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Bahamas

Country comprising a group of about 700 islands and about 2,400 uninhabited islets in the Caribbean, 80 km/50 mi from the southeast coast of Florida. They extend for about 1,223 km/760 mi from northwest to southeast, but only 22 of the islands are inhabited.

History

The Bahamas were reached in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, who first landed at San Salvador. The British established a permanent settlement in 1656, and in 1670 the Bahamas were given to the duke of Albemarle as a proprietary colony. The islands were a pirate area in the early 18th century and reverted to the British crown in 1717 (although they were disputed by the Carolina colony until 1787). During the American Revolution, Spanish forces captured the Bahamas in 1782, but the islands were given back to Britain the following year.

Government The Bahamas are an independent sovereign nation within the Commonwealth, with the British monarch as head of state and represented by an appointed, resident governor general. The constitution, effective since independence 1973, provides for a two-chamber parliament with a Senate and House of Assembly. The governor general appoints a prime minister and cabinet drawn from and responsible to the legislature. The governor general appoints 16 Senate members, 9 on the advice of the prime minister, 4 on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and 3 after consultation with the prime minister. The House of Assembly has 49 members, elected by universal suffrage. Parliament has a maximum life of five years and may be dissolved within that period.

Independence The Bahamas achieved internal self-government in 1964, and the first elections for the national assembly on a full voting register were held in 1967. The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), drawing its support mainly from voters of African origin, won the same number of seats as the European-dominated United Bahamian Party (UBP). Lynden Pindling became prime minister with support from outside his party. In the 1968 elections the PLP scored a resounding victory, repeated in 1972, enabling Pindling to lead his country to full independence within the Commonwealth in 1973.

The 1977 elections resulted in an increased majority for the PLP. The main contestants in the 1982 elections were the Free National Movement (FNM, consisting of a number of factions that had split and reunited) and the PLP. Despite allegations of government complicity in drug trafficking, the PLP was again successful, and Pindling was unanimously endorsed as leader at a party convention in 1984. The 1987 elections were won by the PLP, led by Pindling, but with a reduced majority. His time in office came to an end in August 1992, when the FNM won 33 of the assembly's 49 seats and its leader Hubert Ingraham became prime minister. Pindling died in August 2000. In 2001 Ivy Dumont replaced Orville Alton Turnquest as governor general.

Unequal wealth Whites make up only 10-15% of the population but control 90% of the the wealth of the country.

Hurricane Floyd Hurricane Floyd, one of the strongest and largest storms ever seen in the Atlantic, ripped through the Bahamas in September 1999, causing massive damage on several islands.

Caribbean Community and Common Market Cat Island Eleuthera Inagua, Great and Little Laker, Freddie

Lucayos Islands Nassau New Providence (Bahamas) Pindling, Lynden (Oscar)