 Taking its name from the Spanish, 'baja mar', which translates as 'shallow sea', the Bahamas or the Commonwealth of the Bahamas as it is officially known, is an archipelago consisting of some 700 islands and cays and is situated in the Atlantic Ocean to the east of Florida in the US and to the north of Cuba. Of those 700 islands, only 12 are significantly developed and populated with New Providence topping the list on both accounts.
The islands offer abundant natural beauty and no end of fascinating flora and fauna as well as year round good weather, which in the dry season lacks the intense heat typical of many other Caribbean islands. Views on all of the islands are akin to those that grace the front of picture postcards and very few visitors are left unimpressed by the sights on offer.
 Nassau, located on New Providence Island, is the capital of the entire commonwealth and home to the greatest concentration of Bahaman citizens. It’s also one of the islands’ most popular tourist destinations and the most likely port of entry for most visitors. Places of interest include the Atlantis resort, the Straw Market, the Paradise Island resort and Fort Fincastle.
Other well populated islands include Cat Island, Eleuthera, Acklins, San Salvador, Crooked Island, Mayaguana and Exuma. Eleuthera offers a glimpse of a truly unspoiled paradise while San Salvador has places of interest such as the Catedral Metropolitana and Puerta del Diablo.
From certain major cities in the United States, there are daily flights to the Bahamas while a small number of international destinations also provide direct connections. Many international visitors fly to the US then take a connecting flight to Nassau International airport. Once in the Bahamas, there are internal flights between 19 domestic airports.
The Bahamas offer plentiful accommodation options with everything from major resorts offering hotel and apartment accommodation to small private houses/villas available for rent on some of the quieter islands.
Weather
 The Bahamas experiences good weather for most of the year and is really only subject to two distinct seasons; these being what are commonly known as the rainy season, lasting from May through until November; and the dry season from December through until April. The dry season, which is the most popular season from a visitor perspective, sees low volumes of rainfall and average daily highs of 25ºC.
The rainy season sees temperatures rising significantly and peaking around July/August with daily highs of 31ºC; relative humidity is also high during this season. Rainfall is considerable with June often seeing over nine inches and August over eight; the season begins to peter out in October when less than seven inches are normal and by November volumes are normally down to below three inches. It’s feasible to visit the Bahamas during the rainy season, provided you pack waterproof clothing and are prepared for the extremes of heat and humidity; besides, the prevailing trade winds that are a common feature of the climate can provide a welcome relief from both. It’s also worth noting that temperatures are approximately five degrees cooler on the more northerly islands.
Hurricanes are not uncommon during the rainy season, for this reason, more holiday makers head for the island during the December to April period.
History
 The islands’ first settlers were the ‘Lukku-cairi’ people who originated from South America, arriving in the Bahamas around the 9th century AD. These settlers, who were also known as Arawaks and Lucayans, were essentially Native American tribes who relied upon the sea as their most significant source of food. When Christopher Columbus arrived in San Salvador in 1492, there were about 40,000 Lucayans living on the islands. Columbus initially befriended the tribes who were relatively advanced from social, political and religious perspectives; he later however took advantage of their amicable and generous nature and took them to Hispaniola to work as slaves in his mines. Within 25 years of Columbus’s arrival, the tribe was completely wiped out as a result of factors such as slavery and disease.
 Following the decimation of the Lucayan population, the islands remained virtually unoccupied until the arrival of English travellers from Bermuda in 1650. These travellers were known as the Eleutherian Adventurers and were responsible for forming the first British colony on the island that was hence named the Island of Eleuthera. These settlers established a successful farming industry that still thrives there today
The next 70 years of the islands’ history saw what is commonly known as ‘The Golden Age of Piracy’ with famous characters such as Blackbeard, Henry Morgan, and Anne Bonney, using the region as a place from which to lure bounty laden ships for the purposes of plundering their treasures. Despite British control of the islands from 1670 onwards, the pirates’ domination remained unchallenged for nearly 50 years until 1718 when Woodes Rogers, the first governor, started a successful campaign to drive them out. In the same year, the Bahamas officially became a British crown colony, a development which encouraged around 8,000 loyalists (and their slaves) from New York, Florida and the Carolinas, to emigrate to the islands.
In 1964, the British granted the Bahamians a degree of autonomy by allowing internal self government, a status that was held until 1973 when complete independence was granted. Meanwhile tourism was already flourishing as a successful industry and had been since the 1950’s, with large numbers of US and British citizens flocking to the islands. Today, the Bahamas remains a popular visitor destination with a solid tourist infrastructure.
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