in 1973, Bahamians achieved full independence while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Since the 1950s, the Bahamian economy has prospered based on the twin pillars of tourism and financial services. Despite this however the country still faces significant challenges in areas such as education, healthcare, correctional facilites and violent crime and illegal immigration. The urban renewal project has been launched in recent years to help impoverished urban areas in social decline in the main islands. Today, the country enjoys the third highest per capita income in the western hemisphere.

Some say the name 'Bahamas' derives from the Spanish for "shallow sea", baja mar. Others trace it to the Lucayan word for Grand Bahama Island, ba-ha-ma ("large upper middle land").

Capital                          Nassau25°4′N 77°20′W
Largest city                   Nassau
Official language(s)        English
Government                  Commonwealth
 - Monarch                       Elizabeth II
 - Governor-General          Arthur Dion Hanna
 - Prime Minister               Perry Christie
Independence  
 - From Britain                 July 10, 1973 
Area  
 - Total                         13,878 km² (160th)
                                   5,358 sq mi 
 - Water (%)                 28%
Population  
 - 2005 est.                   323,0001 (177th)
 - 1990 census               254,685
 - Density                      23/km² (181st)
                                   60/sq mi 
GDP (PPP)                   2005 estimate
 - Total                       $6.524 billion (145th)
 - Per capita                 $20,076 (34th)
HDI                           (2003) 0.832 (50th) – high
Currency                      Dollar (BSD)
Time zone                   EST (UTC−5)
 - Summer                   (DST) EDT (UTC−4)
Internet                           TLD .bs
Caodelling code                 +1-242

Geography and climate

The Bahamas is an archipelago of some 700 islands and cays covering over 100,000 mi² (260,000 km²) of the Atlantic Ocean between Florida and Hispaniola. The archipelago has a total land area of 5,382 square miles (13,939 km²)—about 20% larger than Jamaica—and a population of some 310,000 concentrated on the islands of New Providence and Grand Bahama.

The largest island is Andros Island. The Biminis are just 50 miles (80 km) east of Florida. The island of Grand Bahama is home to the second largest city in the country, Freeport. The island of Abaco is to its east. The most southeastern island is Inagua. Other notable islands include Eleuthera, Cat Island, San Salvador, Acklins, Crooked Island, Exuma and Mayaguana. Nassau is the capital and largest city, located on New Providence. The islands have a subtropical climate, moderated by the Gulf Stream.

In the southeast, the Caicos Islands and the Turks islands, and three more extensive submarine features called Mouchoir Bank, Silver Bank, and Navidad Bank, are geographically a continuation of the Bahamas, but not part of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

The climate of the Bahamas is subtropical to tropical, and is moderated significantly by the waters of the Gulf Stream, particularly in winter. Conversely, this often proves very dangerous in the summer and autumn, when hurricanes pass near or through the islands. Hurricane Andrew hit the northern islands in 1992, and Hurricane Floyd hit most of the islands in 1999. Hurricane Frances of 2004 was expected to be the worst ever for the islands. Also in 2004, the northern Bahamas were hit by a less potent Hurricane Jeanne. In 2005 the northern islands were once again struck this time by Hurricane Wilma. Tidal surges and high winds destroyed homes, schools, floated graves and made roughly 1,000 people homeless.

Government and politics            

The Bahamas is an independent country and member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Political and legal traditions closely follow those of the United Kingdom.

The Queen of the United Kingdom is the ceremonial head of state, represented by a Bahamian governor-general. Prime Minister is the head of government and is the leader of the party with the most seats in the elected House of Assembly. The upper house - or Senate - is appointed. Executive power is exercised by the cabinet. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament.

The party system is dominated by the centre-left Progressive Liberal Party and the centre-right Free National Movement. A handful of splinter parties have been unable to win election to parliament, despite a feeling among many Bahamians that both the FNM and the PLP are strikingly similar in their approach. These parties include the Bahamas Democratic Movement, the Coalition for Democratic Reform and the Bahamian Nationalist Party.

Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association. The Bahamas is a member of the Caribbean Community. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Jurisprudence is based on English common law.

Economy

The Bahamas is a stable, developing nation with an economy heavily dependent on tourism and offshore banking. Tourism alone accounts for more than 60% of GDP and directly or indirectly employs almost half of the labour force. Steady growth in tourism receipts and a boom in construction of new hotels, resorts, and residences have led to solid GDP growth in recent years.

Manufacturing and agriculture together contribute approximately a tenth of GDP and show little growth, despite government incentives aimed at those sectors. Overall growth prospects in the short run rest heavily on the fortunes of the tourism sector, which depends on growth in the United States, the source of the majority of tourist visitors.

Not everyone has benefitted from the prosperity of recent years; unemployment remains at 10%. The poverty rate of 9% however, is low compared to other Caribbean countries.

Demographics Most of the Bahamian population is black at about 85%. The next largest population group are whites at 12%. Other minorities include Asians and Hispanics at 3%. Many Bahamian whites are concentrated on Abaco Island, Spanish Wells, Harbour Island, Long Island, and the Montagu Bay district of New Providence (just to the east of Nassau). There is also a significant number of non-citizen white expatriates from the United States and Europe.

The official language is English, spoken by nearly all inhabitants, though many speak a patois form of it. A considerable number of immigrants also speak Haitian Creole, Spanish and Portuguese.

A strongly religious country, there are more places of worship per person in the Bahamas than any other nation in the world. The islands are overwhelming Protestant Christian (over 80%). Baptists form the largest denomination (about one third), followed by the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.

A few people, especially in the southern and eastern islands, practice Obeah, a spiritistic religion similar to Voodoo. While well-known throughout the Bahamas, obeah is shunned by many people. Voodoo is practiced, but almost exclusively by the large number of immigrants from Haiti, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Jamaica.