| If you are looking for tranquil peace the Bahamas is | | | | work the cotton plantations until 1834, when Britain |
| the right option for you. Most of the Bahamian | | | | abolished slavery in all its territories. Most white |
| population is black at about 85% and the next largest | | | | residents of are descendants of the first English |
| population group are whites at 12%. Other minorities | | | | settlers, who emigrated from Bermuda in 1647 to |
| include Hispanics and Asians at 3%. Many Bahamian | | | | gain religious freedom. Some are also related to the |
| whites are concentrated on Harbour Island, Abaco | | | | Loyalists who fled the southern United States during |
| Island, Spanish Wells, Harbour Island, Montagu bay, | | | | the American Revolution and built enormous |
| and the Long Islands district of New Providence. | | | | plantations here. |
| There are also a significant number of noncitizen | | | | Religion is an important and integral part of Bahamian |
| white expatriates from Europe and the United States. | | | | life. Even the tiniest village has a church, sometimes |
| The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is an | | | | two. The people's religious ardor and high regard for |
| independent English-speaking nation in the West | | | | education are evidence of their Puritan heritage, |
| Indies. An archipelago of 700 islands and cays (which | | | | derived from the Eleutheran Adventurers. Music is |
| are small islands), the Bahamas is located in the | | | | also very popular and is in the very bones of the |
| Atlantic Ocean, the United States and east of Florida, | | | | people. Caribbean Calypso, African rhythms, English |
| north of Cuba and the Caribbean, and northwest of | | | | folk songs and the uniquely Bahamian Goombay beat |
| the British dependency of the Turks and Caicos | | | | echo in the air. |
| Islands. | | | | Weddings and funerals in The Bahamas are especially |
| Documented Bahamian history begins with the words, | | | | important social events. People begin celebrating a |
| "Baja Mar," the name the Spanish bestowed on the | | | | marriage weeks before the official ceremony begins, |
| islands. This term is misleading, however; it means | | | | and the passing of loved ones is commemorated by |
| "shallow sea," but the islands are really mountain | | | | parties long after they are gone. |
| plateaus that emerged from the Atlantic hundreds of | | | | Anyone in search of the perfect beach might very |
| thousands of years ago. Christopher Columbus's first | | | | well start with the Islands of The Bahamas, whose |
| landfall in the New World in 1492 is believed to have | | | | relatively small land mass belies the sheer quantity of |
| been on the island of San Salvador (also called | | | | its beachfront. With the vast majority of the islands |
| Watling's Island), in the southeastern Bahamas. He | | | | shaped like slivers, one imagines two gorgeous |
| encountered Taino (also known as Lucayan) | | | | stretches of beach separated by the most |
| Amerindians and exchanged gifts with them. | | | | perfunctory of inlands. The beaches of The Bahamas |
| The 294,982 people who live in The Bahamas are | | | | are often coupled with shallow transparent water for |
| predominantly of West African descent. Their | | | | hundreds of yards out to sea, rising gently to |
| ancestors were slaves brought to the islands to | | | | sandbars before finally dropping into the depths. |