Bahamas or Commonwealth of The Bahamas

4 Pages 1032 Words

Bahamas or Commonwealth of The Bahamas is located in the Atlantic Ocean. They Cover 4,404 square miles and stretch about 800 miles from southeast of Florida to northeast of Cuba. The Bahamas are composed of about 700 islands and 2,000 keys and reefs of rock and coral sand. About 310,000 people live in The Bahamas. Only about 30 of the 700 islands are inhabited. A few of the main islands include Grand Bahama, Great Abaco, Andros, Cat Island, and its capital and principal city is Nassau.

The official language of Bahamas is English, more British than American and generally intertwined with a special Bahamian dialect. Another language one will find in the island of the Bahamas is Creole but that is mostly among Haitian immigrants. The ethnicity of the Bahamas is 85% black, 12% white, and 3% Asian and Hispanic. Blacks make up about four-fifths of the population of the Bahamas. Many of them are descendants of slaves brought to the islands by British Loyalists who left the United States after the Revolutionary War in America ended in 1783. The rest of the Bahamian population consists chiefly of whites and persons of mixed black and white ancestry.

The Bahamas are governed under the constitution of 1973 and have a parliamentary democracy form of government. There is a bicameral legislature consisting of a 16-seat Senate and a 49-seat House of Assembly. The prime minister is the head of government, and the monarch of the United Kingdom, represented by an appointed governor-general, is the titular head of state. The nation is divided into 21 administrative districts.

Bahamas has a wonderful climate. The average temperature in the summer is around 90°F and in winter around 75°F. The water temperature ranges from 86°F to 70°F. Although The Bahamas does have its share of natural hazards. Between the months of June to November is known as hurricane season. Hurricanes and other tropical storms cause extensive flood and ...