Bahamas

Full name of country: Commonwealth of The Bahamas

Region: Central America and Caribbean

Official language: English

Population: 410,862 (2024 est.)

Nationality: Bahamian(s) (noun), Bahamian (adjective)

Land area: 10,010 sq km (3,865 sq miles)

Water area: 3,870 sq km (1,494 sq miles)

Capital: Nassau

National anthem: "March On, Bahamaland!", by Timothy Gibson

National holiday: Independence Day, July 10 (1973)

Population growth: 1.07% (2024 est.)

Time zone: UTC –5

Flag: The Bahamian flag is embodied with the colors of black, gold, and aquamarine, and features an equilateral black triangle in a chevron design, superimposed over a centered, horizontal gold stripe, with equal parts aquamarine on either side, forming three equal stripes.

Motto: “Forward Upward Onward Together”

Independence: July 10, 1973 (from the UK)

Government type: constitutional parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legal system: common law system based on the English model

The Commonwealth of the Bahamas consists of a string of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida. The site of Christopher Columbus's first landfall in the Americas in 1492, it was a British colony for almost two centuries before gaining independence in 1973. The small nation is a favorite of American and British tourists seeking year-round warm temperatures and miles of sandy beaches and clear waters.

Note: unless otherwise indicated, statistical data in this article is sourced from the CIA World Factbook, as cited in the bibliography.

People and Culture

Population: Although the Spanish first colonized the Bahamas in 1495, British settlement beginning in the mid-seventeenth century set the lasting character of the islands. The Bahamas officially became a British colony in 1783, after the American colonies gained their independence and British loyalists, most from the Carolinas, New York, and Virginia, fled to the islands.

The British brought enslaved Africans to work cotton plantations in the Bahamas; the plantations eventually failed due to the islands' meager soil. Under British law, all enslaved people in the colony were emancipated by 1834. People of African descent accounted for about 90.6 percent of the population of the Bahamas in the 2010 census. About 4.7 percent of the population was White, 2.1 percent was of mixed heritage, 1.9 percent was classified as other ethnicity, and 0.7 percent was of unspecified ethnicity. Most of the White full-year residents are of British descent.

According to the 2010 census, about 11 percent of Bahamians are Haitian nationals, many of whom fled poverty and political persecution in their native country. English is the prevailing language of the Bahamas, but Creole is commonly spoken among Haitian immigrants. A 1985 law granted legal status to undocumented Haitian immigrants who arrived prior to 1981.

There is a strong religious heritage among Bahamians. Of the nearly 95 percent who identified as Christians in 2010, 34.9 percent were Baptist, 13.7 percent were Anglican, 12 percent were Roman Catholic, and 8.9 percent were Pentecostal. Other Christian denominations represented include Seventh Day Adventist (4.4 percent), Methodist (3.6 percent), Church of God (1.9 percent), Brethren (1.6 percent), and Jehovah’s Witnesses (1.1 percent).

About two-thirds of the population lives on the island of New Providence, particularly in the capital and largest urban area, Nassau, which had an estimated population of 280,000 people in 2018. The island of Grand Bahama is home of country's second-largest city, Freeport. The third-most populous island is Abaco, and the populations of the remaining islands range from a few thousand to a few dozen people.

Indigenous People: At the time of the Spanish takeover of the Bahamas, the native people were the Lucayans, a branch of the Arawakan-speaking Taíno people, who had originated in South America. The Lucayans had migrated north to the Bahamas from Cuba and Hispaniola by the sixth or seventh century CE. Of the estimated 50,000 Lucayans on the islands at the time of first contact with Europeans, all had disappeared within three decades; they were either killed, often due to the smallpox virus carried by the Spanish, or sold into slavery and shipped off the island.

Education: Twelve years of education in the Bahamas are free and compulsory for children over the age of five. There is a mix of state-run and independent schools on the islands. Independent schools may be religiously affiliated, or they may be nondenominational. The Lyford Cay International School in Nassau offers the International Baccalaureate program. Education is based on the British system.

Colleges on the islands include the University of the Bahamas, established in 1974, and Bahamas Institute of Business and Technology (formerly Success Career College), founded in 1982, as well as Bahamas Baptist Community College. The Bahamas is also home to the Eugene Dupuch Law School, one of three law schools empowered by the Commonwealth Caribbean Council of Legal Education to award a legal education certificate. Many postsecondary students study abroad, typically in US colleges or at the nearby University of the West Indies (UWI), founded in 1948 in Jamaica, with campuses in several countries and territories throughout the Caribbean.

