title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: In an interview, Konietzko said: "Mike and I were really interested in other epic 'Legends & Lore' properties, like "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings", but we knew that we wanted to take a different approach to that type of genre. Our love for Japanese anime, Hong Kong action and kung fu cinema, yoga, and Eastern philosophies led us to the initial inspiration for "Avatar: The Last Airbender"."


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: According to head writer Aaron Ehasz, Konietzko and DiMartino originally envisioned the series being three seasons long but Nickelodeon asked Ehasz what his ideas for a fourth season would be, and he later discussed these ideas with both Konietzko and DiMartino. Ehasz believed that a fourth season would be created but this plan was interrupted when Konietzko and DiMartino became occupied with assisting M. Night Shyamalan on The Last Airbender film. Ehasz says that Shyamalan insisted they create a fourth season instead, but Konietzko and DiMartino wanted to focus on the live-action film as they were executive producers on the project. However, Konietzko and DiMartino have denied this, and claim that a fourth season was never considered by themselves nor Nickelodeon.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: A pilot episode for the series was made in 2003. It was animated by Tin House, Inc., written by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, and directed by Dave Filoni. Mitchel Musso voiced Aang in this pilot but was later replaced by Zach Tyler Eisen when the show began production. In the episode, Sokka and his sister Kya (renamed to Katara by the time the series aired) must travel the world to find masters for Aang, who is the Avatar; however, they must evade a critical foe, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, who wants to capture Aang.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: This episode was first publicly released as one of the extras in the NTSC season 1 DVD box set, which were not available with the previously released individual volumes. As the PAL box set lacks extras, the episode was not made available on DVD in PAL regions. The episode was released with audio commentary from the creators, which unlike commentary on other episodes in the season is not possible to disable on the DVD set. On June 14, 2010, the unaired pilot was made available with and without commentary for the first time via the iTunes Store.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: The series is notable for borrowing extensively from East Asian art and mythology for its universe. Its creators employed cultural consultants Edwin Zane and calligrapher Siu-Leung Lee to help determine its art direction and settings. Its character designs are influenced by Chinese art and history, Hinduism, Taoism and Buddhism, and Yoga. Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn created the series' music and sound design together in the early developmental stages and then went on to divide the tasks, Zuckerman taking on the musical responsibility and Wynn the sound design. They experimented with a wide range of instruments, including the guzheng, pipa, and duduk, to match the show's Asia-influenced setting. The art style of the fictitious locations used in the series are based on real locations in Asia. Sites such as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China in Beijing were inspirations for the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se, and Water Tribe locations were based on Inuit and Sireniki cultures. According to writer Aaron Ehasz, early Fire Nation designs were based on Japanese culture. To avoid accidentally making broad statements, they redesigned many settings and peoples to be more "broadly inspired". For the final design, the creators went with a more Chinese style for the Fire Nation's clothing and architecture. For instance, the Fire Temple was based on the Yellow Crane Tower, as its flame-like architectural elements were a perfect motif for the Fire Nation architecture according to the creators.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: The gestures used by the "bender" characters are derived from Chinese martial arts, for which the creators employed Sifu Kisu of the Harmonious Fist Chinese Athletic Association as a consultant. Each fighting style is unique to the "benders" who use them or characters who are aligned to a certain element. For example, practitioners of "waterbending" use movements influenced by T'ai chi and focused on alignment, body structure, breath, and visualization. Hung Gar was the inspiration for practitioners of "earthbending", and was chosen for its firmly rooted stances and powerful strikes as a representation of the solidity of earth. Northern Shaolin, which uses strong arm and leg movements, was chosen to represent "firebending". Ba Gua, which uses dynamic circular movements and quick directional changes, was used for "airbending". The Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis style can be seen practiced by the earthbender Toph, who develops a unique fighting style as a result of her blindness. Asian cinema influenced the presentation of these martial-art bending moves.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: The series addresses many topics rarely touched on in youth entertainment, including issues relating to war, genocide, imperialism, colonialism and totalitarianism, gender discrimination and female empowerment, marginalization and oppression, as well as the philosophical questions surrounding fate, destiny and free will.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: The show is set during a period in which the world is engulfed in an imperialistic war initiated by the Fire Nation. While war is a constant backdrop, the show depicts these effects through the eyes of common peoplethe oppressed Earth Kingdom citizens as well as indoctrinated Fire Nation schoolchildrento show how war makes victims of everyone. And while the Fire Nation is presented as the instigator of violence, the show also depicts the systemic inequality experienced by residents in the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se as well as the nefarious activities of the city's secret police. These situations show the corrupting nature of power and the nuances of good and evil. The show introduces viewers to genocide early on when protagonist Aang visits his former home in the Southern Air Temple. He arrives to discover his people have been massacred and displays a range of emotions, from rage to loss.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: The character Zuko and his relationship with his father and Uncle Iroh is the series' main redemption arc, and represents the show's message that destiny and fate are not binding or set by other people, but can be changed. In season two, Zuko struggles to conform to the destiny and path determined by his father, but Iroh prods him, asking, "who are you, what do "you" want?"


