Bahamian History and Culture

            
            
            
             The Bahamas are a self-governing country that has been inhabited as early as 300 to 400 A. The Bahamas history and culture have been influenced by many different beliefs, experiences, and lifestyles. This makes for an interesting cluster of people, customs, and traditions. The ethnic composition of the Bahamas is eighty-five percent Black African, twelve percent Caucasian, and three percent Asian and Hispanic (Travel Document Systems). The Black African descendents were captured and forced into slavery on the cotton plantations in the Bahamas. Before there were any settlers in the Bahamas is was inhabited by a group of Indians known as the Lucayans. They were a friendly people but Columbus took advantage of their good nature and within twenty-five years of Columbus's arrival they were totally eradicated (The History of the Bahamas). The Bahamas is an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations. It holds as a parliamentary democracy with regular elections. The political and legal traditions are closely affiliated with that of the United kingdoms. The government operates 158 out of 210 schools, the other 52 are privately owned. The enrollment for state and private, primary and secondary schools is more than 64,000. The only college is the College of The Bahamas established in Nassau in 1974 and is presently converting form a two year to a four year institution (Travel Document Systems). The entire economic portion of the Bahamas relies heavily on tourism which provides means of employment and also around sixty percent of the Gross Domestic Product (Travel Document Systems). Finally, the religious culture of the Bahamas is much different than any other place due to its" many influences. Religion is an Integral part of Bahamian life; even the smallest villages have a church possibly two. The Bahamas have a strong puritan heritage brought over by the Eleutheran Adventurers.