Health Care: There are several hospitals on the islands of New Providence and Grand Bahama. While there are medical clinics spread throughout the rest of the country, serious emergencies on the outlying islands usually require med-flight evacuations to one of the larger hospitals.

National social services programs were introduced in 1974 and offer limited coverage for health, disability and retirement. In 2006, the Bahamian government approved a plan to implement national health insurance in order to ensure that all legal residents have access to low-cost medical care. The program was rolled out in 2017.

The Bahamas ranked 57 out of 193 countries and territories on the 2022 United Nations Human Development Index, which measures quality-of-life indicators.

Food: As in most island nations, seafood is a major part of the cuisine of the Bahamas. One of the islands' most common foods is conch, a large mollusk that can be served raw, fried (as "cracked conch"), steamed, or in soups and salads. Conch fritters are also popular. Grouper is among the most commonly served fish and is often mixed with grits for a breakfast meal. Other seafood favorites include crab, rock lobster, mahi-mahi, and red snapper.

Fruit is served with most meals, and desserts typically incorporate fruits such as coconut, pineapple, papaya, and guava. Popular drinks include coconut water, switcha (a lime-based drink), rum punch, and Kalik, a Bahamian beer.

Arts & Entertainment: The fine arts in the Bahamas are largely overshadowed by the huge tourist trade, with its emphasis on shopping and entertainment. One notable local artist was Exuma-born Amos Ferguson, a former house painter who turned to producing original artworks in his forties. Before his death in 2009, Ferguson, a devout Baptist, portrayed common Bahamian sights and religious motifs in a bright, simplistic style using house paint on cardboard.

The Pompey Museum of Slavery and Emancipation in Nassau is situated in the historic Vendue House, once a slave market. It features exhibits on the history of the islands' Black population, as well as a large Amos Ferguson collection.

The Nassau Public Library Reading Room and Museum was built in 1797 as a jail. Today, it houses historical island documents along with Arawak artifacts. Balcony House Museum, a colonial era house that was restored in 1985, claims to be the oldest residential structure in Nassau. The Bahamas Historical Society Museum features Arawak and British artifacts from centuries past.

One of the most popular Bahamian festivals is Junkanoo, commemorating the traditional respite that was given to enslaved people after Christmas. The festival features two large parades, on December 26 (Boxing Day) and January 1. Parade participants perform dance steps while wearing huge, extravagant costumes that are judged in various contests. Musical groups include large drum and brass sections.

Junkanoo is often accompanied by goombay music, the traditional percussion-heavy music of the islands. Goombay mixes West African rhythms with colonial European influences. Traditional rake-and-scrape bands use homemade instruments, such as goatskin drums and saws raked with a file or screwdriver, along with maracas, cowbells, and noisemakers such as whistles and bicycle horns. Calypso and reggae music are also common in resort areas, although they originated in Trinidad and Jamaica, respectively.

Holidays: Official holidays in the Bahamas include Boxing Day (December 26), Majority Rule Day (January 10), Randol Fawkes Labour Day (first Friday in June), Independence Day (July 10), and Emancipation Day (first Monday in August). National Heroes Day, formerly celebrated as Discovery Day or Columbus Day, is observed on October 12.

Environment and Geography

Topography: The archipelago of the Bahamas includes some 700 islands and more than 2,000 small islets. About 660 of these are cays (pronounced "keys"), and approximately thirty islands are inhabited. The principal islands are Grand Bahama and New Providence. Other "family islands" include the Abaco Islands, Acklins, Andros, Bimini, Cat Island, Crooked Island, Eleuthera, Exuma, Great Inagua and Little Inagua, Harbour Island, Long Island, Mayaguana, and San Salvador.

The Bahamas' total area is slightly less than the total area of the small US state of Connecticut. The largest island is Andros, with an area of 5,957 square kilometers (2,300 square miles). The islands' 1,220-kilometer (760-mile) arc runs parallel to Florida, stretching southward to within about 80 kilometers (50 miles) of Cuba. The total coastline is approximately 3,542 kilometers (2,200 miles) long.

