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Geography |
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Capital |
Nassau, New Providence. |
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Area |
13,939 sq. km. (5,382 sq. mi.); slightly larger than Connecticut and
Rhode Island combined. |
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Terrain |
Low and flat. |
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Climate |
Semitropical. |
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People |
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Nationality |
Noun and adjective--Bahamian(s). |
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Population |
(2005): 323,000. |
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Groups |
African 85%, European 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3%. |
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Religions |
Baptist (32%), Roman Catholic, Anglican, Evangelical Protestants,
Methodist, Church of God, Rastafarian, Traditional African. |
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Languages |
English (official); Creole. |
Eighty-five percent of the Bahamian population is of African
heritage. About two-thirds of the population resides on New
Providence Island (the location of Nassau). Many ancestors arrived
in The Bahamas when the islands served as a staging area for the
slave trade in the early 1800s. Others accompanied thousands of
British loyalists who fled the American colonies during the
Revolutionary War.
Haitians form the largest immigrant community in The Bahamas.
30,000-50,000 are estimated to be resident legally or illegally,
concentrated on New Providence, Abaco and Eleuthera islands.
School attendance is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 16. The
government fully operates 158 of the 210 primary and secondary
schools in The Bahamas. The other 52 schools are privately operated.
Enrollment for state primary and secondary schools is 50,332, with
more than 16,000 students attending private schools. The College of
The Bahamas, established in Nassau in 1974, provides programs
leading to bachelors and associates degrees. Several non-Bahamian
colleges also offer higher education programs in The Bahamas. |
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Government &
History |
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Official Name |
Commonwealth of The Bahamas |
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Government |
Constitutional parliamentary democracy. |
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Independence |
July 10, 1973. |
In 1492, Christopher Columbus made his first landfall in the Western
Hemisphere in The Bahamas. Spanish slave traders later captured
native Lucayan Indians to work in gold mines in Hispaniola, and
within 25 years, all Lucayans perished. In 1647, a group of English
and Bermudan religious refugees, the Eleutheran Adventurers, founded
the first permanent European settlement in The Bahamas and gave
Eleuthera Island its name. Similar groups of settlers formed
governments in The Bahamas until the islands became a British Crown
Colony in 1717.
The late 1600s to the early 1700s were the golden age for pirates
and privateers. Many famous pirates and privateers--including Sir
Francis Drake and Blackbeard--used the islands of The Bahamas as a
base. The numerous islands and islets with their complex shoals and
channels provided excellent hiding places for the plundering ships
near well-traveled shipping lanes. The first Royal Governor, Woodes
Rogers, brought law and order to The Bahamas in 1718 when he
expelled the buccaneers.
During the American Revolution, American colonists loyal to the
British flag settled in The Bahamas. These Loyalists and new
settlers from Britain brought Colonial building skills and
agricultural expertise. Until 1834, when Britain abolished slavery,
they also brought slaves, importing the ancestors of many modern
Bahamians from Western Africa.
Proximity to the U.S. continued to provide opportunity for illegal
shipping activity. In the course of the American Civil War, The
Bahamas prospered as a center of Confederate blockade-running.
During Prohibition, the islands served as a base for American
rumrunners. Today, The Bahamas is a major transshipment point for
narcotics on the way to the U.S.
Bahamians achieved self-government through a series of
constitutional and political steps, attaining internal
self-government in 1964 and full independence within the
Commonwealth on July 10, 1973. Since independence, The Bahamas has
continued to develop into a major tourist and financial services
center. |
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