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Bahamas
Archipelago and nation consisting of about 700 islands and numerous cays, NW edge of the W. Indies, lying southeast of Florida and north of Cuba. Area: 5,386 sq mi (13,950 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 287,000. Capital: Nassau (on New Providence Island). The people are a blend of African and European ancestry, the former a legacy of the slave trade. Language: English (official). Religion: Christianity. Currency: Bahamian dollar. Chief among the islands, from north to south, are Grand Bahama, Abaco, Eleuthera, New Providence, Andros, Cat, and Inagua; New Providence has most of the population. All are composed of coraline limestone and lie mostly only a few feet above sea level; the highest point is Mt. Alvernia (206 ft, or 63 m) on Cat Island. There are no rivers. Its market economy is heavily dependent on tourism, for which gambling is a particular attraction, and on international financial services. Most foodstuffs are imported from the U.S.; fish and rum are significant exports. It is a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses; its chief of state is the British monarch, represented by a governor-general, and the head of government is the prime minister. The islands were inhabited by Lucayan Indians when C. Columbus sighted them on Oct. 12, 1492. He is thought to have landed on San Salvador (Watling) Island. The Spaniards made no attempt to settle, but carried out slave raids that depopulated the islands; when English settlers arrived in 1648 from Bermuda, the islands were uninhabited. They became a haunt of pirates and buccaneers, and few of the ensuing settlements prospered. The islands enjoyed some prosperity following the Amer. Revolution, when Loyalists fled the U.S. and established cotton plantations there. They were a center for blockade runners during the Amer. Civil War. Not until the development of tourism after World War II did permanent economic prosperity arrive. The Bahamas was granted internal self-government in 1964, and became independent in 1973.


Barabbas
In the New Testament, a prisoner or criminal freed to please the mob before the crucifixion of Jesus. Described as a thief or an insurrectionist, Barabbas is mentioned in all four Gospels. Following the custom of setting free one prisoner chosen by popular demand before Passover, Pontius Pilate suggested pardoning Jesus, but the crowd protested and demanded the release of Barabbas. Pilate gave in and sent Jesus to his death.


Baraka
U.S. playwright and black nationalist. He was born in Newark, N.J., and educated at Howard Univ. His first play, Dutchman (1964), produced off-Broadway, explored the suppressed hostility of U.S. blacks toward the dominant white culture. The Slave and The Toilet, also produced in 1964, aroused controversy. He founded the Black Arts Repertory Theater in Harlem and in 1968 founded the Black Community Development and Defense Organization, a Black Muslim group, to affirm black ...

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