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The Bahamas, officialy the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is a country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archipelago's population. The archipelagic state consists of more than 3000 [2] islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, and is located north of Cuba and northwest of the island of Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands, southeast of the American state of Florida, and east of the Florida Keys. The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force describes The Bahamas' territory as encompassing 470,000 km2 (180,000 sq mi) of ocean space.
Nassau is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. It is the centre of commerce, education, law, administration, and media of the country.
The earliest arrival of people in the islands now known as The Bahamas was in the first millennium AD. The first inhabitants of the islands were the Lucayans, an Arawakan-speaking Taino people, who arrived between about 500 and 800 AD from other islands of the Caribbean.
The music of the Bahamas is associated primarily with Junkanoo, a celebration which occurs on Boxing Day and again on New Year's Day. Parades and other celebrations mark the ceremony. Groups like The Baha Men, Ronnie Butler and Kirkland Bodie have gained massive popularity in Japan, the United States and other places. Other popular Bahamian artists include Stileet and Stevie S.
Andros Island is an archipelago within the Bahamas, the largest of the Bahamian Islands. Politically considered a single island, Andros in total has an area greater than all the other 700 Bahamian islands combined. The land area of Andros consists of hundreds of small islets and cays connected by mangrove estuaries and tidal swamplands, together with three major islands: North Andros, Mangrove Cay, and South Andros. The three main islands are separated by "bights", estuaries that trifurcate the island from east to west. It is 167 kilometres (104 mi) long by 64 km (40 mi) wide at the widest point.
Before European colonization, the Turks and Caicos Islands were inhabited by Taino and Lucayan peoples. The first recorded European sighting of the islands now known as the Turks and Caicos occurred in 1512. In the subsequent centuries, the islands were claimed by several European powers with the British Empire eventually gaining control. For many years the islands were governed indirectly through Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Jamaica. When the Bahamas gained independence in 1973, the islands received their own governor, and have remained a separate autonomous British Overseas Territory since. In August 2009, the United Kingdom suspended the Turks and Caicos Islands' self-government following allegations of ministerial corruption. Home rule was restored in the islands after the November 2012 elections.
The Abaco Islands lie in the northern Bahamas. The main islands are Great Abaco and Little Abaco. There are several smaller barrier cays, of which the northernmost are Walker's Cay and its sister island Grand Cay. To the south, the next inhabited islands are Spanish Cay and Green Turtle Cay, with its settlement of New Plymouth, Great Guana Cay, private Scotland Cay, Man-O-War Cay, and Elbow Cay, with its settlement of Hope Town. Southernmost are Tilloo Cay and Lubbers Quarters. Another of note off Abaco's western shore is Gorda Cay, now a Disney-owned island and a cruise ship stop renamed Castaway Cay. Also in the vicinity is Moore's Island. On the Big Island of Abaco is Marsh Harbour, the Abacos' commercial hub and the Bahamas' third largest city, plus the resort area of Treasure Cay. Both have airports. A few mainland settlements of significance are Coopers Town and Fox Town in the north and Cherokee and Sandy Point in the south. Administratively, the Abaco Islands constitute seven of the 31 Local Government Districts of the Bahamas: Grand Cay, North Abaco, Green Turtle Cay, Central Abaco, South Abaco, Moore's Island, and Hope Town.
Eleuthera refers both to a single island in the archipelagic state of The Commonwealth of the Bahamas and to its associated group of smaller islands. Eleuthera forms a part of the Great Bahama Bank. The island of Eleuthera incorporates the smaller Harbour Island. "Eleuthera" derives from the feminine form of the Greek adjective ἐλεύθερος (eleútheros), meaning "free". Known in the 17th century as Cigateo, it lies 80 km east of Nassau. It is long and thin—180 km long and in places little more than 1.6 km wide. Its eastern side faces the Atlantic Ocean, and its western side faces the Great Bahama Bank. The topography of the island varies from wide rolling pink sand beaches to large outcrops of ancient coral reefs, and its population is approximately 11,000. The principal economy of the island is tourism.
Exuma is a district of The Bahamas, consisting of over 365 islands, also called cays.
BTC is the primary telecommunications provider for the Bahamas, headquartered in Nassau, New Providence. It is partly government owned and offers telephone, internet and wireless services.
Easy Living is a 1986 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by guitarist Joe Pass.
Macfarlane Gregory Anthony Mackey, known professionally as Tony McKay and Exuma, was a Bahamian musician, artist, playwright and author best known for his almost unclassifiable music, a strong mixture of carnival, junkanoo, calypso, reggae, African music and folk music. His lyrics were deeply immersed in the West African and Bahamian tradition of Obeah, a system of spiritual and healing practices developed among enslaved West Africans in the West Indies, practiced by many on the islands of The Bahamas.
The monarchy of the Bahamas is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The current Bahamian monarch and head of state, since the independence of the Bahamas on 10 July 1973, is Queen Elizabeth II. As sovereign, she is the personal embodiment of the Bahamian Crown. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled Queen of the Bahamas and, in this capacity, she and other members of the Bahamian Royal Family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of the Bahamian state. However, the Queen is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role.
Patrick "Rik" Carey is a Bahamian music producer, singer, musician and the lead vocalist for the junkanoo band Baha Men, with the hit song "Who Let the Dogs Out".
The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
Brettina Lorena Robinson is a Bahamian jazz singer-songwriter, model, and SAG actress, who lives in metropolitan Los Angeles.
Bahamian cuisine refers to the foods and beverages of The Bahamas. It includes seafood such as fish, shellfish, lobster, crab, and conch, as well as tropical fruits, rice, peas, pigeon peas, and pork. Popular seasonings commonly used in dishes include chilies, lime, tomatoes, onions, garlic, allspice, ginger, cinnamon, rum, and coconut. Rum-based beverages are popular on the islands. Since the Bahamas consist of a multitude of islands, notable culinary variations exist.
Marion Bethel is an attorney, poet, essayist, filmmaker, human and gender rights activist, and writer from Nassau, The Bahamas.
Kendal Hanna is a painter and sculptor who is known as one of The Bahamas’ first abstract expressionist. His works have been inspired by and compared to international artists and fellow abstractionists such as William de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Hans Hoffman, Joan Miró and Mark Rothko.
Meta Davis Cumberbatch MBE was a Trinidad-born pianist, composer, poet, playwright and cultural activist, who spent the majority of her life in The Bahamas, where she used her talents to enhance the country's cultural development, becoming known as the "Mother of the Arts". At the 2014 Independence anniversary celebrations in Nassau she was honoured as a Bahamian "Cultural Warrior".
References
- ↑ Avvy (10 February 2009). "Art and culture make good business". Nicolette Bethel. Archived from the original on 30 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
- 1 2 3 Gibson, Farah (30 April 2014). "Artist Spotlight: Avvy". Tribune 242. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
- ↑ Artist Of The Month Mix 102.1 Fm Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Bahamas.com \ Inagua Event Detail Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ The Nassau Guardian Online Guide – Concert set for Independence Celebrations [ permanent dead link ]
- ↑ The Nassau Guardian Online Guide – Music Festival [ permanent dead link ]
