Bahamas 2006
In 2006, the Bahamas was a small island nation located in the Caribbean Sea. Despite being a relatively wealthy country, there were still significant challenges facing Bahamian citizens in 2006. Poverty and unemployment were higher than average, with many people living below the poverty line. Education had improved over the years, but access to higher education was still limited for many people. According to constructmaterials, infrastructure had been developed throughout the Bahamas, with new roads, bridges and other public works projects being constructed; however, much of the rural areas remained underdeveloped or inaccessible due to poor infrastructure and lack of resources. Furthermore, security threats from organized crime groups were a pressing issue in 2006 and there were increasing concerns about human rights violations throughout the country. Additionally, climate change posed a serious threat to low-lying island nations like The Bahamas as rising sea levels caused flooding and coastal erosion. Nevertheless, citizens of The Bahamas were hopeful that their country could continue to make progress towards a better future for its citizens.
Yearbook 2006
Bahamas. In March, the country’s highest court, the British Privy Council, abolished the country’s mandatory death penalty for murder. The court ruled that it was contrary to the Constitution to automatically punish all murderers with death. The issue of the death penalty is sensitive in the Bahamas; the murder rate is high and there is popular support for the death penalty. The last one was executed was 2000.
When the Bahamas Film Control Board in the spring banned the Oscar-winning American movie Brokeback Mountain, protests erupted. The rationale for the ban was that the film, which is about two men’s lifelong love for each other in a conservative part of the United States, contained scenes of “extreme homosexuality, nudity and ridicule”, and that “it had no value to the Bahamas audience”.
According to CountryAAH, major public holidays in Bahamas include Independence Day (July 10) and New Year (January 1). Hotel Compleat Angler on the island of Bimini – known as a haven for American writer Ernest Hemingway – burned to the ground in January. In the fire, valuable items, books and photographs that were collected in the hotel’s Hemingway Museum disappeared. The hotel was a popular tourist destination.
Bahamas Overview
The Bahamas is a politically stable island nation and a safe tourist destination. However, crimes against tourists such as robberies have taken place, so caution is in place. Moving alone in the dark should be avoided. Valuables as well as passports and travel tickets should be kept in the hotel safe, a copy of the passport should be kept with you at all times. A friend or family should leave copies of travel documents in their home country. Hurricanes and tropical storms are possible in summer and fall.
- According to abbreviationfinder, BS is the abbreviation code for Bahamas.
Area: 13,880 km²
Population: 337,721 (estimate 7/2020)
Capital: Nassau
Religion: 85% of the population are of African descent
Language: English (official language), Creole language (used by Haitian migrants)
Form of government: Parliamentary democracy, constitutional monarchy.
Since 10 July 1973 the island group has been an independent state within the British Commonwealth, with the official name of The Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The new state, which had already achieved internal autonomy in 1964, immediately joined the United Nations and the OAS (Organization of American States). According to a model still frequent in the British Commonwealth, the Bahamas recognize as head of state the sovereign of the United Kingdom, represented by a governor general; executive power is exercised by the government, legislative power by an assembly.
The total area is 13,935 km 2. The population, made up largely of blacks and mulattoes, was 175,192 residents at the 1970 census, but rose to 193,000, according to one estimate, in 1973; the result is an average density of just 14 residents per km; completely abnormal in the highly populated island world of the Antilles, but this value has no meaning, because only 22 islands are inhabited and some of these have less than 1000 residents; on the other hand, New Providence Island, in which the capital, Nassau (100,000 residents in 1970) is located, has a density greater than 700. The population is fairly urbanized and shows a strong demographic increase. The official language is English; the most widespread religion is Protestant (Catholics do not reach 1/5 of the total). The currency is the Bahamian dollar, equal in value to the USA.
The Bahamas have always had much closer relations with the United States than with the distant motherland. The plantation economy has always been modest there. The crops of sugar cane and pineapple are widespread, as are fishing, extraction of sea salt and forest exploitation; but the real great resource is seaside tourism (over 1,500,000 arrivals in 1973), which led to an enormous influx of US capital. The road network is spread over 1200 km; Nassau has an international airport.
History. – The steps towards independence were quickly overcome by exceptional prosperity due to the inflow of foreign capital guaranteed by banking secrecy (Nassau is known as “little Zurich”) and the development of tourism (90% of national income).
Prime Minister Lynden O. Pindling, in power since 1968, is the leader of the Progressive Liberal Party, which represents the Negro majority and has dominated the political scene since 1957. The party won 29 out of 38 seats in the September 1972 government elections. followed by the United Bahamas party (7 seats) representing the white businessmen who drive the country’s economy.
