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Freeport is a city and free trade zone on the island of Grand Bahama, located approximately 100 mi (160 km) east-northeast of Fort Lauderdale, South Florida and gives its name to a district of the Bahamas. Freeport proper has 26,910 people.

In 1955, Wallace Groves, a Virginian financier with lumber interests on the island, was granted 50,000 acres (200 km²) of swamp and scrubland by the Bahamian government. On this was built the city of Freeport, which has grown to be the second most populated city in The Bahamas (26,910 in 2000) after the capital, Nassau.

The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) operates the free trade zone, under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement signed in August of 1955 whereby the Bahamian Government agreed that businesses in the Freeport area will pay no taxes before 2054. The area of the land grants has been increased to 138,000 acres (558 km²).

Freeport Harbour is accessible by even the largest vessels, and has a cruise terminal, a container port, and both a private yacht and ship maintenance facility. Grand Bahama International Airport (IATA airport code: FPO, ICAO airport code: MYGF) handles nearly 50,000 flights each year.

Tourism complements trade as a revenue earner in Freeport, with over a million visitors each year. Much of the tourist industry is displaced to the seaside suburb of Lucaya, owing its name (but little else) to the pre-Columbian Lucayan inhabitants of the island. The city is often promoted as 'Freeport / Lucaya'.

Grand Bahama International Airport (IATA: FPO, ICAO: MYGF) is a public airport located in Freeport on the island of Grand Bahama in the Bahamas. Grand Bahama International Airport is one of two Bahamian Airports that has US Border Pre-clearance facilities.

Airlines

 * AirTran Airways (Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington)
 * American Airlines
 * American Eagle (Miami)
 * Bahamasair (Fort Lauderdale, Nassau)
 * Continental Airlines
 * Continental Connection operated by Gulfstream International Airlines (Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa, West Palm Beach)
 * Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines (Newark)
 * Delta Air Lines
 * Delta Connection operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines (Atlanta)
 * Florida Coastal Airlines (Fort Lauderdale)
 * SkyKing (Providenciales)
 * US Airways (Charlotte, New York-LaGuardia [Saturdays only], Philadelphia [Saturdays only])



Grand Bahama is one of the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas, lying just 55 mi (90 km) off the coast of Florida, USA.

The island's earliest known inhabitants were the Stone Age hunter-gatherer Siboney Indians, of whom little evidence remains apart from artifacts such as ornamentative shells or jewellery. These primitive people eventually disappeared to be replaced by the Taino Arawaks from South America, who travelling in dugout canoes eventually colonized most of the Caribbean. The Arawak communities on Grand Bahama, who became known as Lucayans (a name that lives on in the popular tourist town of Port Lucaya) were believed to have advanced and well-organized social and political structures, and there were estimated to be approximately 4,000 on Grand Bahama at the time of the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors in 1492. This arrival, and the subsequent claim of the island by Spain shortly after, eventually caused the Lucayans to disappear from Grand Bahama entirely, whether dying through the spreading of European diseases, through the frequent European genocides, or being captured as slaves (usually to mine for gold in the larger Caribbean islands of Hispaniola or Cuba, or to dive for pearls in Trinidad). The disappearance of the Lucayans was rapid, and it is probably for this reason little is known beyond rough estimates about their society. However, in sites such as the Lucayan National Park and Dead Man's Reef there have been numerous artifacts discovered including animal bones, pottery shards, shell beads and evidence of a complex burial system.

The Spanish gave the island the name Gran Bajamar, meaning "Great Shallows", and what the eventual name of the Bahamas islands as a whole is derived from. Grand Bahama's existence for almost two centuries was largely governed by the nature of these "great shallows" - the coral reefs surrounding the island were treacherous, and repelled its Spanish owners (who largely left it alone apart from for infrequent en-route stops by ships for provisions) while attracting pirates, who would lure ships onto the reefs where they would run aground and be plundered. The Spaniards took little interest in the island after enslaving the native Lucayan inhabitants, and the islands were claimed by Great Britain in 1670. Piracy continued to thrive for at least half a century after the British takeover, though the problem was eventually brought under control. Grand Bahama was to remain relatively quiet until the mid-nineteenth century, with only around 200-400 regular inhabitants in the capital, West End.

