 The Bahamas comprise a coral archipelago consisting of some 700 low-lying islands and over 1,000 cays. Some of the smaller ones are privately owned; many remain uninhabited. Nassau, the capital, is located on New Providence Island, which became a British colony in 1666. Its first settlement was Charles Town, named for King Charles II and later renamed Nassau after King William of Orange-Nassau. In the 17th and early 18th centuries, the islands became a favored pirates’ lair and a base for slave traders. During the American Civil War, Nassau was an ideal port for the new fast ships that were unable to carry large cargoes and required a safe neutral port within two or three days’ steaming. The end of the war provoked a severe and prolonged recession and Bahamians turned again to wrecking. This trend came to a stop with the introduction of lighthouses and beacons. With the advent of Prohibition, Nassau became a center of the illicit liquor trade. When Prohibition was revoked, the islands had little to fall back on and the 1930s ended in economic disaster. A disease in 1939 killed off the sponges which had provided a livelihood to many. Following World War II, the islands experienced a tremendous development in tourism. Independence was granted in 1973, with Nassau the declared capital of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. |