WHY THE BAHAMAS?
Golden sunshine – white sand beaches – casino gaming – golf – water sports and more…

These low-lying islands (all similar in appearance) are ringed by coral reefs and aqua-green waters that teem with sea life of all descriptions.

Today tourism is the major industry, and these stunning islands of gregarious people, beautiful scenery and sunny skies are one of the most popular vacation destinations in the Caribbean, and for that matter – the world.

ABOUT THE BAHAMAS?
(Coming Soon)

HISTORY:
In 1492 Christopher Columbus made his first landing in the New World in the Bahamas, on an island then inhabited by Arawak people. He named the island San Salvador; some scientists now believe it to be Samana Cay. The first permanent European inhabitants were not the Spanish, however, but the British, who settled Eleuthera and New Providence in 1647. During its early years the settlement was 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 and 1783; they became a British colony in 1787. After slavery was abolished in 1833, the result was a decline in both the economy and the population; an epidemic of cholera in the middle of the century further reduced the populace. Prosperity returned temporarily during the American Civil War (1861-1865), when the islands became a station for blockade-runners, and again during Prohibition (1920-1933), when rum-runners found them a convenient base.

In 1964 Britain granted the Bahamas internal autonomy. Some friction thereafter developed between white- and black-dominated political parties until the black Progressive Liberal party (PLP) won control of the government in general elections in 1967. Its leader, Lynden O. Pindling, then became prime minister. Independence was achieved on July 10, 1973. Pindling held power throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but chronic unemployment and allegations of government corruption eventually eroded his support. In August 1992 the Free National Movement won parliamentary elections, and Hubert Ingraham became prime minister. Ingraham and his party were reelected in March 1997. Area, 13,939 sq km (5,382 sq mi); population (2000 estimate) 287,548.

PEOPLE / CULTURE:
A minority of the population is descended from English pioneer settlers and loyalist refugees. Most of the population is of African descent, many with varying amounts of Caucasian blood. There are also minorities of Greeks, Syrians, Haitians, and other West Indians.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus made his first landfall in the New World on the island of San Salvador in the eastern Bahamas. Since then it has been home to dissident English Puritans, pirates, Loyalists, American Civil War and Prohibition smugglers and tourists from all around the world.

The islands were largely ignored by the Spanish and the first European settlement was established by a group of English religious dissidents, known as the Eleutheran Adventurers, in 1647. In 1717, the islands were formally colonized by Britain. They were briefly occupied by the Spanish in 1782, although returned to Britain the following year, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. Thereafter, the Bahamas became a haven for freed slaves and, subsequently, a favorite holiday destination for the wealthy. The post of Governor, representing the British monarch, became a remote but pleasant sinecure. The best-known incumbent was the Duke of Windsor, who had abdicated the British crown in 1936, and, in view of his pro-Nazi sympathies, was dispatched to the territory in 1940, for the duration of World War II.

The culture is a melting pot of many native customs ranging from the indigenous “Indian” people who populated the Bahamas