+The History
The Bahamas is comprised of an archipelago of 700 small islands and 2,400 cays in the north of the Greater Antilles stretching from the southern tip of Florida to the east of Haiti. Thirty of the islands are inhabited. The earliest arrival of humans on the islands of the Bahamas is estimated to have been sometime between 500 and 800 AD. They were Tainos people (island Arawaks) who crossed in dugout canoes from what is now called Hispaniola and Cuba to the Bahamas. These early settlers sustained themselves through fishing and farming.
On October 12, 1492 Christopher Columbus landed on a Bahamian island that the natives called Guanahani. Columbus immediately claimed the island for Spain and renamed it San Salvador. Spain had very little interest in the islands except as a source of slave labor. The estimated population at that time was about 40,000 people. Although Spain retained titular claim to the Bahamas, she effectually abandoned the islands until she ceded them to Britain in the 1783 Peace of Paris Treaty.
Historians believed that the Bahamas was not colonized until the 17th century. In 1666 colonists from the neighboring island of Bermuda settled on New Providence and by 1670 the settlement grew to 500 people who engaged in commerce between the other islands and Bermuda.
The Land
The land is mainly, sandy, rocky or mangrove swamp. The primary vegetation is low-lying scrubs. The land is relatively flat with the highest elevation being 207 feet on Cat Island. The highest elevation on New Providence where the capital city of Nassau is, only measures 122 feet. Pineyards are found on four of the northern islands: Grand Bahama, Great Abaco, New Providence and Andros. Low-growing tropical hardwood can be found on some of the more southern islands.
The People
Most Bahamians live on the island of New Providence. They are mostly of West African descent whose ancestors were brought to the islands as slaves for plantation work. The other majority residents are descendants of English settlers (85% African Bahamians 12% European Bahamians 3% Asians and Hispanic). The population of the Bahamas has grown to over 385,000.
The Economy
The Bahamas is the richest country in the Caribbean community with a gross national income per capita in excess of $21,000. The leading economic sectors are financial services, which places the Bahamas among the world's leading financial centers; tourism, banking, cement, oil refining and transshipment, salt production, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, and spiral-welded steel pipe.
Major Tourist Attractions
The capital city of The Bahamas, Nassau is located on the 21-mile-long island New Providence, the 11th largest island is a renowned tourist attraction. The world-famous Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island is home to the largest open-air marine habitat in the world encompassing 14 lagoons and 8 million gallons of salt water. The Bahamas has many other world class tourist attractions. The islands are widely recognized as playgrounds for the rich and famous.
Top ranked tourist attractions in the Bahamas include:
Cultural Festivities
Junkanoo and Junkanoo Carnival; the All Andros Crab Festival; the Fox Hill Day Festival.; the Eleuthera Pineapple Festival and the Bahamas International Film Festival are among the most popular cultural festivities in the Bahamas.
Human Development Index (HDI)
The Bahamas' HDI value for 2017 is 0.807— which put the country in the very high human development category—positioning it at 54 out of 189 countries and territories. Life expectancy is 75.7 years. Women 78.6 and men 72.6 years. Average years of schooling 11.5 and adult literacy rate 95%.
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