Everything about The Bahamas totally explained
The
Commonwealth of The Bahamas is a
North American,
English-speaking country consisting of two thousand
cays and seven hundred
islands that form an
archipelago. It is located in the
Atlantic Ocean, southeast of
Florida and the
United States, north of
Cuba, the island of
Hispanola and the
Caribbean, and northwest of the
British overseas territory of the
Turks and Caicos Islands.
History
Whatever the area may have been populated previously by, the seafaring
Taino people moved into the southern Bahamas around the 7th century from Florida and Cuba. These people came to be known as the
Lucayans. There were an estimated 30,000+ Lucayans at the time of Columbus' arrival in 1492.
Christopher Columbus's first landfall in the
New World was on an island he named
San Salvador (known to the Lucayans as
Guanahahani) which may be
Samana Cay or present-day
San Salvador Island (also known as Walter's Island), in the central part of the Bahamas archipelago. Here, Columbus made contact with the Lucayans and exchanged goods with them.
Bahamian Lucayans were later taken to
Hispaniola as slaves; and within two decades, Lucayan societies ceased to exist due to forced labour, warfare, massacre, disease, emigration and intermarriage. After the Lucayan population was eliminated, the Bahamian islands were virtually unoccupied until English settlers led by
William Sayle came from
Bermuda seeking religious freedom in 1647. The
Eleutherian Adventurers established settlements on the island of
Eleuthera - the name derives from the Greek word for freedom. They later discovered New Providence and named it Sayle's Island. To survive, the settlers looted passing ships.
In
1670 King Charles II granted the islands to the Lord Proprietors of the Carolinas, who rented the islands from the king with rights of trading, tax, appointing
governors, and administering the country. During proprietary rule, the Bahamas became a haven for
pirates, including the infamous
Blackbeard. To restore orderly government, the Bahamas was made a British
crown colony in 1718 under the royal governorship of Woodes Rogers, who cracked down on piracy.
During the
American Revolutionary War, the islands were a target for American naval forces under the command of Commodore Ezekial Hopkins. The capital of Nassau on the island of New Providence was occupied by
US Marines for a fortnight. In 1782, after the British defeat at
Yorktown, a Spanish fleet appeared off Nassau, which surrendered without a fight. But the 1783
Treaty of Versailles - which ended the global conflict between Britain, France and Spain - returned the Bahamas to British sovereignty.
After the American Revolution, some 8,000
Loyalists and slaves moved to the Bahamas from New York, Florida and the Carolinas. The Americans established plantations on several out islands and became a political force in the capital. The British went on to abolish the
slave trade in 1807, which led to the forced settlement on Bahamian islands of thousands of Africans liberated from slave ships by the
Royal Navy. Slavery was finally abolished in the
British Empire on
August 1 1834.
Modern political development began after the Second World War. The first political parties were formed in the 1950s and the British made the islands internally self-governing in 1964. In 1973, the Bahamas became fully independent, but retained membership in the
Commonwealth of Nations. In 1967,
Lynden Pindling became the first black premier of the colony, and in 1968 became prime minister. Another black Bahamian, Sir Milo Butler, was appointed governor-general upon independence.
Based on the pillars of tourism and offshore financial services, the Bahamian economy has prospered since the 1950s. Today, the country enjoys the third highest per capita income in the hemisphere. Despite this, there are significant challenges in areas such as education, health care, international narcotics trafficking and illegal immigration from Haiti.
The origin of the name "Bahamas" is unclear. It may derive from the Spanish
baja mar, meaning "shallow seas"; or the Lucayan word for Grand Bahama Island,
ba-ha-ma "large upper middle land".
Geography
The closest island to the United States is
Bimini, which is also known as the gateway to the Bahamas. The island of
Abaco is to the east of
Grand Bahama. The most southeastern island is
Great Inagua. Other notable islands include the Bahamas' largest island,
Andros Island, and
Eleuthera,
Cat Island,
Long Island,
San Salvador Island,
Acklins,
Crooked Island,
Exuma and
Mayaguana.
Nassau, the Bahamas capital city, lies on the island of
New Providence.
All the islands are low and flat, with ridges that usually rise no more than 15~20 m [50-60feet]. The highest point in the country is Mount Alvernia, or Como Hill, which has an altitude of .
To the southeast, the
Turks and Caicos 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 during the 1992 Atlantic hurricane season, and Hurricane Floyd hit most of the islands during the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season.
Hurricane Frances hit in 2004; the Atlantic hurricane season 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. In Grand Bahama, tidal surges and high winds destroyed homes and schools, floated graves and made roughly 1,000 people homeless, most of whom lived on the west coast of the island. They are still recovering to this day.
Districts
The districts of the Bahamas provide a system of local government everywhere in The Bahamas except
New Providence, whose affairs are handled directly by the central government. The districts other than New Providence are:
Government and politics
The Bahamas is an independent country and a member of the
Commonwealth of Nations. Political and legal traditions closely follow those of the United Kingdom.
Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of State, represented by a
Bahamian governor-general. The
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 current governor-general is
Arthur Dion Hanna and the current
prime minister is
Hubert Alexander Ingraham. The upper house (the Senate) is appointed.
Executive power is exercised by the cabinet.
