The Bahamas extends for 1,223 kilometers from 80 kilometers off the coast of Florida in the north-west to 80 kilometers off the coast of Cuba in the south-east. The group consists of 700 islands with an area of 13,878 sq. km (5,358 sq. miles). Thirty of the islands are inhabited.
The principal islands include Abaco, Acklins, Andros, Berry Islands, Bimini, Cat Island, Crooked Island, Eleuthera, Exuma, Grand Bahama, Harbour Island, Inagua, Long Island, Mayaguana, New Providence (where the capital, Nassau, is located), Ragged Island, Rum Cay, San Salvador and Spanish Wells. The highest point in The Bahamas is 206-ft. Mount Alvernia on Cat Island. The 2000 census disclosed that the population of The Bahamas totaled 306,611, with 155,896 females and 147,715 males. Ninety percent of the total population lives on New Providence, Grand Bahama and Abaco. New Providence has 69.9 percent of the population, Grand Bahama and Abaco with 15.5 percent, and 10.3 percent are scattered on the remaining islands and cays.
The original inhabitants of The Bahamas were Arawaks, who had migrated from South America.
The first permanent European settlement in The Bahamas was established by a group of English settlers from Bermuda called the Company of Eleutheran Adventurers, who organized a community on what is now the island of Eleuthera in 1647, seeking religious freedom.
Following the American War of Independence in 1776, some 6,000 American farmers and their slaves settled in The Bahamas.
Over the past 60 years, The Bahamas has become one of the world's foremost vacation resorts. In 1950 about 40,000 visitors wintered in The Bahamas. Today over 5 million visitors arrive in The Bahamas each year and tourism now accounts for just over 40 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product.
Financial services, an important engine of The Bahamian economy, are responsible for 15 percent of GDP, as a large number of banks and trust companies are licensed to operate within The Bahamas. The vast majority of them are branches, subsidiaries or affiliates of major banking institutions in North and South America and Western Europe. In addition, there is a large number of licensed insurance companies, brokers and agents and managers in The Bahamas.
The Bahamas achieved independence from Britain on July 10, 1973, and is now a fully self-governing member of the Commonwealth and a member of the United Nations, the Caribbean Community and the Organization of American States.