The Bahamas is a stable, developing nation with an economy heavily dependent on tourism and offshore banking.

The Bahamas is a beneficiary of the U. S .- Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act ( CBTPA ), Canada's CARIBCAN program, and the European Union's Lome IV Agreement.

RFMBT is the only merchant bank in The Bahamas and is a joint venture with Royal Bank of Canada.

Bahamian tastes in consumer products roughly parallel those in the U. S. With approximately 85 % of the population of primarily African descent, there is a large and growing market in the Bahamas for " ethnic " personal care products.

The Bahamas is ranked 7th out of 29 countries in the South and Central America / Caribbean region, and its overall score is higher than the regional and world averages.

Finally, if the Triangle is assumed to cross land, such as parts of Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, or Bermuda itself, there is no evidence for the disappearance of any land-based vehicles or persons.

Sometimes connected to the Atlantis story is the submerged rock formation known as the Bimini Road off the island of Bimini in the Bahamas, which is in the Triangle by some definitions.

The common law constitutes the basis of the legal systems of: England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, federal law in the United States and the law of individual U. S. states ( except Louisiana ), federal law throughout Canada and the law of the individual provinces and territories ( except Quebec ), Australia ( both federal and individual states ), Kenya, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Pakistan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Granadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, and many other generally English-speaking countries or Commonwealth countries ( except Scotland, which is bijuridicial, and Malta ).

Christopher Columbus, on his first voyage to the Americas, sailed south from what is now the Bahamas to explore the northeast coast of Cuba and the northern coast of Hispaniola.

* The first day of Junkanoo street parade, the second day is on the New Year's Day ( the Bahamas )

He continued to the Bahamas and Jamaica, where the current Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, is considering severing ties between Jamaica and the constitutional monarchy.

* 1493 – Explorer Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, aboard his ship Niña from his voyage to what is now The Bahamas and other islands in the Caribbean.

Unlike large limestone areas such as Florida, Cuba, and the Yucatan Peninsula, or the Bahamas, which is a small island group composed of coral and sand, St. Lucia is a typical Windward Island formation of volcanic rock that came into existence long after much of the region had already been formed.

The territory is geographically contiguous to the Bahamas, both comprising the Lucayan Archipelago, but is politically a separate entity.

broadcasts from The Bahamas are also received ; cable television is established ) ( 1997 )

* August 18 – HRH The Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, is installed as Governor of the Bahamas.

Fox programming is available on cable in the Bahamas, via over-the-air stations in the United States.

Ceiba is the name of a genus of many species of large trees found in tropical areas, including Mexico, Central America, South America, The Bahamas, Belize and the Caribbean, West Africa, and Southeast Asia.

The Spanish raided the Bahamas, the Bahamians in turn commissioned privateers against Spain, even though England and Spain were at peace, and in 1684 the Spanish burned the settlements on New Providence and Eleuthera, after which they were largely abandoned.

The Arawak people include the Taíno, who occupied the Lesser Antilles and Guadeloupe ( called " Karukera " meaning " The island of beautiful waters ") before being largely killed off by the Caribs in the 18th century ; the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas ( Lucayans ); the Nepoya and Suppoya of Trinidad ; the Lokono of Guyana, and the Igneri, who were supposed to have preceded the Caribs in the Lesser Antilles-such as in, together with related groups ( including the Lucayans ) which lived along the eastern coast of South America, as far south as what is now Brazil.

In the first half of the 20th century, the Bahamas was largely controlled by a group of influential white merchants known as the " Bay Street Boys ", who dominated both the economy and the legislature.

Within two years the southern Bahamas were largely depopulated.

An encounter with a shark, while skin diving in the Bahamas, inspired Mitchell's Corvette Shark show car, his SS racer and the production 1963 Corvette Stingray, largely designed by Larry Shinoda, under Mitchell's direction.

At the end of the millennium, Hart once again fell largely silent as he and Masse married and relocated to Nassau, Bahamas to focus on raising their young family.

Original pressings of Love Beach carried no producer's credit, but production and mixing of the album were largely carried out by Keith Emerson following contentious recording sessions in the Bahamas.

