History

• The earliest settlers of The Bahamas were Siboney Indians, who disappeared after the Taino people arrived from South America (2,000 years ago)
• The Taino or island Arawaks arrived from Cuba and Hispaniola and created a new culture that spread throughout the archipelago and became known as Lucayan
• When Christopher Columbus made landfall in the New World, on what is now San Salvador (formerly Guanihani) on October 12, 1492 there were an estimated 40,000 Lucayans living throughout the islands. They disappeared within 25 years
• In 1647, The Company of Eleutherian Adventurers attempted to colonize the depopulated Bahama Island and claim them for Great Britain
• Between 1717 and 1783 the Bahama Islands were invaded by pirates, American Colonial warships and Spaniards before finally being restored to Great Britain by treaty
• In 1964, the colony gained internal self-government.  It became a commonwealth in 1969. In 1973, the Bahama Islands became the free and sovereign Commonwealth of The Bahamas ending 325 years of British rule