The Bahamas

The Commonwealth of The Bahamas is an English-speaking nation consisting of two thousand cays and seven hundred islands that form an archipelago. It is located in the Atlantic Ocean, east of Florida and the United States, north of Cuba and the Caribbean. Geographically The Bahamas are not part of the Caribbean archipelago which starts at Trinidad in the South East and ends at Cuba , but the islands are part of CARICOM.

Bahamas’ early residence, Lucayan societies ceased to exist due to forced labour, warfare, disease, emigration and outmarriage. Its current residents are descendants of early English settlers from Bermuda and US and fugitive slaves from the US braving the perils of the Atlantic for the promise of a free life in the Bahamas.

The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1717 and became fully independent in 1973. Based on the pillars of tourism and offshore financial services, the Bahamian economy has prospered since the 1950s. Today, the country enjoys the third highest per capita income in the hemisphere, and the highest in the Caribbean.