The islands are formed from coral over a limestone base. It is believed that the Bahamas, along with the Florida Keys, were formed about 120,000 and 80,000 years ago, when the sea level in the area was at least 6 to 9 meters (20 to 30 feet) higher than it is today. Coral reefs were exposed as the sea level dropped. The name Bahamas is thought to be derived from the Spanish baja mar (shallow waters).

The islands are all relatively flat and most are sand covered, although some are rocky or forested. The highest point is on Cat Island at the peak of Mount Alvernia, 63 meters (206 feet) above the surrounding forest and about 122 meters (400 feet) above sea level.

Since there are no substantial rivers on the islands, there is no silt runoff into the surrounding waters, leaving them phenomenally clear in most areas. The country's largest lake is Lake Rosa on Great Inagua, approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) long.

Caves are common due to the action of the water against the limestone. Usually flooded or lying entirely underwater, these caves are referred to as "blue holes" because of the distinctive water color seen at their mouths due to the change in depth and water temperature. Andros has 178 such caves. One freshwater cave in Lucayan National Park on Grand Bahama Island runs for about 10 kilometers (6 miles).

Natural Resources: The Bahamas have very limited natural resources. New Providence must supplement its supply of fresh groundwater by importing freshwater from Andros.

Matthew Town on Great Inagua is home to one of the island's only major industries, salt production. Minor exports include aragonite, fish, and chemicals.

Elimination of solid waste is a leading environmental problem for the Bahamas.

Plants & Animals: While the land territory of the Bahamas is small, the islands encompass nearly 259,000 square kilometers (100,000 square miles) of marine territory. The most important feature of this expanse is the 2,330 square kilometers (900 square miles) of coral reef, representing nearly 5 percent of all such reefs worldwide. The coral attracts clownfish, eel, and grouper and helps shelter the islands' fragile beaches from ocean storms. Nearby waters are also known for dolphin and whale sightings.

The national bird is the flamingo. Lake Rosa at Inagua National Park is home to more than 50,000 of these iconic pink birds. Other tropical birds in the park include egrets and parrots. It is also home to turtles and rare, protected rock iguanas.

The few indigenous mammals prior to colonization included the raccoon and the hutia. Also known as the banana rat, the hutia is a guinea-pig-like nocturnal animal naturally found only on East Plana Cay.

The most common mammal on the islands is the bat. Other common mammals include wild donkeys, pigs, and horses, most notably the Abaco wild horses. Abaco is also home to the rare Bahama parrot, threatened in part because it nests on the ground, making it easy prey for feral cats. Cat Island is named after pirate Arthur Catt.

Tree systems on the islands include mangrove swamps (swashland), pine forests, and whiteland and blackland hardwood forests (coppices). Whiteland coppices are areas of meager soil that support shrubs, including brasiletto and acacia; some trees, such as balsam; and numerous cactus plants. They are the favored habitat of land crabs. Blackland coppices are more fertile, supporting cedar and mahogany trees, although few large specimens remain. Northern islands contain yellow (Caribbean) pine forests.

Climate: The Bahamas have a moderate tropical climate in the heavily populated northern islands. Temperatures in both Nassau and Freeport seldom fall below 16 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) in winter, although they may reach as low as 4 degrees Celsius (40 degrees Fahrenheit).

Average annual rainfall is 1,140 millimeters (45 inches), most coming during brief, intense showers during the May-to-October rainy season. During summer, the average temperature in Nassau is 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit), with a low of 23 degrees Celsius (74 degrees Fahrenheit).

Regular prevailing winds can on rare occasion make winter months uncomfortably cool, but they are a substantial relief during the summer months. Humidity is worst in September, coinciding with the peak of the August-to-October hurricane season.

Damaging hurricanes hit the islands about once per decade. Hurricane Floyd, which struck in 1999, caused minimal damage in heavily populated areas, but it did cause extensive property losses in Abaco and Elbow Cay. Hurricane Dorian, a category 5 storm that hit the Bahamas in September 2019, brought winds reaching 185 miles per hour, with gusts over 220 miles per hour, and created a storm surge of up to twenty-five feet. At least seventy-four people died and the physical damage was estimated at $2.5 billion.

Economy

The economy of the Bahamas relies on the tourist trade, encouraging growth in the services sector as well as in construction. Financial services are another significant business on the islands.

