: The islands became a British Crown colony in 1718 after Royal Governor Woodes Rogers successfully expelled the pirates. The Bahamas remained under British rule until July 10, 1973, when it gained full independence. Culture and Wildlife Bahamas facts! | National Geographic Kids
The music is a frantic, hypnotic rhythm of goatskin drums (the bass), cowbells (the rhythm), and brass horns. If you cannot visit in December, the "Junkanoo Expo" in Nassau runs year-round with costumes on display. Bahamas
The Bahamas' modern transformation began with a uniquely American problem: Prohibition (1920-1933). The United States banned alcohol, but the Bahamas did not. Suddenly, Nassau became the front line of a vast, semi-legal smuggling operation. Liquor, mostly whiskey and rum, was shipped legally from British distilleries to Nassau, then transferred to high-speed "rum-running" boats that dashed across the Gulf Stream to secret coves in Florida. The profits were staggering. Nassau exploded with new hotels, cars, and a giddy, glamorous atmosphere. The British governor at the time called it "the greatest peacetime boom the islands have ever known." When Prohibition ended in 1933, the boom collapsed, but it had left a permanent mark: infrastructure, a taste for quick wealth, and close ties to the American underworld. : The islands became a British Crown colony
: Tourism accounts for 60% of GDP and employs half the workforce. | National Geographic Kids The music is a
But the true animal encounter in The Bahamas is less famous and far more thrilling: the in the Exumas. These prehistoric-looking, vegetable-eating dragons are found nowhere else on earth. Unlike the imported pigs, these lizards are native royalty, a true testament to the islands' unique evolution.