Since attaining independence from the UK in 1973, The Bahamas have prospered through tourism and international banking and investment management. Because of its geography, the country is a major transshipment point for illegal drugs, particularly shipments to the US, and its territory is used for smuggling illegal migrants into the US.


PEOPLE
Eighty-five percent of the Bahamian population is of African heritage. About two-thirds of the population reside on New Providence Island (the location of Nassau). Many ancestors arrived in the Bahama Islands when they served as a staging area for the slave trade in the early 1800s. Others accompanied thousands of British loyalists who fled the American colonies during the Revolutionary War.

School attendance is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 16. The government fully operates 158 of the 210 primary and secondary schools in The Bahamas. The other 52 schools are privately operated. Enrollment for state and private primary and secondary schools amounts to more than 66,000 students. The College of The Bahamas, established in Nassau in 1974, provides programs leading to bachelors and associates degrees. The college is now converting from a 2- to a 4-year institution. Several non-Bahamian colleges also offer higher education programs in The Bahamas.

HISTORY
In 1492, Christopher Columbus made his first landfall in the Western Hemisphere in The Bahamas. Spanish slave traders later captured native Lucayan Indians to work in gold mines in Hispaniola, and within 25 years, all Lucayans perished. In 1647, a group of English and Bermudan religious refugees, the Eleutheran Adventurers, founded the first permanent European settlement in The Bahamas and gave Eleuthera Island its name. Similar groups of settlers formed governments in The Bahamas until the islands became a British Crown Colony in 1717.

ECONOMY
The Bahamian economy is almost entirely dependent on tourism and financial services to generate foreign exchange earnings. Tourism alone provides an estimated 60% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and employs about half the Bahamian work force. In 2000, more than 4 million tourists visited The Bahamas, 83% of them from the United States.

U.S.-BAHAMIAN RELATIONS
The United States historically has had close economic and commercial relations with The Bahamas. Both countries share ethnic and cultural ties, especially in education, and The Bahamas is home to 7,000 American residents. In addition, there are about 110 U.S.-related businesses in The Bahamas and, in 2000, some 83% of the 4 million tourists visiting the country were American.

Area: 5380 sq miles (13,940 sq km)
Population: 294,982
Capital city: Nassau (pop 190,000)
People: African descent (85%), European descent (12%), Asian & Hispanic (3%)
Language: English
Religion: Baptist (32%), Anglican (20%), Roman Catholic (19%)
Government: Independent state within the British Commonwealth
Governor General: Dame Ivy Dumont
Prime Minister: Hubert Alexander Ingraham
GDP: US$5.58 billion
GDP per head: US$20,000
Inflation: 1.3%
Major industries: Tourism, finance
Major trading partners: USA, UK, Denmark, Italy, Japan, Switzerland