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: The show also represents a diverse cast of characters in order to tackle the issue of marginalization. For example, in introducing a blind character like Toph and a paraplegic boy like Teo, the show depicted characters with vulnerabilities overcoming their physical and societal limitations. This is also true when it comes to the show's female characters. For example, female protagonist Katara faces systemic sexism when she reaches the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending. In another instance, her brother Sokka is initially dismissive of the all-female Kyoshi Warriors, but learns to respect and appreciate their skills. According to Kirk Hamilton of "Kotaku", these themes represent the show's message that it is more important to be oneself than hew to societal expectations.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: "Avatar: The Last Airbender" was the highest-rated animated television series in its demographic at its premiere; an average of 1.1 million viewers watched each new episode. It had 5.6 million viewers for its highest-rated episode and was a highly rated part of the Nicktoons lineup beyond its 6-to-11-year-old target demographic. A one-hour special, "The Secret of the Fire Nation", consisting of the episodes "The Serpent's Pass" and "The Drill", aired on September 15, 2006, and attracted 4.1 million viewers. According to the Nielsen ratings, the special was the fifth highest-rated cable television program that week. In 2007, "Avatar: The Last Airbender" was syndicated to more than 105 countries and was one of Nickelodeon's top-rated programs. The series ranked first on Nickelodeon in Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Colombia.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: The four-part series finale, "Sozin's Comet", had the series' highest ratings. Its first airing averaged 5.6 million viewers, 95 percent more than Nickelodeon had in mid-July 2007. During the week of July 14, it was the most-viewed program by the under-14 demographic. The finale's popularity was reflected in online media; "Rise of the Phoenix King", a Nick.com online game based on "Sozin's Comet", had almost 815,000 game plays in three days.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: "Avatar: The Last Airbender" received universal acclaim. , the show has a critics score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 23 reviews. Max Nicholson of IGN called it a "must-watch" and described it as "one of the greatest animated series of all time". Nick Hartel of DVD Talk called the series a remarkable, "child friendly show" whose legacy "should endure for years to come". Erik Amaya of Bleeding Cool described the series as "impressive in its sophistication" and "fantastic". Henry Glasheen of "SLUG Magazine" called the series "adventurous and exciting", a "classic" and occasionally moving. According to Brittany Lovely of "Hypable", it tells "complex and beautiful" stories. Joe Corey of Inside Pulse described the series as an anime-action hybrid. Chris Mitchell of "Popzara" called it one of best shows to air on Nickelodeon, praising the series' background music and voice acting. D. F. Smith of IGN recommended it to viewers who enjoy action-adventure cartoons.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: Rob Keyes of "Screen Rant" called the series "one of the greatest cartoons ever made". Mike Noyes of Inside Pulse recommended it to viewers who enjoy "great" adventure. Gord Lacey of TVShowsOnDVD.com called the series "one of the finest animated shows ever". According to Todd Douglass, Jr. of DVD Talk, adults will enjoy the series as much as children do. Joshua Miller of CHUD.com called it "phenomenal" and "one of the most well animated programs (children's or adult) American TV has ever had"; according to Miller, the series is heavily influenced by anime. Tim Janson of "Cinefantastique" described it as "one of the most engaging animated shows produced". Dennis Amith of J!ENT called the series "one of the best animated TV series shown in the US by American creators". Amith praised its sophisticated storylines, edginess, humor, and action. Franco "Cricket" Te of Nerd Society described "Avatar: The Last Airbender" as "one of the best cartoon[s]" he had ever seen, recommending the series for its characters and plot. Scott Thill of "Wired" called the series engaging and its setting, influenced by the Eastern world, "fantastic".


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: Kirk Hamilton of "Kotaku" said the series should be part of the Golden Age of Television, and recommended "the sophisticated kids show" to others.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: The show's writing and themes have been widely lauded by critics. Michael S. Mammano of "Den of Geek" called the plot "smartly-written" and praised the animation. Nicole Clark, writing for Vice News, stated that the show's narrative depth was "its greatest asset", and praised the story's "emotional authenticity" and how it "expose[d] very young viewers to darker subject matter, like genocide and authoritarianism, while giving them a framework for understanding these issues." Jenifer Rosenberg of ComicMix liked the program's emphasis on family, friends, community, and education. According to Nick Hartel, the series touches on themes of "genocide and self-doubt" without frightening younger children; rogue characters are redeemable, sending an important message that people can change and are not bonded to "destiny". Chris Mitchell called the plot "fantastic". D. F. Smith compared the series' plot to Japanese action cartoons, calling its tone and dialogue "very American" and praising the humor leavening an epic, dramatic theme suitable for all ages. Rob Keyes also praised the series' humor and affecting plot: "[It] will capture your hearts".