In 1834, the towns of Pinder’s Point, Russell Town and Williams Town were established by former Bahamian slaves after the abolition of slavery in the British empire. The island was still little developed until a brief boom in economic activity during the American Civil War, when it was a center for blockade runners smuggling goods (mostly weaponry, sugar and cotton) to the Confederacy. A second brief smuggling boom occurred during the years of prohibition in the USA.

By the middle of the 20th century, Grand Bahama's population numbered around 500 and the island was one of the least developed of the Bahamas islands. However the island finally gained a stable source of income when in 1955 a Virginian financier named Wallace Groves arranged terms with the Bahamian government to build the city of Freeport. Seeing the success of Cuba as a tourist destination for wealthy Americans, Groves was eager to develop Grand Bahama in a similar vein. The city grew rapidly, with Groves adding a harbour soon after the city was founded, and adding the tourist center of Port Lucaya in 1962. Freeport became the second most populous city in the Bahamas (over 50,000 in 2004), and the tourists that it attracts are now the mainstay of the island's economy. Grand Bahama's tourism sector is complemented by an oil bunkering facility owned by the Venezuelan Government and a transhipment port owned by Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa.

West End, which was until the rise of Freeport the capital of Grand Bahama, is the oldest city and Western most settlement on the island. McLeans Town is the eastern most settlement and a 30 minute ferry ride from the northernmost settlement of the Island of Abaco.

The Commonwealth of The Bahamas is an independent English-speaking nation in the West Indies. An archipelago of 700 islands and cays (which are small islands), the Bahamas is located in the Atlantic Ocean, east of Florida in the United States, north of Cuba and the Caribbean, and west of the British dependency of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

History
Christopher Columbus's first landfall in the New World in 1492 is believed to have been on the island of San Salvador (also called Watling's Island), in the southeastern Bahamas. He encountered Taino (also known as Lucayan) Amerindians and exchanged gifts with them.

Taino Indians from both northwestern Hispaniola and northeastern Cuba moved into the southern Bahamas about the 7th century AD and became the Lucayans. They appear to have settled the entire archipelago by the 12th century AD. There may have been as many as 40,000 Lucayans living in the Bahamas when Columbus arrived.

The Bahamian Lucayans were deported to Hispaniola as slaves, and within two decades Taino societies ceased to exist as a separate population due to forced labour, warfare, disease, emigration and outmarriage.

Some say the name 'Bahamas' derives from the Spanish for shallow sea - baja mar. Others trace it to the Lucayan word for Grand Bahama Island - ba-ha-ma, or 'large upper middle land'.

After the Lucayans were destroyed, the Bahamian islands were deserted until the arrival of English settlers from Bermuda in 1650. Known as the Eleutherian Adventurers, these people established settlements on the island now called Eleuthera (from the Greek word for freedom).

The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1718 but remained sparsely settled until the newly independent United States expelled thousands of American tories and their slaves. Many of these British Loyalists were given compensatory land grants in Canada and the Bahamas. Some 8,000 loyalists and their slaves moved to the Bahamas in the late 1700s from New York, Florida and the Carolinas.

The British granted the islands internal self-government in 1964 and, in 1973, Bahamians achieved full independence while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Since the 1950s, the Bahamian economy has been based on the twin pillars of tourism and financial services. Today, the country enjoys the third highest per capita income in the western hemisphere.

Geography
The Bahamas is an archipelago of some 700 islands and cays covering over 100,000 square miles (260,000 km²) of the Atlantic ocean between Florida and Hispaniola. The archipelago has a total land area of 5,382 square miles (13,939 km²)— about 20 percent larger than Jamaica — and a population of some 310,000 concentrated on the islands of New Providence and Grand Bahama.

