The Bahamas

The Bahamas is an archipelago of some 700 islands and cays covering over 100,000 square miles of ocean between Florida and Hispaniola. In total land area (5,382 square miles) it is about 20 per cent larger than Jamaica.

The country's name derives from the Lucayan term for one of the 700 islands. According to linguistic scholars 'ba-ha-ma' meant 'large upper middle land'. The Lucayans who met Columbus in 1492 were descendents of Arawak tribes who had migrated through the Caribbean from South America.

After the Lucayans were deported by the Spaniards who followed Columbus, the islands were deserted until English settlers from Bermuda established a colony on the island of Eleuthera in the mid-1600's.

Today, just over 300,000 people live here on 22 inhabited islands. The main population centres are the capital, Nassau, on the island of New Providence (pop: 210,000), and Freeport on the island of Grand Bahama (pop: 50,000).

A British colony for over 300 years, The Bahamas became independent in July, 1973. A Bahamian governor-general ceremonially represents Queen Elizabeth II of England as head of state.

A multi-party democracy in the British fashion, The Bahamas has a bicameral parliament with an elected assembly and an appointed senate. The country is governed by a cabinet headed by a prime minister, and elections are held every five years.

Tourism is the country's biggest earner, with over four million visitors (mostly North Americans) spending a billion and a half dollars a year. Financial services are the second biggest industry, accounting for 15 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product of $5.2 billion. Agriculture and fisheries is a distant third, with about $70 million in marine products exported annually. Most Bahamians are employed in the civil service, hotel sector and the distributive trades.