The Bahamas

Commonwealth of the Bahamas
Flag Coat of arms of The Bahamas Coat of arms
Motto: "Forward Upward Onward Together"
Anthem: March On, Bahamaland Royal anthem: God Save the Queen
Capital and largest city	Nassau
Official languages	English
Government	Commonwealth
• Monarch	Elizabeth II
• Governor-General	Arthur Dion Hanna
• Prime Minister	Hubert Ingraham
Independence  from the United Kingdom
• Self-governing	1963
• Full independence	July 10, 1973
• Water (%)	28%
Population
• 2003 estimate	323,0001 (177th)
• 1990 census	254,685
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
• Total	$6.524 billion (145th)
• Per capita	$17,8432 (38th)
HDI (2004)	0.825  (52nd2)
Currency	Dollar (BSD)
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Calling code	1-242
ISO 3166 code	BS
Internet TLD	.bs
Estimates for this country take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected. United Nations, 2006.

The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is an English-speaking nation consisting of two thousand keys and seven hundred islands and cays that form an archipelago. It 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

Although the area may have been populated previously, the seafaring Taino people moved into the Southern Bahamas around the seventh century from Hispaniola and Cuba. These people came to be known as the Lucayans. There were an estimated forty thousand Lucayans at the time of Columbus' arrival.

Christopher Columbus's first landfall in the New World was on San Salvador Island, also known as Watling's Island, in the southern part of Bahamas. Here, Columbus made contact with the Lucayans and exchanged goods with them.

Bahamian Lucayans were later taken to Hispaniola as slaves; in two decades, many Lucayan societies ceased to exist, as the population endured considerable forced labour, warfare, disease, emigration and outmarriage. After the Lucayan population was eliminated, the Bahamian islands were virtually unoccupied until the English settlers came from Bermuda in 1647. The Eleutherian Adventurers established settlements on the island of Eleuthera.

The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1718. Some 8,000 loyalists and their slaves moved to the Bahamas in the late 1700s from New York, Florida and the Carolinas. The Emancipation of the British West Indies United Kingdom Emancipation Act took force on August 1, 1834, thereby ending slavery in the Bahamas. This led to many fugitive slaves from the US braving the perils of the Atlantic for the promise of a free life in the Bahamas.

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, Sir Lynden Pindling became the first black Premier of the colony, and in 1973 became Prime Minister.

Based on the pillars of tourism and financial services, the Bahamas' economy has prospered since the 1950s. Today, the country enjoys the third highest per capita income in the western hemisphere, and the highest in the Caribbean excluding the dependent territories of Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Despite this, the country still faces significant challenges in areas such as education, health care, international narcotics trafficking, correctional facilities and illegal immigration. The urban renewal project has been launched in recent years to help build up dilapidated urban areas and social decline in the main islands.

The origin of the name "Bahamas" is ambiguous. It is thought to derive from the Spanish baja mar, meaning "shallow seas"; others trace the name to the Lucayan word for Grand Bahama Island, ba-ha-ma "large upper middle land".

Geography

Map of the Bahamas

The closest island to the United States is Bimini, which 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 Bahama's 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 island of New Providence.

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 in 1992 Atlantic hurricane season 1992, and Hurricane Floyd hit most of the islands in 1999 Atlantic hurricane season 1999. Hurricane Frances 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.

Districts

Main article: Districts of the Bahamas

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 are:

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Government and politics

Some of the islands as seen from a plane.

Main article: Politics of The Bahamas

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.

The non-resident Queen of the Bahamas is the ceremonial 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 Ingraham. The upper house (the 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. 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.