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: According to Mike Noyes, the series amalgamates elements of "classic fantasy epics". Todd Douglass, Jr. called the plot engaging, well-thought-out, and meaningful. The series' concept is "well-realized", with a consistent story. Douglass wrote that the characters "[have] a real sense of progression", and praised the writers for their humor, drama, and emotion. Joshua Miller called the series surprisingly dark despite its "silly" theme; the plot is livelier than that of "Lost" and, similar to the latter show, emphasizes character development. According to Miller, its writing was "true adult levels of storytelling". Tim Janson described the series as more than fantasy- and superhero-themed, seeing the characters as central and relatable. "Cricket" Te praised the series' use of Buddhist philosophies and the diverse presentation of its themes of courage and life. Kirk Hamiltion praises the series for expressing towards its audience to be themselves and for its quiet progressivism.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: Critics also praised "Avatar: The Last Airbender"s character development, art, animation, and choreography; Eric Amaya enjoyed the expressive animation that complements the writing. According to Amaya, the elements were influenced by Hayao Miyazaki. Todd Douglass, Jr. called the character development interesting, while Nicole Clark wrote that the show "managed to do what so few shows even today have: assemble a cast of characters that depicts the world as it is, with a range of identities and experiences." Jenifer Rosenburg praised the series' portrayal of females as "strong, responsible, [and] intelligent". According to Joshua Miller, the bender characters' use of bending for everyday activities brings "depth and believability" to the Avatar world. Miller called the series' designs "rich and immersive", with each nation having its own, detailed look. He praised the action scenes as "well rendered", comparing the development of the Avatar world to that of "The Lord of the Rings", and the fight choreography as "wonderful in its most minor details". D. F. Smith enjoyed the series' painstaking backgrounds. "Cricket" Te praised each episode's color palette and the choreography's combination of martial arts and magic. Nick Hartel criticized the animation, although he found it an improvement over previous Nickelodeon shows. Chris Mitchell called the animation fluid. "Cricket" Te agreed, noting its manga influence. According to Brittany Lovely, non-bender characters in battle are "overshadowed" by their bender counterparts. Joe Corey called the animation's action and environments a "great achievement", and Rob Keyes praised the series' fight choreography. According to Kirk Hamilton, the action sequences in the series are amazing while being child-appropriate and exciting.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: "Avatar: The Last Airbender" has become a cult classic and had a large impact in the 2010s on how networks viewed animated programs; subsequent children's shows would often blur the lines between youth and adult programming, featuring more adult themes.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: Multiple media publications have hailed "Avatar" as one of the best (animated) television series of all time. In 2013, "TV Guide" included "Avatar" among the 60 greatest cartoon of all-time list. In 2018, "Vanity Fair" ranked the series as the 11th-best animated TV show. IndieWire ranked "Avatar" at number 36 on its 2018 list of the "50 Best Animated Series Of All Time".


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: The series experienced a resurgence in popularity following its addition to Netflix on May 15, 2020; it reached the number-one position on the platform's top series in the U.S. four days after release, and was the most-popular film or show for the week of May 14–21. The series maintained a spot within Netflix's top ten series for a record-setting 60 days, the most of any show since the company debuted its list of top series in February 2020. The series would become the most-streamed children's series on the platform for the year. Both fans and co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko attributed "Avatar"s renewed popularity to its relevance to contemporary events, including the COVID-19 pandemic and racial unrest in the U.S., with DiMartino remarking: "The major issues in the storiesgenocide, totalitarianism, systemic injustice, abusesadly, these have been pervasive issues throughout history and continue to be. The show is a reflection of our world. But now, we happen to be living through a time in which all these problems have been exacerbated."


