Location: the Caribbean, a chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Independence: 10 July 1973 (from the UK). Type: Constitutional parliamentary democracy. Second-largest Cities: Freeport (on Grand Bahama) Other Caribbean island nations: Cuba, DominicanĬapital City: Nassau on the island of New Providence. Is the political capital and the commercial hub of The Bahamas. Today The Bahamas has become one of the world's foremost vacation resorts. The pirates, based at Nassau, attacked French and Spanish ships, while the French and Spanish forces burned Nassau several more times. During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, piracy flourished in the islandsīecause of their proximity to important shipping lanes. In 1717 and again in 1783, the islands became a British colony. They took over an island the Arawaks called Cigatoo and named it Eleuthera, the Greek word for freedom. Slavery, disease, and other hardships wiped out the entire tribe within 25 years of Columbus' arrival.Ī British settlement in The Bahamas was established in 1647 by a group of English Puritans, known as the Company of Eleutheran Adventurers. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492 on the island of San Salvador, the Caribbean islands were inhabited by Lucayans, a subgroup of Arawak Indians. The archipelago consists of about 2,400 Cays (coral reefs) and 700 islands, 30 of which are inhabited. The Bahamas stretches for 760 miles from the coast of Florida in the northwest to almost Haiti in the southeast. There are the Blue Holes of the South Abaco Cave Systems and the underwater cave system in the Lucayan National Park.Īnd there are, for lack of other attractions, the Swimming Pigs of the Exumas are they trying to escape before they get eaten? The main activities in the Bahamas are water sports, fishing, boating, diving, snorkeling, sailing and - duty-free shopping.īesides island hopping, the Bahamas don't really have much to offer except two dozen lighthouses and some plantation ruins. The Bahamas are widely popular as a tax haven since the 1990s. Tourism, international banking (offshore finance), and investment management account for more than 55% of the country's gross domestic product. The country has one of the world's largest open-registry shipping fleets. Girls from many foreign countries offer their services.Ĭruise ships, the islands are easily accessible by these Polluters of the Seas they come from Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Port Canaveral near Orlando, Florida, many of those are registered in the Bahamas. Very popular with tourists are the large all-inclusive-adults-only resorts. Today, the Bahamas have become one of the world's foremost summer vacation resorts the archipelago attracts more than five times its population in tourists each year. The resort features five distinct hotels: the iconic The Royal, the laid-back The Beach, the multigenerational The Coral, the ultraluxury The Cove and the residential-style The Reef." Note the use of flowery adjectives. A Caribbean tourist dream or a nightmare? Hotel brochure description: "Atlantis Bahamas is a lush, oceanside resort located on Paradise Island in The Bahamas.
0 kommentar(er)
