Portal:Bahamas

Topics

Culture

Geography

Health

History

Mathematics

Nature

People

Philosophy

Religion

Society

Technology

The Bahamas ⁱ/bəˈhɑːməz/, officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets (rocks). It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States (nearest to the state of Florida). Its total land area is 13,939 km² (5,382 sq mi), with an estimated population of 330,000.

The name Bahamas is of Lucayan Taino (Arawakan) derivation, although some historians believe it is from the Spanish bajamar, meaning “shallow water.” The islands occupy a position commanding the gateway to the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the entire Central American region. Their strategic location has given the history of The Bahamas a unique and often striking character. It was there that Christopher Columbus made his original landfall in the Americas. The subsequent fate of the peaceful original inhabitants remains one of the more tragic episodes in the development of the entire region, while the early attempts at European-dominated settlement were marked by intense national rivalries, interspersed with long periods of lawlessness and piracy. As a result, the society and culture that has evolved in The Bahamas is a distinctive blend of European and African heritages, the latter a legacy of the slave trade and the introduction of the plantation system using African slaves.

Contents: Selected article | Selected picture | Selected biography | Did you know | News | Categories
Topics | Related portals | Wikiprojects | Things you can do | Associated Wikimedia

Junkanoo is a street parade with music, which occurs in many towns across The Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands every Boxing Day (December 26), New Year's Day and, more recently, in the summer on the island of Grand Bahama. The largest Junkanoo parade happens in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. There are also Junkanoo parades in both Miami, in June and Key West, in October, where the local Afro-American populations have their roots in the Bahamas. The word "Junkanoo" is derived from an African slave master and trader named "John Canoe" in the 17th century.

• November 28: United Nations passes Declaration on human cloning
• July 6: Bahamas become fourth country to ban shark fishing
• June 24: Tropical Storm Paula weakens to remnant low
• October 5: Plane crash in the Bahamas kills eight
• August 31: The Bahamas halt all new applications for oil exploration
• September 30: Court revelation by John Travolta of son's disease sparks autism debate
• September 24: Testimony by John Travolta that son was autistic raises Scientology questions
• March 26: Somali pirates seize two European tankers, Seychelles yacht
• January 3: Wikinews Shorts: January 3, 2009
• September 4: Tropical Storm Ike upgraded to hurricane status
• September 1: Government of the Bahamas isssues warning over Hurricane Hanna
• December 26: Leaders throughout the world deliver Christmas messages

Wikinews Bahamas portal...

Bahamas Government House

The Yellow Elder is the National Flower of the Bahamas.

• ...that there are a total of 324 species of birds in the Bahamas, of which 4 are endemic, 11 have been introduced by humans, and 153 are rare or accidental?

• ...that Junkanoo is a musical street masquerade, believed to be of West African origin, which occurs in many towns across the Bahamas and the Caribbean every Boxing Day and New Year's Day?

• ...that during proprietary rule, The Bahamas became a haven for pirates, including the infamous Blackbeard?Template:/box-footer

Template:/box-header Subcategories of Bahamas:
Buildings and structures - Communications - Culture - Economy - Education - Jobs - Environment - Geography - Government - Health - History - Law - Lists - Military - People - Politics - Science - Society - Sport - Transport - Images - stubs - templates Template:/box-footer

Caribbean	United Kingdom	Jamaica	Grenada	Cuba
Dominican Republic	Puerto Rico	North America	Haiti	Trinidad and Tobago
British Virgin Islands	United States

The following Wikimedia sister projects provide more on this subject:

• What are portals?
• List of portals
• Featured portals