Bahamas

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Or Bahama Islands,

officially Commonwealth of the Bahamas, independent state, West Indies a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The Bahamas consists of an archipelago of about 700 islands and islets and nearly 2400 cays and rocks, extending for about 1200 km (about 750 mi) from a point SE of Palm Beach, Fla., to a point off the E tip of Cuba. The Biminis, the westernmost of the group, are about 97 km (about 60 mi) E of Miami, Fla. Total area of the islands is 13,939 sq km (5382 sq mi).

Only about 30 of the islands are inhabited. The overall population at the 2000 census was 303,611. In 2008, the population was estimated to be 307,451, yielding a density of 31 per sq km (79 per sq mi). New Providence is economically the most important of the group and contains about two-thirds of the Bahamas' total population, which is about 85% black. The other chief islands, all of which are low-lying, include Abaco, Acklin's Island, Andros, Berry, Bimini, Cat, Crooked, Eleuthera, Exuma and Cays, Grand Bahama, Harbour, Inagua, Long Island, Mayaguana, Ragged, Rum Cay, San Salvador (Watling), and Spanish Wells. The capital of the islands is Nassau (pop., 2000 census, 210,832; 2008 est., 240,000), on New Providence. The only other large town is Freeport (2000 census 26,910), on Grand Bahama. See also World Almanac: Nations of the World - The Bahamas; World Almanac: Current Population and Projections for All Countries.

English is the official language. Creole is spoken by Haitians, who came to the Bahamas in large numbers as illegal immigrants.

Education is compulsory for all children between the ages of 5 and 16; more than 95% of the adult population is literate. The leading institution of higher education is the College of the Bahamas (1974); about 5000 students were enrolled in the early 2000s at the college's three campuses. The Bahamas Environmental Research Center is located on Andros island.

Economy

The Bahamas is one of the wealthiest Caribbean countries, with a gross domestic product (GDP), in purchasing power parity, of $8.3 billion, or $25,000 per capita in 2008. Because of favorable tax laws, the Bahamas has become a center of international banking and investment management. With its pleasant subtropical climate and splendid beaches, the Bahamas is also one of the most popular year-round resorts in the western hemisphere, visited annually by close to 5 million tourists. Tourism represents nearly two-thirds of the gross domestic product and employs about 50% of the work force.

Agriculture and industry account for a relatively small share of the economy. Citrus fruits, vegetables, and poultry are the main agricultural products. Industries include petroleum transshipment and refining and the production of steel pipe, pharmaceuticals, salt, rum, and shellfish. The unit of currency is the Bahamas dollar, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar on a one-to-one basis. The national budget for the fiscal year 2004/05 was balanced, with expenditures and revenues at $1.3 million. However, the country has a large chronic trade deficit. In 2006, exports earned $674 million, while imports cost $2.4 billion. See also World Almanac: U.S. Direct Investment Abroad in Selected Countries and Territories.

Paved highways constitute approximately 57% of the total road length, which amounted to about 2700 km (1680 mi) in the early 2000s. The Bahamas serves as a flag of convenience for about 1200 foreign-owned merchant vessels. The leading seaports are Freeport, Nassau, and South Riding Point. Freeport and Nassau also have the main international airports. The government-owned Bahamasair is the national air carrier.

The country's telecommunications network in 2007 encompassed about 130,000 main telephone lines, 375,000 cellular telephone subscribers, and 120,000 Internet users. There were 8 radio stations and 2 TV stations. Leading daily newspapers included the Nassau Guardian and the Nassau Daily Tribune, both published in the capital.

Government

Under the 1973 constitution, the head of state is the British monarch, who is represented by a governor-general. The bicameral parliament comprises the House of Assembly, with 41 members elected by universal adult suffrage to terms of up to five years, and the Senate, with 16 appointed members. The head of government is the prime minister, who must command the confidence of a majority of the House of Assembly. The two leading political groups are the Free National Movement (FNM) and the Progressive Liberal party (PLP).

In addition to its membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, the Bahamas is a member of the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), and is an African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) state of the European Union.

History

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division (reproduction number LC-USZ62-1784)

Christopher Columbus

In 1492 Christopher Columbus made his first landing in the New World in the Bahamas, on an island then inhabited by the Lukayos, a group of Arawak Indians. He claimed the island for Spain, naming it San Salvador ("Holy Savior"); some scientists now believe Samana Cay to be the site of his first landing. The first permanent European inhabitants were not the Spanish, however, but the British, who settled Eleuthera and New Providence about 1648. During its early years, the settlements were repeatedly attacked by the Spanish. The islands were later the stronghold of buccaneers and pirates, notably the infamous Blackbeard.

The Bahamas were ruled by the proprietary governors of the British colony of Carolina from 1670 to 1717, when the British crown assumed direct control of civilian and military affairs. In 1776, during the American Revolution, Nassau was held for a short time by American naval forces, and Spain held the islands in 1782-83; they became a British colony in 1787. When slavery was abolished in 1834, the result was a decline in the economy and the population; a cholera epidemic in mid-century further reduced the populace. Prosperity returned temporarily during the American Civil War, when the islands became a station for blockade-runners, and again during Prohibition, when rum-runners found them a convenient base.

The Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII, served as governor general of the Bahamas during World War II, from 1940 to 1945. After the war, establishment of a free trade area in the town of Freeport stimulated tourism and attracted offshore banking. In 1964, Great Britain granted the Bahamas internal autonomy. Some friction thereafter developed between white- and black-dominated political parties, until the black-dominated Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won control of the government in general elections in 1967. Its leader, Lynden O. Pindling (1930-2000), became prime minister. Independence was achieved on July 10, 1973.

Pindling held power throughout the 1970s and '80s, but chronic unemployment and charges of corruption eroded his support. In August 1992, the opposition Free National Movement (FNM) won parliamentary elections, and Hubert Ingraham (1947-    ) became prime minister. The FNM increased its majority in the elections of March 1997. Ten years of FNM rule came to an end in May 2002, when the PLP, led by Perry Christie (1943-    ), won a parliamentary majority. The FNM returned to power following its victory in the parliamentary elections of May 2007, and Ingraham, its leader, became the country's prime minister for the third time.

Dame Ivy Dumont (1930-    ) was the first woman to hold the office of governor-general in the Bahamas, serving from 2001 to 2005.

For further information on this topic, see the Bibliography, section The Caribbean.