The Bahamas

This article is licensed under theGNU Free Documentation License.It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Bahamas" (click for full Wikipedia text)

The  'Commonwealth of the Bahamas ' is an independent English language-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 Island (also called Watling's Island), in the southeastern Bahamas. He encountered Taino (also known as Lucayan) Indigenous peoples of the Americas and exchanged gifts with them. Taino Indians from both northwestern Hispaniola and northeastern Cuba moved into the southern Bahamas about the 7th century Anno Domini 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 Loyalist (American Revolution) and their slaves. Many of these United Kingdom Loyalist (American Revolution) 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").

Geography and climate

The Bahamas is an archipelago of some 700 islands and cays covering over 100,000 square mile (260,000 square kilometre) of the Atlantic Ocean between Florida and Hispaniola. The archipelago has a total land area of 5,382 square miles (13,939 km˛)—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, Bahamas. The Biminis are just 50 miles (80 kilometre) east of Florida. The island of Grand Bahama is home to the second largest city in the country, Freeport, Bahamas. The island of Abaco is to its east. The most southeastern island is Inagua. Other notable islands include Eleuthera, Cat Island, Bahamas, San Salvador Island, Acklins, Crooked Island, Bahamas, Exuma and Mayaguana. Nassau, Bahamas 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 Atlantic hurricane season, and Hurricane Floyd hit most of the islands in 1999 Atlantic hurricane season. Hurricane Frances of 2004 Atlantic hurricane season 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. List of Prime Ministers of the Bahamas 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 Parliament of the Bahamas. 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.

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 current system dates from 1996 when 23 districts were defined—a further 8 were added in 1999.

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 Gross Domestic Product 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 language, spoken by nearly all inhabitants, though many speak a patois form of it. A considerable number of immigrants also speak Haitian Creole language, Spanish language and Portuguese language. 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 Communion and Roman Catholic churches. A few people, especially in the southern and eastern islands, practice  Obeah , a spiritism 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.

Sports and culture

Bahamian culture is a hybrid of African, European influences. Perhaps its most famous expression is a rhythmic form of music called junkanoo. Aside from the Junkanoo, other indigenous forms of music include rake and scrape, calypso, and a unique form of hymnal, known internationally through the music of Joseph Spence, who is now deceased. Marching bands are also an important part of life, playing at funerals, weddings and other ceremonial events. In the less developed out islands - sometimes called "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,c such as the "pineapple fest" in Gregory Town, Eleuthera or the "crab fest" on Andros, Bahamas. Other significant traditions include story telling and the practice of Obeah. There is no real national sport in The Bahamas. Although British sports like cricket and soccer were once popular, American influences are stronger today as can be seen from the popularity of basketball, softball and American football. There are several world class Bahamian track and field athletes. The Bahamas has won Olympic gold medals in sailing (Sir Durwood Knowles and Cecile Cooke - 1964), and track and field (Tonique Williams-Darling - 2004, and womens relay team - 2000)

See also

• Bahamian American
• Bahamians
• Tongue of the Ocean, a geological phenomenon
• Communications in the Bahamas
• Foreign relations of the Bahamas
• Military of the Bahamas
• Transport in the Bahamas
• Postage stamps and postal history of the Bahamas
• The Scout Association of the Bahamas

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 Bahamas . 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.

External links

• Official website for Bahamas government
• The Bahamas Constitution
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  This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Bahamas" (click for full Wikipedia text) Hide