The largest island is Andros Island. The Biminis are just 50 miles (80 km) east of Florida. The island of Grand Bahama is home to the second largest city in the country, Freeport. The island of Abaco is to its east. The most southeastern island is Inagua. Other notable islands include Eleuthera, Cat Island, San Salvador, Acklins, Crooked Island, Exuma and Mayaguana. Nassau is the capital and largest city, located on New Providence. The islands have a subtropical climate, moderated by the Gulf Stream.

Politics
Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state of the Bahamas, which has remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations as a Commonwealth Realm. She is represented in the Bahamas by a Governor-General, appointed on the recommendation of the elected government. A multi-party democracy in the British tradition, the Bahamas has a bicameral parliament with an elected assembly and an appointed senate. The country is governed by a cabinet headed by a prime minister. Elections are held every five years.

Districts
The districts of the Bahamas provide a system of local government everywhere in the Bahamas except New Providence, whose affairs are handled directly by the central government. The current system dates from 1996 when 23 districts were defined &mdash; a further 8 were added in 1999.

Economy
The Bahamas is a stable, developing nation with an economy heavily dependent on tourism and offshore banking. Tourism alone accounts for more than 60% of GDP and directly or indirectly employs almost half of the archipelago's labour force. Steady growth in tourism receipts and a boom in construction of new hotels, resorts, and residences have led to solid GDP growth in recent years.

Manufacturing and agriculture together contribute approximately a tenth of GDP and show little growth, despite government incentives aimed at those sectors. Overall growth prospects in the short run rest heavily on the fortunes of the tourism sector, which depends on growth in the United States, the source of the majority of tourist visitors.

Demographics
Most of the Bahamian population is black (85%); about 12% is white. The official language is English, spoken by nearly all inhabitants, though many speak a "patois" form of it. A small number of immigrants also speak Haitian Creole, Spanish and Portuguese.

A "heavily religious" country, there are more places of worship per person in the Bahamas than any other nation in the world. Christianity is the main religion on the islands, with Baptist forming the largest denomination (about one third), followed by the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.

A few people, especially in the southern and eastern islands, practice Obeah, a spiritistic religion similar to Voodoo. While well-known throughout the Bahamas, obeah is shunned by many people. Voodoo is practiced, but almost exclusively by immigrants from Haiti, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

Culture
Bahamian culture is a hybrid of African, European and indigenous forms. Perhaps its most famous export is a rhythmic form of music called junkanoo.

Climate
The climate of the Bahamas is subtropical to tropical, and is moderated significantly by the waters of the Gulf Stream, particularly in winter. Conversely, this often proves very dangerous in the summer and autumn, when hurricanes pass near or through the islands. Hurricane Andrew hit the northern islands in 1992, and Hurricane Floyd hit most of the islands in 1999. Hurricane Frances of 2004 was expected to be the worst ever for the islands. Also in 2004, the northern Bahamas were hit by a less potent Hurricane Jeanne. In 2005 the northern islands were once again struck this time by Hurricane Wilma. Tidal surges and high winds destroyed homes, schools, floated graves and made roughly 1000 people homeless.

Basic Ingredients of the Bahamian Economy
The Bahamian economy is almost entirely dependent on tourism and financial services to generate foreign exchange earnings. Tourism alone provides an estimated 60% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and employs about half the Bahamian work force. In 2004, over 5 million tourists visited The Bahamas, most of whom are from the United States.

A major contribution to the recent growth in the overall Bahamian economy is Kerzner International's Atlantis Resort and Casino, which took over the former Paradise Island Resort and has provided a much needed boost to the economy. In addition, the opening of Breezes Super Club and Sandals Resort also aided this turnaround. The Bahamian Government also has adopted a proactive approach to courting foreign investors and has conducted major investment missions to the Far East, Europe, Latin America, and Canada. The primary purpose of the trips was to restore the reputation of The Bahamas in these markets.

