The Bahamas are an archipelago of a staggering 700 islands holding approximately 2,400 uninhabited paradisiacal islets and cays lying 50 miles off the east coast of Florida. They extend for about 760 miles (1,223 km). It is reported that only 30 of the islands are inhabited with the most important being the New Providence, which it is estimated to being about 80 square miles or 207 square kilometers, on which the capital, Nassau, is situated. Other islands include Grand Bahama, Abaco, Eleuthera, Andros, Cat Island, and San Salvador, or otherwise known as, Watling’s Island.
Columbus made his first arrival here in the western hemisphere of the Bahamas, embarking upon the Arawak Indians whom are currently thought to be the first inhabitants of the Bahamas. Columbus’s first encounter with the New World and the Lucayan tribe, whereby he exchanged gifts and in return brought several indigenous inhabitants, as well as gifts, back to Europe, was recorded to have taken place, approximately October 1492. Spanish slave traders later captured native Lucayan Indians, to work in gold mines, in the previously called Hispaniola and within the short duration of 25 years, the Lucayan tribe perished. Although the Spanish arrived here before the British, they did not formally colonise these Islands. The British first built settlements on the islands in the 17th century. In the early 18th century, the Bahamas were a favorite pirate haunt. It was documented, that upon European arrival, these lands contained lush and vast forestry, however, due to a staggering amount of plantation, much of these forests were cut down and have never regrown.
In 1647, at the peak of the English Civil War, a group of Puritan religious refugees from the loyalist colony of Bermuda known as the “Eleutheran Adventurers”, founded the first permanent European settlement in the Bahamas and gave Eleuthera its name, by which Eleuthera means “freedom.”
Various bands of newcomers formed their own independent settlements in the Bahamas, but the isolated cays, sheltered pirates and wreckers throughout the 17th century. Charles II granted land in the Bahamas to the Lords proprietors of the Province of Carolina and the islands were left entirely to themselves. After Charles Town was destroyed by a joint French and Spanish fleet in 1703, the local pirates proclaimed an anarchic ‘Privateers Republic’, headed by Edward Teach, more commonly known as Blackbeard, who was then, the chief magistrate.
When the islands became a British colony in 1717, where the first Royal Governor, a reformed pirate called, Roger Woodes, finally brought law and order to the Bahamas in 1718 , after he expatriated the buccaneers, whom had previously used the islands as bases. Consequentially, the pirates working in these waters became formally known as privateers. Rogers is best known for his capture of the famous pirates Calico Jack, Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Woodes also consecrated the first House of Assembly in 1729 in the Bahamas.
During the American War of Independence, the islands fell to Spanish forces under the rule of General Galvez in 1782. After the dawn of the American Revolution, the British government issued land grants to a group of British Loyalists and the tiny population of the Bahamas began to triple within a few years. Cotton was planted, however the limy soil was unsuited to it, therefore the plantations failed. Many of the current inhabitants are descendents of slaves brought to work on the Loyalist plantations. When Great Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807, the Royal Navy began intercepting ships, freeing slaves and homing them in the Bahamas.
The Bahamas were governed under the Crown as one of it´s colony´s from 1717, until they were granted an internal government in 1964. From here after, the islands moved toward greater autonomy and by 1968, after an historical victory, during the general elections of the Progressive Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Lynden O. Pindling, defeated the predominantly white “United Bahamians Party”. With its new mandate from the 85% black population, Pindling’s government negotiated a new constitution with Britain, by which the colony, converted to the Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands in 1969. On July 10, 1973, the Bahamas became an independent nation. Hubert Ingraham became prime minister in May 2007 along with his Free National Movement party, winning by a landslide in parliamentary elections.
Once mainly dependant on agriculture and fishing, the Bahamas has diversified its economy in to tourism, financial services and international shipping, allowing the nation to enjoy an income ranking one of the top 30 countries in the world. The Bahamas constitutes of an insurmountable economic growth within a sort space of time, whilst enjoying various agricultural sources and vegetation cultivated on her terrains, which are in turn, exported across the world. It´s economic summary is established to being an approximation of over 6 billion dollars per capita, yet still growing. It´s industries relate to tourism, agriculture, oil trans shipment, salt, aragonite, animal products, fruits and vegetables, rum, mineral fuels, machinery and transport equipment, live stock, banking, pharmaceuticals, timber and not forgetting an admiral amount of fertile land. Some of the Bahamas major trading partners include Spain, France, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Poland, the U.S, Brazil, Germany and Venezuela.
Bahamians finally achieved a self government through a series of constitutional and political steps, attaining internal self government in 1964 and full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations on July 10th 1973.
The official and most widely spoken language is English with Creole, although spoken primarily among Haitian immigrants being it´s sister language of some of the islanders.