Demographics

See also: Demographics of the Bahamas

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	6,758	14.80%	6,804	14.90%	32,108	70.30%	45,670
Andros and Berry Islands	97	1.30%	299	4.01%	7,065	94.69%	7,461
Grand Bahama and Bimini	450	8.30%	721	13.31%	4,248	78.39%	5,419
Abaco	1,146	33.63%	225	6.60%	2,037	59.77%	3,408
Harbour Island	861	56.42%	53	3.47%	612	40.10%	1,526
Eleuthera	662	10.93%	1,062	17.54%	4,332	71.53%	6,056
Cat Island	12	0.37%	86	2.69%	3,103	96.94%	3,201
Exuma	59	2.02%	61	2.09%	2,799	95.89%	2,919
San Salvador and Rum Cay	46	5.56%	51	6.17%	730	88.27%	827
Long Island and Ragged Island	564	13.84%	2,072	50.83%	1,440	35.33%	4,076
Crooked Islands, Acklins and Long Cay	7	0.32%	513	23.44%	1,669	76.24%	2,189
Mayaguana and Inagua	60	3.74%	95	5.93%	1,448	90.33%	1,603
Bahamas	10,722	12.71%	12,042	14.28%	61,591	73.01%	84,355

Source:

Culture and sports

Junkanoo celebration in the Bahamas.

See also: Culture of the Bahamas

Bahamian culture is a hybrid of African and European influences. Perhaps its greatest expression is a rhythmic form of music called Junkanoo. Aside from Junkanoo, other indigenous forms of music include rake and scrape, calypso, and a unique form of hymnal, known internationally through the music of the late Joseph Spence. Marching bands are also an important part of life, playing at funerals, weddings and other ceremonial events. The country's first movie, Filthy Rich Gangster, was written and directed by a Bahamian named Jimmy Curry, who also wrote, produced and performed the regions first Hip Hop and Junkanoo Hip Hop records. Curry was also the first Bahamian signed to legendary American record label Sugar Hill Records.

In the less developed outer islands - islands outside the capital Nassau, known as the "Out Islands" or "Family Islands" - crafts include basketry made from palm fronds. This material, commonly called "straw", is also plaited into hats and bags that are popular tourist items today.

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 Protestant Christian (over 80%). Baptists form the largest denomination (about one third), followed by the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. As of 2006, one out of 191 in the population was a Jehovah's Witness .

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

Officially, the national sport of the Bahamas is cricket. However, its popularity has declined. Track and field is currently the most popular sport. Football and rugby also have a strong following. American sports such as basketball, softball, baseball and American football are also played.

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 400m, 2004) and women's relay team (the 4 by 100m in 2000).

Economic overview

Atlantis Paradise Island

In the mid-1980s, the Bahamas was classified as an upper middle-income developing country and ranked among the wealthiest nations in the Caribbean region. Tourism was the nation's primary economic activity. In 1986 the World Bank reported that tourism directly and indirectly accounted for approximately 50 percent of employment. Tourism's share of the gross domestic product (GDP--see Glossary) was estimated at 70 percent by the United States Department of Commerce.

In order to lessen the economy's dependency on tourism, the government has followed a policy of diversification since the 1970s, emphasizing development in the industrial and agricultural sectors. Success, however, has been limited. The nation experienced setbacks in the early 1980s with the closing of steel and cement plants and oil refineries. Because industries locating in the Bahamas tended to be capital intensive, the industrial sector's share of the labor force was estimated at just 6 percent in 1979. Industry's share of GDP was estimated at about 10 percent in the mid-1980s. The agricultural sector (including fishing) also employed only about 6 percent of the labor force in the early 1980s. Despite various programs to boost production, the World Bank estimated that agriculture in the Bahamas accounted for less than 5 percent of GDP in 1986. The nation's banking and finance sector experienced significant growth in the 1970s and 1980s. This sector contributed approximately 7 percent to GDP in the mid-1980s but employed only about 3,000 Bahamians.

The overall performance of the economy during the past several decades has been positive. In the 1960s, the country recorded robust economic growth; growth rates averaged 9 percent annually as direct foreign investment spurred the development of tourism. Economic performance in the 1970s was not as successful. The international economic recession caused a reduction in investment, especially after the 1973 and 1979 oil price shocks. Bahamian independence in 1973 also caused a certain amount of uncertainty, contributing further to reduced foreign investment. Toward the end of the decade, however, economic performance improved, led by growth in tourism; investment soon followed suit, resulting in a boom in the construction sector and an increase in employment levels.