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: Several books based on the show have been published. Dark Horse Comics published an art book titled "Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Art of the Animated Series" on June 2, 2010, with 184 pages of original art from the series.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: Several comic-book short stories were published in "Nickelodeon Magazine", and Dark Horse published "Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Lost Adventures"—a collection of these and new comics—on June 15, 2011.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: Dark Horse published a graphic-novel series by Gene Yang that continues Aang's story after the Hundred Years' War. "", published in three volumes in 2012, explores the fate of the Fire Nation colonies that become "The Legend of Korra"s United Republic. This series was translated into Hebrew in 2016–2017. A second set of three comic books, "", focuses on Zuko and Azula, and the fate of their mother Ursa. The second set was translated into Hebrew in 2018–2019. The third set, "", shifts the focus to Aang, the creation of Republic City, and Toph's relationship with her family. "The Rift" was followed by "" about a resistance force in the Fire Nation against Firelord Zuko, who at the end of the original series assumed the throne. The fifth graphic novel was "", which follows the events of "Smoke and Shadow" and is about Katara and Sokka returning to the Water Tribe to see various changes to their homeland. The next graphic novel is titled "Imbalance" and was released in October 2018. The series explores the emerging conflict between the benders and non-benders that becomes the center for the conflict in the first season of the sequel, "The Legend of Korra". Unlike the previous five books it was written by Faith Erin Hicks.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: A two-part young adult novel series focusing on Avatar Kyoshi written by F. C. Yee was published in July 2019 by Abrams Children's Books. The first book of the Kyoshi Novels is "". The second part in the series, titled "", was released on July 21, 2020.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: A video-game trilogy based on the series has been released. The "" video game was released on October 10, 2006, and "" was released on October 16, 2007. "" was released on October 13, 2008. "Avatar: Legends of the Arena", a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows, was released on September 15, 2008, by Nickelodeon. Players can create their own character and interact with other players around the world. "Avatar: The Last Airbender" was THQ's bestselling Nickelodeon game in 2006 and was one of Sony CEA's Greatest Hits. Aang and Zuko appear as skins for Merlin and Susano, respectively, in "Smite". "Avatar: The Last Airbender" characters and locations are featured in "".


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: The series' first season was the basis of the 2010 live-action film "The Last Airbender", which was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It was intended as the first of a trilogy of films, each of which would be based upon one of the three television seasons. The film was universally panned for its writing, acting, whitewashed cast, and Shyamalan's direction; it earned a 5% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes as well as five Razzies at the 31st Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, and some critics described it as one of the worst films ever made. Although the film originally shared the title of the television series, the title "The Last Airbender" was used because producers feared it would be confused with James Cameron's film "Avatar". "The Last Airbender" stars Noah Ringer as Aang, Nicola Peltz as Katara, Jackson Rathbone as Sokka, Dev Patel as Zuko, and Shaun Toub as Iroh.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: "The Legend of Korra", a sequel series to "Avatar: The Last Airbender", premiered on Nickelodeon on April 14, 2012. It was written and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the creators and producers of the original series. The show was initially titled "Avatar: Legend of Korra", then "The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra"; its events occur seventy years after the end of "Avatar: The Last Airbender". The series' protagonist is Korra, a 17-year-old girl from the Southern Water Tribe who is the incarnation of the Avatar after Aang's death.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: Netflix announced in September 2018 that a "reimagined" live-action remake of "Avatar" was to start production in 2019. The series' original creators, DiMartino and Konietzko, were to be the executive producers and showrunners. The two said that they intended to adapt the series "with a culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed cast". It was announced that Jeremy Zuckerman, who composed music for the original show, would also be returning to do the music for the remake. On August 12, 2020, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko both revealed on their social media that they had departed the show due to creative differences.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: In February 2021, Albert Kim was reported to have been brought on as the showrunner. In August later that year, it was reported that Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio Tarbell, Ian Ousley and Dallas Liu were cast in the roles of Aang, Katara, Sokka and Zuko, respectively. On November 3, Daniel Dae Kim, who voiced General Fong in the original series, was reported to have been cast as Fire Lord Ozai, followed two weeks later by Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Lim Kay Siu and Ken Leung in their respective roles as Iroh, Gyatso and Zhao, along with news that production had begun in Vancouver. More casting news followed in December, with Elizabeth Yu, Maria Zhang, Yvonne Chapman, Casey Camp-Horinek and Tamlyn Tomita respectively cast as Azula, Suki, Kyoshi, Kanna and Yukari, the latter an original character.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: On February 24, 2021, ViacomCBS announced Avatar Studios, a new division of Nickelodeon centered on developing animated series and films set in the "Avatar" universe, to be distributed via Nickelodeon's linear and digital services, Paramount+, theatres, and other third-party platforms. The division is helmed by original series creators DiMartino and Konietzko, who are its co-chief creative officers and report to Nickelodeon Animation Studio president Ramsey Ann Naito. In addition to this announcement, the company also stated the studio would begin production of an animated film sometime in 2021. Konietzko and DiMartino remarked that "with this new Avatar Studios venture we have an unparalleled opportunity to develop our franchise and its storytelling on a vast scale, in myriad exciting ways and mediums", while ViacomCBS Kids & Family president Brian Robbins declared ""Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "Korra" have grown at least ten-fold in popularity since their original hit runs on Nickelodeon, and Ramsey Naito and I are incredibly excited to have Mike and Bryan's genius talent on board to helm a studio devoted to expanding their characters and world into new content and formats for fans everywhere".