Financial services constitute the second-most important sector of the Bahamian economy, accounting for up to 15% of GDP, due to the country's status as a tax haven and offshore banking center. As of December 1998, the government had licensed 418 banks and trust companies in The Bahamas. The Bahamas promulgated the International Business Companies (IBC) Act in January 1990 to enhance the country's status as a leading financial center. The act served to simplify and reduce the cost of incorporating offshore companies in The Bahamas. Within 9 years, more than 84,000 IBC-type companies had been established. In February 1991, the government also legalized the establishment of Asset Protection Trusts in The Bahamas. In December 2000, the government enacted a legislative package to better regulate the financial sector, including creation of a Financial Intelligence Unit and enforcement of "know-your-customer" rules.

Agriculture and fisheries industry together account for 5% of GDP. The Bahamas exports lobster and some fish but does not raise these items commercially. There is no largescale agriculture, and most agricultural products are consumed domestically. The Bahamas imports more than $250 million in foodstuffs per year, representing about 80% of its food consumption. The government aims to expand food production to reduce imports and generate foreign exchange. It actively seeks foreign investment aimed at increasing agricultural exports, particularly specialty food items. The government officially lists beef and pork production and processing, fruits and nuts, dairy production, winter vegetables, and mariculture (shrimp farming) as the areas in which it wishes to encourage foreign investment.

The Bahamian Government maintains the value of the Bahamian dollar on a par with the U.S. dollar. The Bahamas is a beneficiary of the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), Canada's CARIBCAN program, and the European Union's Lome IV Agreement. Although the Bahamas participates in the political aspects of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), it has not entered into joint economic initiatives with other Caribbean states.

The Bahamas has a few notable industrial firms: the Freeport pharmaceutical firm, PFC Bahamas (formerly Syntex), which recently streamlined its production and was purchased by the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche; the BORCO oil facility, also in Freeport, which transships oil in the region; the Commonwealth Brewery in Nassau, which produces Heineken, Guinness, and Kalik beers; and Bacardi Corp., which distills rum in Nassau for shipment to the U.S. and European markets. Other industries include sun-dried sea salt in Great Inagua, a wet dock facility in Freeport for repair of cruise ships, and mining of aragonite--a type of limestone with several industrial uses-- from the sea floor at Ocean Cay.

The Hawksbill Creek Agreement established a duty-free zone in Freeport, The Bahamas' second-largest city, with a nearby industrial park to encourage foreign industrial investment. The Hong Kong-based firm, Hutchison Whampoa, has opened a container port in Freeport. The Bahamian Parliament approved legislation in 1993 that extended most Freeport tax and duty exemptions through 2054.

The Bahamas is largely an import, service economy. There are about 110 U.S.-affiliated businesses operating in The Bahamas, and most are associated with tourism and banking. With few domestic resources and little industry, The Bahamas imports nearly all its food and manufactured goods from the United States. American goods and services tend to be favored by Bahamians due to cultural similarities and heavy exposure to American advertising.

Business Environment
The Bahamas offers attractive features to the potential investor: a stable democratic environment, relief from personal and corporate income taxes, timely repatriation of corporate profits, proximity to the U.S. with extensive air and telecommunications links, and a good pool of skilled professional workers. The Government of The Bahamas welcomes foreign investment in tourism and banking and has declared an interest in agricultural and industrial investments to generate local employment, particularly in white-collar or skilled jobs. Despite its interest in foreign investment to diversify the economy, the Bahamian Government responds to local concerns about foreign competition and tends to protect Bahamian business and labor interests. As a result of domestic resistance to foreign investment and high labor costs, growth can stagnate in sectors which the government wishes to diversify.

The country's infrastructure is best developed in the principal cities of Nassau and Freeport, where there are relatively good paved roads and international airports. Electricity is generally reliable, although many businesses have their own backup generators. In Nassau, there are two daily newspapers, three weeklies, and several international newspapers available for sale. There also are five radio stations. Both Nassau and Freeport have a television station. Cable TV also is available locally and provides most American programs with some Canadian and European channels.

Areas of Opportunity
The best U.S. export opportunities remain in the traditional areas of foodstuffs and manufactured goods: vehicles and automobile parts; hotel, restaurant, and medical supplies; and computers and electronics. Bahamian tastes in consumer products roughly parallel those in the U.S. With approximately 85% of the population of primarily African descent, there is a large and growing market in the Bahamas for "ethnic" personal care products. Merchants in southern Florida have found it profitable to advertise in Bahamian publications. Most imports in this sector are subject to high but nondiscriminatory tariffs.

