Bahamas Passport

Description

Bahamas Passport  – Citizens of the Bahamas and non-citizens can travel internationally with a Bahamas Passport. As of March 2019, Bahamian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 154 countries and territories, ranking the Bahamian passport 26th in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley visa restrictions index.

Bahamas Passport  Appearance

On the front cover of a regular passport is the Coat of Arms of The Bahamas. The words “COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS” and “PASSPORT” along with the international e-passport symbol are below. A polycarbonate biodata page is also included in the passport, which contains 50 pages for stamps and visas.

Bahamas Passport Data Page

• Type (PA)
• Country code (BHS)
• Passport No.
• Photo of the holder
• Surname
• Given Names
• Nationality (Bahamian)
• Date of Birth
• Sex
• Place of Birth
• National Insurance Number
• Date of issuance
• Date of expiry
• Place of Issue

Bahamas Passport – The Commonwealth of The Bahamas comprises an archipelagic archipelago in the North Atlantic, known as the Lucayan Archipelago. It is comprised of over 3,000 islands, cays, and islets and covers 97% of the land area in the archipelago. Home to 88% of its population, The Bahamas is located north of Cuba, northwest of Hispaniola (split between Dominican Republic and Haiti), southeast of Florida (USA) and east of the Florida Keys. Nassau on New Providence Island is the capital city and The Royal Bahamas Defence Force considers The Bahamas’ territory to encompass 470,000 km2 (180,000 sq mi) of ocean space.

The Bahama Islands were populated by the Lucayans, an offshoot of the Arawakan-speaking Taíno, for centuries.  Christopher Columbus made history when he first set foot in the “New World” on the island of San Salvador in 1492. Afterwards, the native Lucayans were taken away by force or died from illnesses brought over by Europeans and the islands remained empty and desolate until 1648.

In 1718, The Bahamas was declared a British crown colony after the British stifled piracy. After the American Revolutionary War, they resettled thousands of American Loyalists and their enslaved people to the islands and created plantations on land grants. Despite the abolition of the slave trade by the British in 1807, slavery in The Bahamas wasn’t abolished until 1834. Following this triumph for human rights, it became a haven for freed African slaves with even those from escaped ships being welcomed by Bahamians. Presently, Black-Bahamians make up 90% of the country’s 400,516 population.

With the help of Sir Lynden O. Pindling, the country gained its independence in 1973. In terms of gross domestic product per capita, The Bahamas is one of the richest independent countries in the Americas (after the United States and Canada), and its economy is based on offshore finance and tourism.