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: On June 15, 2022, Paramount announced that three animated "Avatar: The Last Airbender" films are in production.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

text: On July 12, 2021, Magpie Games announced that on August 3 of the same year they'd be launching a Kickstarter campaign for "Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game", an officially licensed tabletop roleplaying game set in the universe of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "The Legend of Korra". The campaign raised USD $ 9.53M, becoming the most successful campaign for a tabletop game in Kickstarter's history. Pre-orders for much of the game's content opened on October 12, 2022.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Natalie Wood ( Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring role at age 8 in "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947). As a teenager, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955), followed by a role in John Ford's "The Searchers" (1956). Wood starred in the musical films "West Side Story" (1961) and "Gypsy" (1962), and received nominations for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in "Splendor in the Grass" (1961) and "Love with the Proper Stranger" (1963). Her career continued with films such as "Sex and the Single Girl" (1964), "Inside Daisy Clover" (1965), and "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" (1969).


title: Natalie Wood

text: During the 1970s, Wood began a hiatus from film and had two daughters: one with her second husband Richard Gregson, and one with Robert Wagner, her first husband whom she married again after divorcing Gregson. She acted in only two feature films throughout the decade, but appeared slightly more often in television productions, including a remake of "From Here to Eternity" (1979) for which she won a Golden Globe Award. Wood's films represented a "coming of age" for her and for Hollywood films in general. Critics have suggested that her cinematic career represents a portrait of modern American womanhood in transition, as she was one of the few to take both child roles and those of middle-aged characters.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood died off the coast of Santa Catalina Island on November 29, 1981, at age 43, during a holiday break from the production of her would-be comeback film "Brainstorm" (1983) with Christopher Walken. The events surrounding her death have been the subject of conflicting witness statements, prompting the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, under the instruction of the coroner's office, to list her cause of death as "drowning and other undetermined factors" in 2012.


title: Natalie Wood

text: In 2018, Robert Wagner was named as a person of interest in the ongoing investigation into Wood's death.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood was born Natalie Zacharenko in San Francisco, to Maria Zudilova (1908 – 1998), known variously as Mary, Marie and Musia, and her second husband, carpenter Nicholas Zacharenko (1912–1980).


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood's mother was Russian, born in Barnaul, southern Siberia. Her maternal grandfather owned soap and candle factories, as well as an estate outside the city. With the start of the Russian Civil War, his family left Russia, resettling as refugees in the Chinese city of Harbin. In 1925, Maria married Alexander Tatuloff, an Armenian mechanic. They had a daughter, Olga (1928–2015). The Tatuloffs came to America by ship in 1930 and divorced in 1936.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood's father was Russian, born in Ussuriysk (then referred to as Nikolskoye). Her paternal grandfather, a chocolate-factory worker who joined the anti-Bolshevik civilian forces during the war, was killed in a street fight in Vladivostok between the Red Army and White Russian soldiers. After that, his widow and three sons fled to Shanghai, subsequently relocating to Vancouver at the time of Wood's paternal grandmother's remarriage in 1927. By 1933 they moved to the US. Nicholas met Maria Tatuloff, four years his senior, while she was still married to her first husband.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood's parents were married in February 1938, five months before her birth. In 1942 they bought a home in Santa Rosa, where Natalie was noticed by members of a crew during a film shoot downtown. After Natalie started acting as a child, David Lewis and William Goetz, studio executives at RKO Radio Pictures, changed her last name to Wood, in reference to director Sam Wood. Wood's only full sibling, Svetlana Gurdin (the family had changed their surname), was born in Santa Monica in 1946. Known as Lana Wood, she also became an actress.


title: Natalie Wood

text: A few weeks before her fifth birthday, Wood made her uncredited film debut in a fifteen-second scene in the film "Happy Land" (1943). Despite the brief part, she attracted the notice of the director, Irving Pichel. He remained in contact with Wood's family for two years, advising them when another role came up. The director telephoned Wood's mother and asked her to bring her daughter to Los Angeles for a screen test. Wood's mother became so excited that she "packed the whole family off to Los Angeles to live," writes Harris. Wood's father opposed the idea, but his wife's "overpowering ambition to make Natalie a star" took priority. According to Wood's younger sister Lana, Pichel "discovered her and wanted to adopt her."