However, due to concerns over the previous Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista the company had started foreign branches a few years prior to the revolution ; the Company moved the ownership of the Company's trademarks, assets and proprietary formulas out of the country to the Bahamas prior to the revolution as well as constructing plants in Puerto Rico and Mexico after the prohibition era to save in import taxes for rum being imported to the US.

The Security and Intelligence Branch, also known as Special Branch, is the main domestic intelligence and security service in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

At his call to the Bahamas Bar, Pindling publicly dedicated himself to the service of the Bahamas and the Bahamian people ' within and without the realm of pure law '.

This ended international flights at the airport until service to the Bahamas started in 2011.

Locair began regular flights from PIE to The Bahamas on December 18 ; marking the only nonstop service from the Tampa Bay area to the Bahamas.

The university sponsors numerous annual service trips within the United States, as well as in Guatemala, Belize, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, The Bahamas and other developing countries.

In 1982, he also became Chairman of The Bahamas Mortgage Corporation, an institution established to secure and guarantee housing financing for Bahamians in need of that service.

For her last two seasons in Hoverspeed service she wore a distinctive Union Flag livery in an attempt to show how British Hoverspeed were, Diamant was built in Australia, owned by a Bermuda registered company and the vessel itself was registered in Nassau, Bahamas and later moved to the Italian Registry as Seacat Diamant.

It operates scheduled service to Florida, the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, British Virgin Islands and the US Virgin Islands.

On April 7, 2011, Direct Air announced new service from Worcester to Nassau, Bahamas and San Juan, Puerto Rico commencing November 17, 2011.

The airline provided service for passengers to other Florida cities and to the Bahamas, using Ryan aircraft.

The Bahamas has the 47th freest economy in the world according to The Heritage Foundation 2010 Index of Economic Freedom.

* In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on the island of San Salvador in The Bahamas.

* Bahamas, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados

Most commercially collected ambergris comes from The Bahamas in the Caribbean, particularly New Providence.

Edgar Cayce first mentioned Atlantis in 1923 and later suggested that it was originally a continent-sized region extending from the Azores to the Bahamas, holding an ancient, highly evolved civilization which had ships and aircraft powered by a mysterious form of energy crystal.

The Bimini Road, a submerged rock formation of large rectangular stones just off North Bimini Island in the Bahamas, was claimed by Robert Ferro and Michael Grumley to be evidence of the lost civilization.

However, since December 2000, when the government enacted new regulations on the financial sector, many international businesses have left The Bahamas.

In 2004, over half a million tourists visited The Bahamas, most of whom are from the United States.

The primary purpose of the trips was to restore the reputation of The Bahamas in these markets.

As of December 1998, the government had licensed 418 banks and trust companies in The Bahamas.

The Bahamas promulgated the International Business Companies ( IBC ) Act in January 1990 to enhance the country's status as a leading financial center.

The act served to simplify and reduce the cost of incorporating offshore companies in The Bahamas.

In February 1991, the government also legalized the establishment of Asset Protection Trusts in The Bahamas.

The Bahamas exports lobster and some fish but does not raise these items commercially.

The Bahamas imports more than $ 250 million in foodstuffs per year, representing about 80 % of its food consumption.

Although the Bahamas participates in the political aspects of the Caribbean Community ( CARICOM ), it has not entered into joint economic initiatives with other Caribbean states.

The Bahamas has a few notable industrial firms: the Freeport pharmaceutical firm, PFC Bahamas ( formerly Syntex ), which recently streamlined its production and was purchased by the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche ; the BORCO oil facility, also in Freeport, which transships oil in the region ; the Commonwealth Brewery in Nassau, which produces Heineken, Guinness, and Kalik beers ; and Bacardi Corp., which distills rum in Nassau for shipment to the U. S. and European markets.

Other smaller but more nimble players in the banking industry include Fidelity Bank ( Bahamas ) Ltd. ( FBB ) and Royal Fidelity Merchant Bank & Trust Limited ( RFMBT ).