According to the Treaty of Chaguaramas, of the Caribbean Community shall be open to any other State or Territory of the Caribbean Region that is, in the opinion of The Conference, able and willing to exercise the rights and assume the obligations of.
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The Bahamas
Date of Membership in CARICOM: 4 Jul 1983 - Learn more about membership in CARICOM
Also Known as:The Place Where Worlds Meet (Source: The Heraldry of the Commonwealth Caribbean)
Status of Independence:Independent 1973/07/10
Area: 13,939 sq km
Capital City: Nassau
Population: 377,000 (2013)
Currency: Bahamian dollar B$
Highest National Award: Governor General Award
GDP Growth: 0.0% p.a. 2009–13
GNI: US$8.4bn
GNI PC: US$22,312
SOME KEY DATES IN HISTORY
It is believed that the original inhabitants were Arawak people. They were followed by the Caribs.
1492 Christopher Columbus made his first landing in the New World on island Amerindians called “ Guanahani”, renames it San Salvador, now called Watling Island. `The Bahamas’ derived from `baja mar’ (low sea) based on Columbus’ observation of shallow seas surrounding islands
1629 the islands given their first constitution as part of the Carolinas (USA)
1648 First British settlers arrived
1717 Became a British Colony
1953 Progressive Liberal Party founded to represent black interests in a system still then dominated by whites.
1964 Internal self rule
1973 Independence achieved
Visit Government Portal: http://www.bahamas.gov.bs
CARICOM Lead Head of Government for Tourism (including Land, Cruise, ACP/EU Partnership Agreement provisions etc)
Robert Antoni, born in The Bahamas in 1958, was winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best First Book award with his novel, Divina Trace, in 1992.
The country is a coral archipelago of about 700 islands and more than 2,000 cays and rocks.