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood, then seven years old, got the part. She played a post-World War II German orphan, opposite Orson Welles as Wood's guardian and Claudette Colbert, in "Tomorrow Is Forever" (1946). When Wood was unable to cry on cue, her mother tore a butterfly to pieces in front of her to ensure she would sob for a scene. Welles later said that Wood was a born professional, "so good, she was terrifying."


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood acted in another film directed by Pichel, "The Bride Wore Boots", and went on to 20th Century Fox to play Gene Tierney's daughter in "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" (1947).


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood's best-known film as a child was "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947), starring Maureen O'Hara at Fox. She plays a cynical girl who comes to believe a kindly department store holiday season employee portrayed by Edmund Gwenn is the real Santa Claus. The film has become a Christmas classic; Wood was counted among the top child stars in Hollywood after the film and was so popular that Macy's invited her to appear in the store's annual Thanksgiving Day parade.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Film historian John C. Tibbetts wrote that for the next few years following her success in "Miracle", Wood played roles as a daughter in a series of family films: "Driftwood" (1947), at Republic; "Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!" (1948); "Chicken Every Sunday" (1949); "The Green Promise" (1949); Fred MacMurray's daughter in "Father Was a Fullback" (1949), with O'Hara; Margaret Sullavan's daughter in "No Sad Songs for Me" (1950); the youngest sister in "Our Very Own" (1950); "Never a Dull Moment" (1950); James Stewart's daughter in "The Jackpot" (1950); "Dear Brat" (1951); Joan Blondell's neglected daughter in "The Blue Veil" (1951); "The Rose Bowl Story" (1952); and "Just for You" (1952); the daughter of Bette Davis' character in "The Star" (1952); . In all, Wood appeared in over twenty films as a child. She also appeared on television in episodes of "Kraft Theatre" and "Chevron Theatre",


title: Natalie Wood

text: Because Wood was a minor during her early years as an actress, she received her primary education on the studio lots wherever she was contracted. California law required that until age 18, child actors had to spend at least three hours per day in the classroom, notes Harris. "She was a straight A student", and one of the few child actors to excel at arithmetic. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who directed her in "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" (1947), said that, "In all my years in the business, I never met a smarter moppet." Wood remembered that period in her life, saying, "I always felt guilty when I knew the crew was sitting around waiting for me to finish my three hours. As soon as the teacher let us go, I ran to the set as fast as I could."


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood's mother continued to play a significant role in her daughter's early career, coaching her and micromanaging aspects of her career even after Wood acquired agents. As a child actress, Wood received significant media attention. By age nine, she had been named the "most exciting juvenile motion picture star of the year" by "Parents" magazine.


title: Natalie Wood

text: In the 1953–54 television season, Wood played Ann Morrison, the teenage daughter in "The Pride of the Family," an ABC situation comedy. She appeared as a teenager on episodes of "The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse", "Public Defender", "Mayor of the Town", "Four Star Playhouse", "The Ford Television Theatre", and "General Electric Theater", and also appeared in a TV version of "Heidi". She described the "GE Theater" episode, "Carnival", as one of the best things she ever did.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood successfully made the transition from child star to ingénue at age 16 when she co-starred with James Dean and Sal Mineo in "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955), Nicholas Ray's film about teenage rebellion. Wood had to sign to a long-term contract with Warner Bros. but she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She later said it was the first script she read that she actually wanted to do as opposed to being told to do by her parents; she also said her parents were opposed to her doing it. "Until then I did what I was told," she said.


title: Natalie Wood

text: She continued to guest star on anthology TV shows like "Studio One in Hollywood", "Camera Three", "Kings Row", "Studio 57", "Warner Brothers Presents", and "The Kaiser Aluminum Hour".


title: Natalie Wood

text: She had a small but crucial role in John Ford's "The Searchers" (1956) and was the female lead in "A Cry in the Night" (1956).


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1956. She signed with Warner Brothers and was kept busy during the remainder of the decade in many "girlfriend" roles, which she found unsatisfying.


title: Natalie Wood

text: The studio cast her in two films opposite Tab Hunter, hoping to turn the duo into a box-office draw that never materialized: "The Burning Hills" (1956), a Western, and "The Girl He Left Behind" (1956). She guest starred in episodes of "Conflict".


title: Natalie Wood

text: Warner Bros. tried teaming her with Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in "Bombers B-52" (1957). Then she was given the lead in a prestigious project, "Marjorie Morningstar" (1958). As Marjorie Morningstar, Wood played the role of a young Jewish girl in New York City who has to deal with the social and religious expectations of her family as she tries to forge her own path and separate identity.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Tibbetts observed that Wood's characters in "Rebel", "Searchers", and "Morningstar" began to show her widening range of acting styles. Her former "childlike sweetness" was now being combined with a noticeable "restlessness that was characteristic of the youth of the 1950s."


