General Information

Geography The Bahamas is an archipelago of about 700 islands and 2,400 uninhabited islets and cays lying 50 mi off the east coast of Florida. They extend for about 760 mi (1,223 km). Only about 30 of the islands are inhabited. The most important is New Providence (80 sq mi; 207 sq km), on which the capital, Nassau, is situated. Other islands include Grand Bahama, Abaco, Eleuthera, Andros, Cat Island, and San Salvador (or Watling's Island).

Government
Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)
Governor-General: Arthur Dion Hanna (2006)
Prime Minister: Hubert Ingraham (2007)

Other Information
*Population (2007 est.): 305,655 (growth rate: 0.6%)

*Money: Bahamian dollar

*Industries: tourism, banking, cement, oil transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral-welded steel pipe.

*Natural resources: salt, aragonite, timber, and arable land.

National Symbols
Flag colors: Gold , Black, Aqua Marine
National Fish:Blue Marlin
National Bird:Flamingo
National Flower: Yellow Elder
National Tree: Lignum Vitae

Bahamian History

History
The Arawak Indians were the first inhabitants of the Bahamas. Columbus's first encounter with the New World was on Oct. 12, 1492, when he landed on the Bahamian island of San Salvador. The British first built settlements on the islands in the 17th century. In the early 18th century, the Bahamas was a favorite pirate haunt.
The Bahamas was a Crown colony from 1717 until they were granted internal self-government in 1964. The islands moved toward greater autonomy in 1968 after the victory in general elections of the Progressive Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Lynden O. Pindling, over the predominantly white United Bahamians Party. With its new mandate from the black population (85% of Bahamians), Pindling's government negotiated a new constitution with Britain under which the colony became the Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands in 1969. On July 10, 1973, the Bahamas became an independent nation.
Once heavily reliant on agriculture and fishing, the Bahamas has diversified its economy into tourism, financial services, and international shipping. While it enjoys a per capita income that is among the top 30 in the world, there is a big gap between the urban middle class and poor farmers. In addition, the nation is vulnerable to hurricanes, which regularly inflict serious damage.
Hubert Ingraham became prime minister in May 2007 after his Free National Movement, an opposition party, won parliamentary elections.

This is the history of our wonderful and beautiful Bahamas.

Bahamian Music

BAHAMIAN MUSIC

There are many different styles of music in the Bahamas some of which include:

Rake n' Scrape which features the sounds of saxophones, electric guitars, a carpenters saw being scraped by knives, goombay drums and accordions.

Calypso which is a style of music influenced by jazz, which usually has a tropical improvised lyrics, about human issues like greed, love, oppression, etc..

Junkanoo, which is the most popular style of music in the Bahamas which includes a combination of goatskin drums, whistles, cowbells, horns and brass instruments. Junkanoo is a competition where participants rush down Bay Street dressed in colorful crape paper, jewels and feathers and are judged by performance, appearance and sound. Junkanoo takes place during the dark hours of the morning on December 26th also known as 'Boxing Day' and on New Years morning. Its a great family-fun event. A few popular junkanoo groups are Valley Boys, Saxons, One Family and Roots.

Bahamian music can be heard on any of the BahamasAir planes and radio stations in the Bahamas.

A few popular Bahamian music artist are Baha Men, Eddie Minnis, Pat Rahming, Ancient Man, Funky D, K-B, Sweet Emily and Blind Blake.