In 2023, the Bahamas' gross domestic product (GDP, purchasing power parity) was estimated at US$13.224 billion, or US$32,000 per capita. Unemployment was estimated at 9.2 percent in 2023. The majority of the country's GDP comes from the service sector, which includes both tourism-related businesses and finance. Once closely tied to tax evasion schemes, the nation's financial sector is now compliant with regulations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) aimed at combating money laundering. The islands remain very tax-friendly to individuals and corporations, with no levy on capital gains or corporate or personal income.

Industry: Minor industry on the Bahamas includes salt production on Great Inagua. Each year, up to one million pounds of salt are evaporated from saltwater holding ponds thanks to the island's hot, dry summers. Other significant industries include oil bunkering, transshipping, rum, minerals, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.

Major export partners in 2022 included the United States, Cote d'Ivoire, Germany, Thailand and Poland. The United States and South Korea were the Bahamas' principal import partners that year.

Agriculture: Agriculture accounted for about 0.4 percent of the 2023 GDP. Important agricultural products include citrus, vegetables, sugarcane, and poultry. Most of the islands' food supply is imported from the United States.

Tourism: Tourism is by far the most important industry in the Bahamas. Like many other countries, the Bahamas experienced a significant decrease in visitation in 2020 due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the tourist industry began to recover in the following years. Hurricanes can also occasionally cause severe disruption in this crucial sector.

The bulk of tourists to the Bahamas generally come from the United States. The islands are within 80 kilometers (50 miles) of the United States, an overnight cruise for ships from Fort Lauderdale, Port Canaveral, and Miami in Florida. Many major corporations have developed resorts and casinos in the Bahamas. Cruise lines such as Disney, Holland America, and Norwegian have even bought their own islands to accommodate guests.

Favorite tourist activities include swimming, scuba diving, snorkeling, parasailing, and sport fishing. Resorts offer golf, gambling, and duty-free shopping (since 1992) for luxury goods such as crystal, fragrances, watches, and jewelry.

Government

The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is the second-oldest parliamentary democracy in the British Commonwealth; its first meeting took place in 1729. Although functionally autonomous since 1964, the Bahamas did not gain full independence until July 10, 1973, when the nation ratified a new constitution. Unlike Haiti and Jamaica, the Bahamas remained largely politically stable throughout its transition to independence.

Traditionally, the country's head of state is the British monarch, represented by the governor general. The acting head of government is the prime minister, who leads a nine-member cabinet of parliament members. The prime minister is usually the head of the elected majority party in parliament. At least four cabinet members must be from the minority party.

The bicameral parliament is composed of a thirty-nine-member House of Assembly, elected to five-year terms, and a sixteen-member Senate, appointed to five-year terms by the governor general.

Local government is divided into administrative divisions that include all of the family islands and a few of the larger cays.

The basis of Bahamian law is English common law. Beginning in the 1990s, the government moved aggressively to promote and diversify foreign investment and interest in the Bahamas.

Phillip Davis became prime minister when his Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won the September 2021 general election, defeating the Free National Movement (FNM), amid the country's struggle to recover from an economic slump.

Interesting Facts

• The name "Bahamas" is thought to derive from the Spanish baja mar, or "shallow sea."
• Dean's Blue Hole off Long Island is one of the deepest blue holes in the world, at more than 650 feet.
• Famous residents of the Bahamas have included Sean Connery, Richard Harris, and Ernest Hemingway, who wrote on and about Bimini in the 1930s.
• American celebrities of Bahamian descent include musician Lenny Kravitz, singer Beyoncé Knowles, and meteorologist Al Roker.
• Hurricane Dorian, which made landfall in the Bahamas in September 2019, was the strongest hurricane to hit the island chain in recorded history.

Bibliography

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"Bahamas to Have Universal Healthcare from 2016." International Medical Travel Journal, 2 Apr. 2015, www.imtj.com/news/bahamas-have-universal-healthcare-2016/. Accessed 13 Aug. 2015.

"Bahamas, The." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 23 Dec. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/bahamas-the/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.

"Economic Impact Reports." World Travel and Tourism Council, wttc.org/Research/Economic-Impact. Accessed 26 May 2022.

"Human Development Insights." UNDP Human Development Reports, 13 Mar. 2024, hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights#/ranks. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.

"Bahamas, The." BBC News, 4 Aug. 2023, BBC Country Profiles, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-18722984. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.

"Overview and Structure of the Government." Government of the Bahamas, 2011, www.bahamas.gov.bs/wps/portal/public/The%20Government/Overview. Accessed 20 July 2016.