OFFICIAL NAME: The Bahamas
CAPITAL CITY: Nassau
POPULATION: 353,700 (2010)
AREA: 13,864 km²
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): English, Creole-English
RELIGION: Baptists 32%, Anglicans 20%, Catholics 19%, Methodists 6%, Church of God 6%, other Protestants 12%, others 5%
COIN: bahamian dollar
CURRENCY CODE: BSD
ENGLISH NAME: Commonwealth of the Bahamas
INDEPENDENCE: 1973
POPULATION COMPOSITION: afrocaribiere 85%, white 12%, others 3%
GDP PER residents: $ 22,832 (2012)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 67 years, women 74 years (2007)
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.794
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 49
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .bs
Bahamas, archipelago and independent state in the Atlantic SE of Florida.
Geography
From the area east of Florida, the islands extend over 1,200 km in an arc in a southeasterly direction along Cuba down towards Hispaniola. Only a dozen of the over 700 islands (as well as several thousand cliffs, keys) are inhabited. A large part of the Bahamas rests on an underwater bank, the Great Bahama Bank, which is made up of limestone. The islands thus appear as the upper flat portions of an underwater mountain range.
The terrain is flat, the highest point is on Cat Island and is only 63 masl There are no streams and the vegetation is limited. The climate is tropical and characterized by the northeast trade winds that blow most of the year.
Northern Bahamas includes the largest of the islands, Andros, as well as the two most populous, New Providence and Grand Bahama. In the southern part are Long Island, Acklins and Great Inagua. To the east is San Salvador (or Watling), where Columbus reportedly went ashore.
The vast majority of the population is black or of mixed black and white descent, and English is the main language. The culture mixes African, European and North American features and is characterized by the international tourism that has become the backbone of the Bahamas economy. During World War II, the Duke of Windsor (former King Edward VIII) was governor of the island. In particular, North American tourists largely choose the islands as excursion destinations. Paradise Island off the capital Nassau, a half-hour flight from Miami, is an example of a large resort with a yacht club, discos, gaming casino and golf courses.
Flexible tax rules and registry laws have made Nassau an international financial center with numerous banks, real estate firms and shipping companies; Thus, 5% of the world merchant fleet is based in Nassau. Economic activity is concentrated in New Providence (with Nassau) and the Grand Bahama; here is also a lot of light industry and an oil refinery. Only a very small part of the area can be cultivated; vegetables and citrus fruits are modestly exported to the US market. In addition, there is a lot of fishing, after crustaceans.
Bahamas – national flag
The flag was created in 1973. The yellow stripe surrounded by two blue stripes reflects the sea around the islands’ sandy beaches. The black triangle must symbolize the unity and power of the people.
Bahamas – language
The official language is (standard) English, but 85% of the population speak as their mother tongue the English based Creole language Bahamian Creole English. Minorities speak standard English (mixed British and American) and Haitian (French Creole language).
Bahamian Creole English is closely related to gullah, an English Creole language off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia in the United States, and it differs from standard English in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.
- Countryaah: Do you know how many people there are in Bahamas? Check this site to see population pyramid and resident density about this country.
The pronunciation differs from English in the absence of the final consonants [-t] and [-d] in eg [fag] for English fact or [pɑwn] for English pound; [ð] pronunciation [d-] in fx the, them, this.
Grammatical differences are, for example, that the plural inflection is often missing as in two dog; genitive is unmarked as in Mark bone, where standard English is Mark’s bone; a verb to connect subject and predicative with, kopula, stands last in question as in where ma room is? , where standard English is where is my room? ; the pronoun yinna, the majority of you are derived from the African language.
The vocabulary includes bret for speak one’s mind, biggity for self-important and malavu for whiskey.
