For tourist information covering all of Bahamas keep reading below or select one of these links:

General Information
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General Information

• The popular tourist destination of the Bahamas is just a short hop from Miami, Florida off the east coast of the USA.
• Christopher Columbus, who discovered the islands for Europeans in 1492, described the area as shallow water and sea, “Baja mar,” effectively naming the area. 
• The Bahamas is more than just one destination. There are 14 main islands but these act as entry points to a little less than 700 other islands, cays (pronounced “keys”) and large rocks.
• The 100,000 sq mile archipelago stretches over 500 miles with a land area of 5,382 sq miles. Many of the cays are uninhabited and surrounded by arguably the world’s clearest water and shallow coral reefs. Add to that some deep water drop offs and underwater canyons and you can see why so many divers are drawn here along with sailors and around 3 million other tourists each year.
• The most popular and populous areas are New Providence (Nassau, the capital and Cable Beach) and Grand Bahama (Freeport and Lucaya). These are the swanky tourist hotspots and very nice too in a jet set kind of way but if you prefer something a little more remote, head to the Out islands where beaches can be deserted. Family Islands such as Abaco, Andros, Eleuthera, Harbour Island, Exumas, Cat Island and Long Island are all charming in their own special ways.
• The total population of the Bahamas is just over 320,000 friendly, laid back people, proud of their homeland and their past. The island has a rich history, in large part due to it’s proximity to the US mainland. Bahamians are predominately of West African decent, their ancestors were slaves brought to the islands to pick cotton. When Britain abolished the slave trade, the sea became the main source of wealth and the islanders have a tradition of seafaring from fishermen to gun runners, ship wreckers and smugglers. The Commonwealth of the Bahamas became independent on 10 July 1973.
• These days 50% of the Bahamas GDP is generated by tourism.
• Blackbeard was one of many famous Bahamian pirates who preyed on ships from the new world in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s. Pirate Henry Morgan’s treasure has never been found!

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