Bahamas

The Commonwealth of The Bahamas is a sovereign state, and also an English-speaking nation in the West Indies. An archipelago of 700 islands and cays, the Bahamas is located in the Atlantic Ocean, east of Florida and the United States, north of Cuba and the Caribbean, and northwest of the British dependency of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Although Paleo-Indians may have populated the area previously, Taino Indians from Hispaniola and Cuba moved into the southern Bahamas around the 7th century AD and became the Lucayans. There were an estimated 40,000 Lucayans at the time of Columbus' arrival. Christopher Columbus' first landfall in the New World was on the island of San Salvador, also called Watling's Island, in the south part of Bahamas. Here, Columbus made contact with the Lucayans and exchanged goods with them.

The Bahamian Lucayans were taken to Hispaniola as slaves; in two decades, many Lucayan societies ceased to exist, as the population endured considerable forced labour, warfare, disease, emigration and outmarriage. After the Lucayan population was decimated, the Bahamian islands were virtually unoccupied until the English settlers came from Bermuda in 1647. The so-called Eleutherian Adventurers established settlements on the island of Eleuthera.

The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1718. Some 8,000 loyalists and their slaves moved to the Bahamas in the late 1700s from New York, Florida and the Carolinas.

The British made the islands internally self-governing in 1964 and, in 1973, Bahamians got full independence while staying a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Since the 1950s, the Bahamian economy has prospered based on the twin pillars of tourism and financial services. Despite this, the country still faces significant challenges in areas such as education, healthcare, correctional facilities and violent crime and illegal immigration. The urban renewal project has been launched in recent years to help impoverished urban areas in social decline in the main islands. Today, the country enjoys the third highest per capita income in the western hemisphere.

Some say the name 'Bahamas' derives from the Spanish for baja mar, meaning "shallow seas." Others trace it to the Lucayan word for Grand Bahama Island, ba-ha-ma ("large upper middle land")

Ski resorts

Beach resorts

Coral Sands Beach Resort , Cable Beach Resorts , Tiamo Resorts, Abacos and Loyalist Cays, Andros, Cat Island and San Salvador , Grand Bahama, Long Island, New Providence, Paradise Island, Nassau Bahamas Resort, Cable Beach Resort, Greenwood Beach Resort , Atlantis Royal Tower & Yacht Harbor, Bahama Beach Club, Gold Rock Beach, Taino Beach, Moore's Island, Caves Beach

Spa resorts

Four Seasons Resort Great Exuma, Sandalsroyal Bahamian Spa Resort, British Colonial Hilton Nassau , Ocean Club, Paradise Island, Lucaya Sivananda Yoga Retreat, Nassau Palm Resort and Conference Center, Sheraton at Our Lucaya Beach & Golf Resort, Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach, Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort & Spa, Riu Paradise Island, Four Seasons Resort Great Exuma at Emerald Bay, British Colonial Hilton Nassau, Graycliff Hotel, One & Only Ocean Club, Atlantis Paradise Island, Harborside Resort at Atlantis

Golf regions

Radisson Cable Beach & Golf, Abaco Beach Resort and Boat Harbor, Atlantis Royal Tower & Yacht Harbor, Bahama Beach Club, Breezes Bahamas Nassau, Treasure Cay, Abaco, Ruby Golf Course, Lucayan Park Golf & Country Club, Ocean Club Golf Course, South Ocean Golf Course, South Ocean Golf Course, Emerald Golf Course, Lucayan Country Club, Reef Golf Course