Legislative power is vested in 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. These parties have included 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. Although The Bahamas isn't geographically located in the Caribbean, it's a member of the
Caribbean Community. The
judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Jurisprudence is based on English common law.
Demographics
Blacks 85%, Whites 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3% according to the last census completed about the races on the island, which was recorded in 1953.
1953 census results by island>
| Region |
European |
% |
Mixed |
% |
African |
% |
Total |
| New Providence |
|
14.80% |
|
14.90% |
|
70.30% |
|
| Andros and Berry Islands |
97 |
1.30% |
299 |
4.01% |
|
94.69% |
|
| Grand Bahama and Bimini |
450 |
8.30% |
721 |
13.31% |
|
78.39% |
|
| Abaco |
|
33.63% |
225 |
6.60% |
|
59.77% |
|
| Harbour Island |
861 |
56.42% |
53 |
3.47% |
612 |
40.10% |
|
| Eleuthera |
662 |
10.93% |
|
17.54% |
|
71.53% |
|
| Cat Island |
12 |
0.37% |
86 |
2.69% |
|
96.94% |
|
| Exuma |
59 |
2.02% |
61 |
2.09% |
|
95.89% |
|
| San Salvador and Rum Cay |
46 |
5.56% |
51 |
6.17% |
730 |
88.27% |
827 |
| Long Island and Ragged Island |
564 |
13.84% |
|
50.83% |
|
35.33% |
|
| Crooked Islands, Acklins and Long Cay |
7 |
0.32% |
513 |
23.44% |
|
76.24% |
|
| Mayaguana and Inagua |
60 |
3.74% |
95 |
5.93% |
|
90.33% |
|
Bahamas
| |
12.71% |
|
14.28% |
|
73.01% |
|
Source:
Population: 300,529 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 29% (male 43,964; female 43,250)
15-64 years: 64.7% (male 95,508; female 98,859)
65 years and over: 6.3% (male 7,948; female 11,000) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.86% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 18.69 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 7.49 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: -2.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 17.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 69.87 years
female: 73.49 years (2002 est.)
male: 66.32 years
Total fertility rate: 2.28 children born/woman (2002 est.)
Nationality: noun: Bahamian(s)
adjective: Bahamian
Ethnic groups: black 85%, white 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3%
Religions: Baptist 32%, Anglican 20%, Roman Catholic 19%, Methodist 6%, Church of God 6%, other Protestant 12%, none or unknown 3%, other 2%
Languages: English, Creole (among Haitian immigrants)
Literacy (age 15+): total population: 98.2%
male: 98.5%
female: 98% (1995 est.)
Source: The Bahamas guide
In the less developed outer islands, handicrafts include basketry made from palm fronds. This material, commonly called "straw", is plaited into hats and bags that are popular tourist items.
Regattas are important social events in many family island settlements. They usually feature one or more days of sailing by old-fashioned
work boats, as well as an onshore festival.
Some settlements have festivals associated with the traditional crop or food of that area, such as the "Pineapple Fest" in Gregory Town,
Eleuthera or the "Crab Fest" on Andros. Other significant traditions include
story telling.
A strongly religious country, there are more places of worship per person in the Bahamas than many other nations in the world. The islands are overwhelmingly
Christian.
Baptists,
Anglicans and
Roman Catholics are the largest denominations.
A few people, especially in the southern and eastern islands, practice
Obeah, a
spiritistic religion similar to
Voodoo.
Voodoo is also practiced by a large number of people in
Haiti.
Sailing and
Track and field athletics are popular sports in the country.
Football and
rugby also have strong followings while American sports such as
basketball,
softball,
baseball and
American football are gaining in popularity.
Bahamians have won Olympic gold medals in sailing (Sir Durwood Knowles and Cecile Cooke in 1964) and track and field (
Tonique Williams-Darling in the 400 m in 2004 and the women's relay team in the 4×100m in 2000). They are also very active in the world of karting, the current Bahamian champion is Genevieve Siddons.
Economy
The Bahamian dollar is pegged to the US dollar, and US notes and coins are used interchangeably with Bahamian notes and coins within the islands for most practical purposes. However, government mandated exchange controls still apply for the purchase of any foreign currency.
The Bahamas is classified as an upper middle-income developing country and has the third highest per capita income in the western hemisphere (after the United States and Canada). Tourism is the primary economic activity, accounting for about two thirds of the
gross domestic product (GDP). Offshore finance is the second largest industry, accounting for about 15 per cent of GDP.
The government continues to promote tourism and financial services while aiming for greater diversification through agriculture, fishing, manufacturing and e-commerce.
In the 1960s, the country enjoyed robust growth averaging 9 per cent annually as direct foreign investment spurred the development of tourism. A global economic downturn after the 1973 oil price shock coincided with Bahamian independence and led to a drop in foreign investment. Toward the end of the decade economic performance improved, led by growth in tourism; and international narcotics trafficking. Real GDP growth in the 1980-84 period averaged 3 per cent, but declined in the late 1980s. GDP growth was 0.3 per cent in 1995 and accelerated to 6 per cent in 1999. After 9/11 the economy nosedived and began picking up again in 2003.
Historically, most development has occurred on New Providence and Grand Bahama, causing significant migration from the Family Islands to these two urban centers and straining their infrastructure. The government is also faced with the burden of duplicating facilities and services throughout the archipelago.
There is no tax.
Further Information
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