Bahamas
The seven hundred islands of the Bahamas extend from about 1,125 kilometers (700 miles) off the coast of Florida on the northwest to near Cuba on the southeast. The islands' population in 2002 was 310,000—85 percent of which is of African heritage. Almost two-thirds of the residents live on New Providence Island, where the Bahamian capital of Nassau is located.
The original people of the Bahamas were the Arawak. Columbus made his first landing in the Bahamas, and the Spanish transported many of the Arawak to work in mines in Hispaniola and Cuba, where most of them perished. The first permanent settlement of Europeans was a group of English settlers who organized a community in 1647. The Bahamas became a British Crown Colony in 1717. Bahamians gained self-governing status in 1964 and full independence within the British Commonwealth in 1973. As a member of the commonwealth, the Bahamas recognizes the Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1926) as head of state and the governor-general, Dame Ivy Dumont (b. 1930), as the Queen's representative.
Prime Minister Linden Pindling (1930–2000) of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) governed the Bahamas for more than twenty-five years, winning six successive elections. Following allegations of corruption under PLP rule, the reformist Free National Movement (FNM) took office in 1992 under the leadership of Prime Minister Hubert A. Ingraham (b. 1947). The FNM lost power to the PLP in elections held in 2002, and the PLP's Perry Gladstone Christie (b. 1943) was elected to the office of prime minister.
The Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations Development Program ranks the Bahamas fifty-first of 177 countries rated. The Bahamian gross domestic product per capita ranked thirty-fifth of 177 countries. The HDI rating contrasts with that of Barbados, the best performer in Latin America and the Caribbean, which ranks twenty-ninth on the HDI. The literacy race for the entire Bahaman population is above 95 percent. Tourism provides about 60 percent of the gross domestic product, followed by banking (15%), manufacturing (3%), and agriculture and fisheries (2%). The United States purchases about 50 percent of Bahamian products and services.
The constitution of the Bahamas provides for a parliamentary government on the Westminster model. The cabinet, consisting of at least nine ministers including the prime minister, controls the executive branch. The parliament is bicameral, consisting of an elected House of Assembly (forty members) and an appointed Senate (sixteen members). Ministers must be sitting members either of the House of Assembly or of the Senate, although the Senate is limited to three members in the cabinet.
Members of the House of Assembly are elected from single-member constituencies for five-year terms. The sixteen members of the Senate are appointed by the governor-general, nine on advice of the prime minister, four on advice of the leader of the opposition, and three upon consultation of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition.
The chief justice of the Bahamian Supreme Court is appointed by the governor-general on advice of the prime minister, and the remaining justices are appointed by the governor-general on advice of a judicial commission. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom handles appeals of last resort.
The Bahamas continues to face serious issues from drug-related crime and from money laundering through its offshore financial system. As a result, the government has been pressured by the U.S. government to combat this problem, although relations with the United States began to improve during the early 2000s.
Political, religious, and academic freedom are generally respected. Non-governmental organizations and trade unions are free from governmental interference. Violent crime is a matter of continuing concern, however, and it has been reported that violence against women is a serious problem.
(MAP BY MARYLAND CARTOGRAPHICS/THE GALE GROUP)Caribbean Region.
Bibliography
Barrow-Giles, Cynthia. Introduction to Caribbean Politics. Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers, 2002.
The Government of the Bahamas. <http://www.bahamas.gov.bs E;.
Griffith, Ivelaw Lloyd. Drugs and Security in the Caribbean: Sovereignty Under Siege University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997.
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