The economy continued to perform well in the early and mid1980s. Real GDP growth in the 1980-84 period averaged 3 percent. The only notable setback occurred in 1981, when recession in the United States resulted in a decline in stopover visitors (hotel occupants rather than cruise ship or day visitors) and the manufacturing sector was hurt by the closing of several plants; real GDP for that year fell by 9 percent. Tourism recovered quickly, however. In 1982 about 1.7 million foreign tourists visited the Bahamas, and by 1986 that figure had grown to 3 million. GDP was US$1.8 billion in 1985, and per capita GDP was estimated at US$7,822.

The nation was not without economic problems. Growth and development were not uniform throughout the country. Most development occurred in New Providence and Grand Bahama, causing significant migration from the Family Islands to these two urban centers. This migration strained the infrastructure and social sectors of New Providence and Grand Bahama. The government also was faced with the heavy burden of spreading facilities and services throughout the Family Islands. A second problem of the Bahamian economy was its dependence on a single sector, tourism; that sector's well-being was in turn affected by the economy in the United States, the source of most tourists. To reduce this dependency, the government actively pursued a policy of diversification. Finally, the country was afflicted with the problem of structural unemployment; in 1986 unemployment levels were estimated in the 17- to 22-percent range. Industrial development tended to be capital intensive because of a high wage structure and a scarcity of technically skilled labor.

See also

Column-generating template families

The templates listed here are not interchangeable. For example, using {{col-float}} with {{col-end}} instead of {{col-float-end}} would leave a <div>...</div> open, potentially harming any subsequent formatting.

Column templates

Type	Family	Handles wiki table code?†	Responsive/ mobile suited	Start template	Column divider	End template
Float	"col-float"	Yes	Yes	{{col-float}}	{{col-float-break}}	{{col-float-end}}
	"columns-start"	Yes	Yes	{{columns-start}}	{{column}}	{{columns-end}}
Columns	"div col"	Yes	Yes	{{div col}}	–	{{div col end}}
	"columns-list"	No	Yes	{{columns-list}} (wraps div col)	–	–
Flexbox	"flex columns"	No	Yes	{{flex columns}}	–	–
Table	"col"	Yes	No	{{col-begin}}, {{col-begin-fixed}} or {{col-begin-small}}	{{col-break}} or {{col-2}} .. {{col-5}}	{{col-end}}

^† Can template handle the basic wiki markup {| | || |- |} used to create tables? If not, special templates that produce these elements (such as {{(!}}, {{!}}, {{!!}}, {{!-}}, {{!)}})—or HTML tags (<table>...</table>, <tr>...</tr>, etc.)—need to be used instead.

References

General history

• Cash Philip et al. (Don Maples, Alison Packer). The Making of the Bahamas: A History for Schools. London: Collins, 1978.
• Albury, Paul. The Story of The Bahamas. London: MacMillan Caribbean, 1975.
• Miller, Hubert W. The Colonization of the Bahamas, 1647–1670, The William and Mary Quarterly 2 no.1 (Jan 1945): 33–46.
• Craton, Michael. A History of the Bahamas. London: Collins, 1962.
• Craton, Michael and Saunders, Gail. Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992

Economic history

• Johnson, Howard. The Bahamas in Slavery and Freedom. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishing, 1991.
• Johnson, Howard. The Bahamas from Slavery to Servitude, 1783–1933. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1996.
• Storr, Virgil H. Enterprising Slaves and Master Pirates: Understanding Economic Life in the Bahamaz. New York: Peter Lang, 2004.

Social history

• Johnson, Wittington B. Race Relations in the Bahamas, 1784–1834: The Nonviolent Transformation from a Slave to a Free Society. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas, 2000.
• Shirley, Paul. "Tek Force Wid Force", History Today 54, no. 41 (April 2004): 30–35.
• Saunders, Gail. The Social Life in the Bahamas 1880s–1920s. Nassau: Media Publishing, 1996.
• Saunders, Gail. Bahamas Society After Emancipation. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishing, 1990.
• Curry, Jimmy. Filthy Rich Gangster/First Bahamian Movie. Movie Mogul Pictures: 1996.

External links

• Official website for Bahamas government
• Official website for Bahamas Tourist Office
• Template:Wikitravelpar
• Bahamas Financial Services Board
• The Association of International Banks & Trust Companies in The Bahamas
• The Bahamas Constitution
• Bahamian Studies Online
• "Bahamas". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency.
• Rum Cay, Bahamas