title: Natalie Wood

text: She was leading lady to Frank Sinatra in "Kings Go Forth" (1958) then refused roles and was put on suspension by Warners. This lasted for a year until February 1959. She returned to be leading lady to James Garner in "Cash McCall" (1960). After Wood appeared in the box office flop "All the Fine Young Cannibals" (1960), she lost momentum. Wood's career was in a transition period, having until then consisted of roles as a child or as a teenager.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Biographer Suzanne Finstad wrote that a "turning point" in Wood's life as an actress took place when she saw the film "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951): "She was transformed, in awe of director Elia Kazan and of Vivien Leigh's performance… [who] became a role model for Natalie." "Her roles raised the possibility that one's sensitivity could mark a person as a kind of victim," noted Tibbetts.


title: Natalie Wood

text: After a "series of bad films, her career was already in decline", according to author Douglas Rathgeb. She was then cast in Kazan's Splendor in the Grass (1961) with Warren Beatty. Kazan wrote in his 1997 memoir that the "sages" of the film community declared her "washed up" as an actress, but he still wanted to interview her for his next film:


title: Natalie Wood

text: Kazan cast Wood as the female lead in "Splendor", and her career rebounded. He felt that despite her earlier innocent roles, she had the talent and maturity to go beyond them. In the film, Beatty's character was deprived of sexual love with Wood's character, and as a result turns to another, "looser" girl. Wood's character could not handle the sexuality and after a breakdown was committed to a mental institution. Kazan writes that he cast her in the role partly because he saw in Wood's personality a "true-blue quality with a wanton side that is held down by social pressure," adding that "she clings to things with her eyes," a quality he found especially "appealing."


title: Natalie Wood

text: Finstad felt that although Wood had never trained in method acting techniques, "working with Kazan brought her to the greatest emotional heights of her career. The experience was exhilarating, but wrenching for Natalie, who faced her demons on "Splendor."" She adds that a scene in the film, as a result of "Kazan's wizardry… produced a hysteria in Natalie that may be her most powerful moment as an actress." Actor Gary Lockwood, who also performed in the film, felt that "Kazan and Natalie were a terrific marriage, because you had this beautiful girl, and you had somebody that could get things out of her." Kazan's favorite scene in the film was the last one, when Wood goes back to see her lost first love, Bud (Beatty). "It's terribly touching to me. I still like it when I see it," wrote Kazan.


title: Natalie Wood

text: For her performance in "Splendor", Wood received nominations for the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood played Maria, a restless Puerto Rican girl on the West Side of Manhattan, in "West Side Story", Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise's 1961 film of the stage musical, which was a critical and box-office success. Tibbetts wrote of similarities in her role in this film and the earlier "Rebel." She was to represent the "restlessness of American youth in the 1950s", expressed by youth gangs and juvenile delinquency, along with early rock and roll. Both films, he observes, were "modern allegories based on the 'Romeo and Juliet' theme, including private restlessness and public alienation. Where in "Rebel" she falls in love with the character played by James Dean, whose gang-like peers and violent temper alienated him from his family, in "West Side Story" she enters into a romance with a white former gang member whose threatening world of outcasts also alienated him from lawful behavior."


title: Natalie Wood

text: Although Wood's singing in the film was voiced by Marni Nixon, "West Side Story" is still regarded as one of Wood's best films.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood sang when she starred in the film "Gypsy" (1962) alongside Rosalind Russell. Her appearance in that film led critic Pauline Kael to comment "clever little Natalie Wood… [the] most machine-tooled of Hollywood ingénues."


title: Natalie Wood

text: At the age of 25, Wood received her third Academy Award nomination for "Love with the Proper Stranger" (1963), making Wood (along with Teresa Wright) the youngest person to score three Oscar nominations. This record was later broken by Jennifer Lawrence in 2013 and Saoirse Ronan in 2017, both of whom scored their third nominations at the age of 23.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood made two comedies with Tony Curtis: "Sex and the Single Girl" (1964) and "The Great Race" (1965), the latter with Jack Lemmon, and Peter Falk. In "The Great Race", her ability to speak Russian was an asset given to her character Maggie DuBois, justifying the character's recording the progress of the race across Siberia and entering the race at the beginning as a contestant.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Director Sydney Pollack was quoted as saying about Wood, "When she was right for the part, there was no one better. She was a damn good actress." For "Inside Daisy Clover" (1965) and "This Property Is Condemned" (1966), both of which co-starred Robert Redford, Wood received Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress. After the release of the films, Wood suffered emotionally and sought professional therapy. She paid Warner Bros. $175,000 to cancel her contract and fired her entire support team: agents, managers, publicist, accountant, and attorneys. In the mid 1960s she was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood along with Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Although many of Wood's films were commercially successful, at times her acting was criticized. In 1966, Wood was given "the Harvard Lampoon" award for being the "Worst Actress of Last Year, This Year, and Next".She was the first person to attend and accept the award in person. "The Harvard Crimson" wrote she was "quite a good sport". Following a disappointing reception to "Penelope" (1966), Wood took a three-year hiatus from acting. She was announced for "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" but did not appear in it.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood co-starred with Dyan Cannon, Robert Culp and Elliott Gould in "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" (1969), a comedy about sexual liberation. According to Tibbetts, this was the first film in which "the saving leavening of humor was brought to bear upon the many painful dilemmas portrayed in her adult films."


