The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is located in the Atlantic Ocean, east of Florida, north of Cuba and the Caribbean, and consists of 700 islands.
The Bahamas archipelago has a total land area of 5,382 square miles and a population of approx. 310,000 were concentrated on the islands of New Providence and Grand Bahama.
The islands have a subtropical climate, moderated by the Gulf Stream. Nassau is the capital and largest city, located in New Providence. The largest island is Andros Island. Freeport is the second largest city located on the island of Grand Bahama. The Caicos Islands and the Turks Islands in the southeast are not part of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.
The subtropical to tropical climate is moderated significantly by the waters of the Gulf Stream, particularly in winter. Summer and fall is hurricane season.
Christopher Columbus is believed to have first landed on the island of San Salvador in the southeastern Bahamas and exchanged gifts with the Amerindians (Taino, also known as Lucayan).
The Taino Indians moved to the southern Bahamas around the 7th century AD and became the Lucayans. They were deported to Hispaniola as slaves and Taino societies ceased to exist as a separate population due to forced labor, war, disease, emigration, and out-marriage within 2 decades.
The islands of the Bahamas were left deserted, after the Lucayans were destroyed, until English settlers from Bermuda arrived in 1650. These people established settlements on the island now called Eleuthera.
In 1718, the Bahamas became a British crown colony. It remained sparsely populated until the United States expelled thousands of American Tories and their slaves. Approximately 8,000 British Loyalists moved to the Bahamas in the late 18th century from New York, Florida, and the Carolinas.
The British granted internal self-government in 1964. In 1973, the Bahamians achieved full independence while remaining members of the Commonwealth of Nations. But the country still faces challenges in areas like education, health care, correctional facilities, and violent crime and illegal immigration. Today, the country enjoys the third highest per capita income in the Western Hemisphere due to an urban renewal project to help impoverished urban areas in social decline on the main islands.
Some say that the name ‘Bahamas’ derives from the Spanish for “shallow sea”. Others trace it back to the Lucayan word for Grand Bahama Island.
About 85% of the population of the Bahamas is black. The next largest population group is whites at 12%. Almost all the inhabitants speak English, being the official language. A considerable number also speak Haitian Creole, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Christianity is the main religion on the islands, with Baptists forming the largest denomination (about a third), followed by the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.
Large numbers of immigrants from Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica practice Obeah, a spiritualistic religion similar to voodoo. Although it is well known in the Bahamas, many people avoid obeah.