Bahamas Overview

The Commonwealth of The Bahamas is an archipelago of approximately 700 islands and cays, covering nearly 100,000 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean. From its westernmost point, which lies approximately 50 miles east of Florida , The Bahamas stretches 750 miles in a south-easterly direction to within 50 miles of Haiti and Cuba. The total population of The Bahamas is approximately 300,000, most of which is concentrated on New Providence (on which the capital of the Country, Nassau is located ) and Grand Bahama Island. In 2003, The Bahamas attracted over 4.6 million visitors,

The Bahamas, which was formerly a British colonial territory, became an independent self-governing nation within the British Commonwealth on July 10, 1973. The political system in The Bahamas is based on the British Westminster model with a Governor-General, a Prime Minister and a bicameral Parliament. The Bahamas has enjoyed political stability since independence and recently celebrated the 275th anniversary of its parliament, one of the longest uninterrupted legislative bodies in the Western Hemisphere.

The Tourism and financial services industries are the strengths of The Bahamian economy. These two sectors of the economy together accounted for an estimated 55% of the GDP of the country and over 60% of employment in 2002. In recent years, tourism has represented an estimated 40% of GDP and employed, directly or indirectly, over half of the workforce.

In 2003, the 4.6 million visitors to The Bahamas spent approximately $1.6 billion in the country. More than 80% of these visitors were from the United States.