History of the Bahamas

The first clear evidence of human settlement in the Bahamas dates from the 7th Century after Christ. A seafaring people, the Taino (who came later, at the Europeans as "Lucayan") are known to have migrated into the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba.

Christopher Columbus's first landfall in the New World on San Salvador Island (also called Watling's Iceland) in the southern Bahamas called in 1492 It is assumed that a population of about 40,000 since the time of the LucayanColumbus' landing, but in the fourth century, was virtually eliminated the entire population through disease, war and deportation and the introduction of slavery (many Lucayan Hispaniola were taken as slaves).

English settlers began to arrive in the Bahamas in 1647, which at that time were practically empty. The islands were a British colony in 1717 and after the American Revolution (1775 to 1783), arrived some 8,000 loyalists and their slaves on the islands.After the end of slavery on the islands in 1834, the population was further strengthened by a steady trickle of fugitive slaves from the United States.

United Kingdom granted full internal self-government of the islands in 1964 and 1973 the islands were completely independent (though still a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, and with the British Queen, Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of the Bahamas). Bahamas joined CARICOM (at the time as "Caribbean Community and Common Market")in 1974, and after many years of sustained economic growth, today announced the 3rd highest GDP in the western hemisphere (after the United States and Canada).

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