Expats in The Bahamas: to inform, educate and connect...

Millions of years ago, The Bahamas land area was much larger than it was today. The most recent Ice Age, over a period of thousands of years, caused the oceans to rise and slowly engulf the islands, which are composed entirely of limestone. The Bahamas’ original inhabitants were probably the Siboney or “stone people”, Meso-Indians who migrated into the Greater Antilles.

However, when Columbus discovered the Islands in 1492, he found the Lucayans whom he called Indians. They were in fact Arawak speaking people related to those neo-Indian Arawaks in the larger Caribbean Islands. Between 500 and 600 AD, they migrated from Cuba to The Bahamas due to population pressure. The Lucayans, as they Arawak came to be known in The Bahamas, had no written language, only a spoken one. Several Arawak words have survived to this day including avocado, inguana, cannibal and potato. (Adapted from Destination Commonwealth Bahamas).

Christopher Columbus

With his voyage being sponsored by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain, Christopher Columbus took three ships, the Niña, The Pinta and The Santa... Read more

Caribbean Piracy

Edward Teach a native of England, supposedly born in 1680 came from a wealthy family; he was well educated for a man of his time, because pirates... Read more

Slavery and The Loyalists

The first slaves were brought to The Bahamas by the Spaniards who needed labourers after due to the fact that Lucayan Indians were... Read more

20th Century Bahamas tolerance

During the First World War in 1914 The Bahamas made a valuable contribution to the war by sending both men and money. When the war ended... Read more

Tourism

An industry that had begun on a small scale during the 19th Century saw the growth in 1940’s. Hotels like the Royal Victoria and the New... Read more

Independence

The first political parties were formed in the 1950s and the British made The Bahamas internally self-governing in 1964, with Roland Symonette... Read more