Bahamas – Constitution
The Bahamas Constitution came into force upon the country’s independence in 1973. The Head of State is the English monarch, represented by a Governor – General who is to be a citizen of the country. Parliament rests on the English system with two legislatures: a Senate of 16 members, appointed according to various rather ingenious rules, as well as an elected National Assembly of 49 members. The election period is five years and there is universal suffrage. The National Assembly appoints the Prime Minister, who together with at least eight other ministers make up the government. The Governor-General appoints the leader of the opposition.
Bahamas – Economy
The Bahamas is a small and fairly prosperous community that is highly dependent on economic relations (trade, tourist visits) with the United States, and the Bahamian dollar is pegged to the dollar in a 1: 1 ratio. The Bahamas’ position as an offshore center provides the country with significant revenue; However, after the OECD pressured the country to take action against shady capital activities, a number of companies have left the country. The transport of drugs to the American market has long been on a large scale, but it is limited by intensive patrolling in the great archipelago by both countries. The Bahamas is also one of the world’s most important flagship flags for convenience. By far the most important sector, however, is tourism, which accounts for more than half of national income and has contributed to a 10% fall in unemployment (2005); however, growth has created social and geographical inequality.
In the early 1990’s, the Bahamas’ economic downturn had been caused by a decline in tourism, particularly from the United States. The economic downturn resulted in a deficit in the state budget, which the government stopped through fiscal tightening from 2000. The attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001 led to a short-term decline in tourist visits. To reduce public debt, a number of hotels and other properties have been privatized. The number of tourists has increased again and in 2004 reached over 5 million. It is expected that construction in the hotel area will boost the country’s economy. Public revenues come mainly from import duties, while the tax exemption for individuals and companies is unchallenged.
In 2005, Denmark’s exports to the Bahamas were DKK 42 million. DKK, and imports were 3 mill. kr.
Bahamas – History
On October 12, 1942, Columbus landed in the Bahamas and entered American soil for the first time; he declared the territory Spanish possession. The Bahamas was then inhabited by Arawak Indians. The Spaniards never settled in the Bahamas, but the population was moved as slaves to other islands. In 1629, due to its strategic location, the Bahamas was included under the English crown by Charles I, but only 20 years later did the actual colonization begin. As a result of religious strife, members of Puritan sects emigrated from Bermudaand England and settled in the Bahamas. In 1670, the Bahamas came into private ownership; in the 1700’s. it was repeatedly attacked by Spanish and French forces with instability and extensive piracy as a result. The king intervened, and in 1717 the Bahamas gained the status of a crown colony. Captain W. Roger was appointed governor, and the pirates were defeated. During the American Revolution, Nassau was occupied several times, in 1776 by American and in 1782 by American, Spanish and French units. The Spaniards occupied and kept the Bahamas occupied until the country again at the Treaty of Versailles 1783 passed to Britain. Following the English ban on slavery, the Bahamas became the illegal center of the slave trade. Slavery was abolished in 1834.
The Bahamas has repeatedly played a role in US domestic policy. Only during the Civil War of 1861-65, when the Bahamas was the base for ships that broke the blockade of the Unionists (Northern States) by the ports of the Federalists (Southern States). Second time in the “Prohibition era” in the 1920’s and early 1930’s, when liquor manufacturing and smuggling became the Bahamas’ primary industry.
In the 1950’s, the first political party formations took place. The Progressive Liberal Party was formed by blacks, who in turn formed the Bahamas Unity Party, and a period of racial power struggles began. In 1964, internal self-government was introduced. After the 1967 election, a black majority government came to power for the first time in the history of the Bahamas. Lynden O. Pinding became Prime Minister and led the Bahamas to independence on July 10, 1973.
In the 1997 parliamentary elections, the Free National Movement (FNM) party strengthened its leading position with Hubert A. Ingraham (b. 1947) as Prime Minister; he had held the post since 1992. The political life after independence has been marked by widespread corruption and drug smuggling. In the 2002 election, the Progressive Liberal Party won and Perry Christie became Prime Minister. His program includes urban renewal and development in the local areas.
