Although Paleo-Indians may have populated the area previously, Taino Indians from Hispaniola and Cuba moved into the southern Bahamas around the 7th century AD and became the Lucayans. There were an estimated 40,000 Lucayans at the time of Columbus' arrival.
Christopher Columbus' first landfall in the New World was on the island of San Salvador, also called Watling's Island, in the south part of Bahamas. Here, Columbus made contact with the Lucayans and exchanged goods with them.
The Bahamian Lucayans were taken to Hispaniola as slaves, and in two decades, many Lucayan societies ceased to exist, as the population endured considerable forced labour, warfare, disease, emigration and outmarriage.
After the Lucayan population was decimated, the Bahamian islands were virtually unoccupied until the English settlers came from Bermuda in 1650. The so-called Eleutherian Adventurers established settlements on the island Eleuthera.
The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1718. Some 8,000 loyalists and their slaves moved to the Bahamas in the late 1700s from New York, Florida and the Carolinas.
The British made the islands internal self-government in 1964 and, in 1973, Bahamians got full independence while staying a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Since the 1950s, the Bahamian economy has prospered based on the twin pillars of tourism and financial services. Despite this however the country still faces significant challenges in areas such as education, healthcare, correctional facilities and violent crime and illegal immigration. The urban renewal project has been launched in recent years to help impoverished urban areas in social decline in the main islands. Today, the country enjoys the third highest per capita income in the western hemisphere.
Some say the name 'Bahamas' derives from the Spanish for "shallow sea", baja mar. Others trace it to the Lucayan word for Grand Bahama Island, ba-ha-ma ("large upper middle land").
Demographics Of The Bahamas
The islands were sparsely settled and a haven for pirates until the late 1700s when thousands of British loyalists and their slaves were given compensatory land grants following the American Revolution. At the turn of the 20th century the total population was only 53,000.
School attendance is compulsory between the ages of five and 16. There are 158 public schools and 52 private schools in The Bahamas catering to more than 66,000 students. The College of The Bahamas, established in Nassau in 1974, provides programmes leading to bachelors and associate degrees. The college is now converting from a 2-year to a 4-year institution.
Bahamas Pictures