Statistics

 * "GDP"
 * purchasing power parity - $5.295 billion (2004 est.)
 * "GDP - real growth rate"
 * 3% (2004 est.)
 * "GDP - per capita"
 * purchasing power parity - $17,700 (2004 est.)
 * "GDP - composition by sector"
 * agriculture: 3%
 * industry: 7%
 * services: 90% (2001 est.)
 * "Household income or consumption by percentage share"
 * lowest 10%: NA
 * highest 10%: 27% (2000)
 * "Inflation rate (consumer prices)"
 * 1.2% (year ending September 2004)
 * "Labor force"
 * 156,000 (1999)
 * "Labor force - by occupation"
 * agriculture 5%, industry 5%, tourism 50%, other services 40% (1999 est.)
 * "Unemployment rate"
 * 10.2% (2004 est.)
 * "Budget"
 * revenues: $1 billion
 * expenditures: $1 billion, including capital expenditures of $106.7 million (FY03/04)
 * "Agriculture - products"
 * citrus, vegetables; poultry
 * "Industries"
 * tourism, banking, cement, oil transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral-welded steel pipe
 * "Electricity - production"
 * 1,716 GWh (2002)
 * "Electricity - consumption"
 * 1,596 GWh (2002)
 * "Oil - consumption"
 * 23,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
 * "Oil - exports"
 * transhipments of 29,000 bbl/day (2003)
 * "Exports"
 * $636 million (2003 est.)
 * "Exports - commodities"
 * mineral products and salt, animal products, rum, chemicals; fruit and vegetables
 * "Exports - partners"
 * US 34.7%, Spain 10.5%, Germany 7.7%, France 7.6%, Poland 5.3%, Switzerland 4.8%, Peru 4.2%, Paraguay 4.2% (2003)
 * "Imports"
 * $1.63 billion (2003)
 * "Imports - commodities"
 * machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and live animals
 * "Imports - partners"
 * US 20.8%, South Korea 17.4%, Italy 11.4%, France 9.1%, Brazil 7.5%, Japan 5.6%, Venezuela 5.3% (2003)
 * "Debt - external"
 * $308.5 million (2002)
 * "Economic aid - recipient"
 * $9.8 million (1995)
 * "Currency"
 * Bahamian dollar (BSD)
 * "Currency code"
 * BSD
 * "Exchange rates"
 * Bahamian dollars per US dollar - 1 (2004), 1 (2003), 1 (2002), 1 (2001), 1 (2000)
 * "Fiscal year"
 * 1 July - 30 June

The Districts of the Bahamas provide a system of local government everywhere in the Bahamas except New Providence, whose affairs are handled directly by the central government. The current system dates from 1996 when 23 districts were defined - a further 8 were added in 1999.




 * 1) Acklins
 * 2) Berry Islands
 * 3) Bimini
 * 4) Black Point (Exuma)
 * 5) Cat Island
 * 6) Central Abaco
 * 7) Central Andros
 * 8) Central Eleuthera
 * 9) City of Freeport (Grand Bahama)
 * 10) Crooked Island
 * 11) East Grand Bahama
 * 12) Exuma
 * 13) Grand Cay (Abaco)
 * 14) Harbour Island (Eleuthera)
 * 15) Hope Town (Abaco)
 * 16) Inagua
 * 17) Long Island
 * 18) Mangrove Cay (Andros)
 * 19) Mayaguana
 * 20) Moore's Island (Abaco)
 * 21) North Abaco
 * 22) North Andros
 * 23) North Eleuthera
 * 24) Ragged Island
 * 25) Rum Cay
 * 26) San Salvador
 * 27) South Abaco
 * 28) South Andros
 * 29) South Eleuthera
 * 30) Spanish Wells (Eleuthera)
 * 31) West Grand Bahama


 * New Providence (labeled as "NP")

Prior to 1996, the Bahamas were divided into 21 districts: