An Introduction to The Bahamas
The Bahamas comprises more than 3,000 islands, isle's and cays, close to Florida and Cuba, and were the site of Columbus' first landfall in the New World in 1492. The Spanish shipped the natives to slavery in Hispaniola and the islands were mostly deserted from 1513 to 1648. The British then established settlements there and after serving as a base for pirates including the notorious Blackbeard, the territory became a crown colony in 1718 and was given internal self-government only in 1964. Most of today's inhabitants, spread over a couple of dozen inhabited islands, are descendants of slaves from the British colonies and from the USA. See full country profile.Latest Research News from Latin America
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GOVERNMENT: Parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy (British Commonwealth)
AREA: 13,880 sq km
POPULATION: 353,658 (2010 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Official Language: English
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Trade and Industry in The Bahamas
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The Bahamas comprises more than 3,000 islands, isle's and cays, close to Florida and Cuba, and were the site of Columbus' first landfall in the New World in 1492. The Spanish shipped the natives to slavery in Hispaniola and the islands were mostly deserted from 1513 to 1648. The British then established settlements there and after serving as a base for pirates including the notorious Blackbeard, the territory became a crown colony in 1718 and was given internal self-government only in 1964. Most of today's inhabitants, spread over a couple of dozen inhabited islands, are descendants of slaves from the British colonies and from the USA.
The climate is subtropical to tropical, moderated by the waters of the Gulf Stream, and a freeze has never been reported in the islands. Tourism and offshore finance have helped give the Bahamas one of the highest GDP per head figures in the western hemisphere, after Canada and the US.
GDP: $10.79bn (2010 est.); per capita $30,958
Religions Protestant 67.6%, Roman Catholic 13.5%, other Christian 15.2%, none or unspecified 2.9%, other 0.8% (2000 census)
Currency: Bahamian dollar. 1 BSD = $US 1.01
Telephone Code: +1 242
The Bahamian economy relies heavily on tourism and offshore banking. Tourism accounts for around 60% of GDP - income peaked in 2006 but is increasing again as of 2010 - 2011. The financial sector is now smaller than it once was because of new financial regulation enacted in 2000 which caused some companies to relocate to more flexible havens.
Exports were $74m in 2006 and consisted largely of mineral and animal products, plus foodstuffs with the USA (20.4%), Singapore (15.5%), Spain (14.5%) and Poland (14.3%) taking most. Imports far outweighed them at $2.4bn and consisted of machinery, chemicals, food and live animals - in 2007 26.7% came from the US, 14.1% from South Korea and 13.5% from Japan.
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