The Bahamas comes from the Spanish words “baja mar” meaning shallow sea.

When Christopher Columbus first set foot in the New World on San Salvador in 1492, the Arawak Indians were the only inhabitants there. Today, about 85 percent of Bahamians are of African heritage.

On 10 July 1973 the Bahamas became independent from the UK but has maintained its links with the United Kingdom through membership of the Commonwealth.

The Bahamas takes in more than three billion dollars annually from nearly four million tourists.

The Bahamas consists of 700 islands and 2,400 cays that dot the Atlantic Ocean from Florida almost to Haiti. Only 30 of the islands are inhabited.

The first English settlers of Eleuthera shipped Braselitto wood to Boston as a thank you for the support given by the people of Massachusetts. The proceeds from the sale of this precious wood went to purchase the land for Harvard College, which eventually became Harvard University.

The Lucayan National Park on Grand Bahama Island is the site of the world's longest known underwater cave and cavern system

The Bahamas has the clearest waters in the world with visibility of over 200 feet (61 meters).

Cascarilla bark grown in a few Out Islands is used to flavor Campari and Vermouth.

The Bahamas has one of the world's oldest parliamentary democracies, celebrating two hundred and fifty years in 1979.