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Documented
history records that in the Ninth Century, the first settlers
in the Bahamas were the island people, or "Lukku-cairi",
who made their way from South America, by way of the Caribbean.
Christopher Columbus, named these people Indians, when he
discovered San Salvador in the Fifteen Century. The people
were also known through the centuries as "Lucayans",
and "Arawaks" |
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| Religious
English settlers landed in Eleuthera in the mid Seventeenth
century, and on forming the first British colony, became prosperous
farming the land. |
| Britain claimed
the islands in 1670, along with the problem of piracy, which
was endemic, with such characters as Blackbeard, Henry Morgan,
and Anne Bonney, plying their trade until 1718, when the first
governor, Woodes Rogers, drove them out. Only to be replaced
by privateering, which was effectively government sponsored
piracy, during Britain's war with Spain. |
| In 1782, during
the American Revolution, Spain captured the Bahamas, but only
briefly until the Treaty of Versailles, when the Islands, once
more became a British colony |
| The Bahamas checkered
history continued throughout the Eighteenth and early Nineteenth
century, transporting Cotton and military equipment during the
American Civil war, and rum-running during the Prohibition years
of the Roaring Twenties. |
| A period of economic
hard times followed until the end of the Second World War,when
the Bahamas became a popular tourist destination. |
| Geography
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| The Bahamas consists
of about 700 islands covering 100,000 sq miles of ocean. They
start approximately 75 miles east of Florida, and stretch 750
miles south to the Ragged Islands off the coast of Cuba. The
land mass is approximately 7,500 square miles only, with most
islands being surrounded by coral reefs. |
| The Islands tend to become less
vegetated the further south they extend, and in many places
cactus is the dominant form of plant life. In the northern and
western islands, there is more conventional vegetation with
many Palm forests, palmetto and cabbage palm, Mangroves are
present on many islands. |
| Political
and Economics |
| The Bahamas has become a favorite
for international investment, and of particular attraction is
the tax-free economy, where there are also no taxes on corporate
earnings, or capital gains. The Government also looks favorably
upon projects that will provide revenue to the Islands, and
streamlines the process to approve this type of activity, especially
in the areas of finance, tourism, insurance, shipping and manufacturing.
There are a number of experienced law firms in Nassau. The Bahamian
dollar is pegged on a one for one basis with the US dollar. |
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