Bahamas Travel Facts
The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is located in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of the United States and north of Cuba. The island country, with a land territory of 13,900 square km and Nassau as its capital, consists of more than 700 islands and 2,400 cays.
The English-speaking country has an estimated population of 333,000, with 85 percent of them black and most of them Christians.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered the Bahamas archipelago. In 1647, the first batch of European migrants began to settle on the islands.
The archipelago was occupied by Britain in 1649. In January 1964, the British made the islands internally self-governing. On July 10, 1973, the Bahamas became fully independent, but remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state.
The Bahamas is one of the richest countries in the Caribbean region. The gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the country reached 22,156 U.S. dollars in 2008, ranking first in the region, just behind the United States and Canada in the Western hemisphere.
Tourism serves as the country’s pillar industry, attracting 5 million tourists annually. Financial services are the second largest industry in the country. By taking advantage of geographic location, stable political and economic circumstances and appealing financial policies, the country has become a pivotal offshore financial center in the world.
During recent years, the government has placed top priority on economic diversification with a focus on industry and agriculture. The timber, ship, food and pharmaceutical industries have made rapid progress.
Cane sugar, tomatoes, bananas, corn and pineapples are the country’s major agricultural products.
In May 1997, the Bahamas established diplomatic relations with China, and in January 2006, the Bahamas opened its embassy in China. Since the establishment of ties, overall relations between the two countries have developed smoothly.
The Bahamas has become one of China’s main trade partners in the Caribbean region. In 2008, trade volume between the two countries amounted to 386 million U.S. dollars, up 113.6 percent from the previous year.
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