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood did not capitalize on the success of "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice". After becoming pregnant in 1970 with her first child, Natasha Gregson, she went into semi-retirement and would act in only four more theatrical films during the remainder of her life. She made a brief cameo appearance as herself in "The Candidate" (1972), working once more with Robert Redford.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood reunited on the screen with Robert Wagner in the television film of the week "The Affair" (1973), and with Laurence Olivier and Wagner in an adaptation of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1976) for the British series "Laurence Olivier Presents" broadcast as a special by NBC.


title: Natalie Wood

text: She made cameo appearances on Wagner's prime-time detective series "Switch" in 1978 as "Bubble Bath Girl," and "Hart to Hart" in 1979 as "Movie Star".


title: Natalie Wood

text: After another lengthy break, she appeared in the ensemble disaster film "Meteor" (1979) with Sean Connery and the sex comedy "The Last Married Couple in America" (1980) with George Segal and Valerie Harper. Her performance in the latter was praised and considered reminiscent of her performance in "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice". In "Last Married Couple", Wood broke ground: although an actress with a clean, middle-class image, she used the "F" word in a frank marital discussion with her husband (George Segal).


title: Natalie Wood

text: In this period, Wood had more success in television, receiving high ratings and critical acclaim in 1979 for "The Cracker Factory" and especially the miniseries remake of "From Here to Eternity" (1979), with Kim Basinger and William Devane. Wood's performance in the latter won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 1980. She starred in "The Memory of Eva Ryker", released in May 1980, which proved to be her last completed production.


title: Natalie Wood

text: At the time of her death, Wood was filming the $15 million science fiction film "Brainstorm" (1983), co-starring Christopher Walken and directed by Douglas Trumbull.


title: Natalie Wood

text: She was scheduled to make her stage debut on February 12, 1982, in "Anastasia" at Ahmanson Theatre with Wendy Hiller. Wood had also purchased film rights to the Barbara Wersba book, "Country of the Heart", and was planning to star with Timothy Hutton in the drama about the professional-romantic relationship between a tough-minded poet and her much younger student. (The material was eventually adapted into a 1990 television film starring Jane Seymour.) She expected to follow her performance as "Anastasia" on the stage with a starring stint in a film adaptation of the work. The ending of "Brainstorm" had to be re-written and Wood's character written out of at least three scenes, while a stand-in and sound-alikes were used to replace Wood for some of her crucial shots. The film was released posthumously on September 30, 1983, and was dedicated to Wood in the closing credits.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood appeared in 56 films for cinema and television. In one of her last interviews before her death, she was defined as "our sexual conscience on the silver screen." Following her death, "Time" magazine noted that although critical praise for Wood had been sparse throughout her career, "she always had work".


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood's two marriages to actor Robert Wagner were highly publicized. They first married on December 28, 1957, in Scottsdale, Arizona when Wood was 19. On June 20, 1961, the couple announced their separation in a joint press release, and divorced ten months later on April 27, 1962.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Following this starter marriage, Wood dated Warren Beatty, Michael Caine and David Niven Jr. She also had a broken engagement in 1965 with Venezuelan shoe manufacturer Ladislav Blatnik.


title: Natalie Wood

text: On May 30, 1969, Wood married British producer Richard Gregson after dating for nearly three years. They had a daughter, Natasha (born September 29, 1970). Wood filed for divorce from Gregson on August 4, 1971, and it was finalized on April 12, 1972.


title: Natalie Wood

text: After a short-lived romance with future California governor Jerry Brown, Wood resumed her relationship with Wagner at the end of January 1972. They remarried on July 16 aboard the Ramblin' Rose, anchored off Paradise Cove in Malibu. Their daughter Courtney was born on March 9, 1974.


title: Natalie Wood

text: In 2013, former FBI agent Donald G. Wilson claimed that he and Wood had had a four-year affair, from 1973 to 1977, that began when she was pregnant with Courtney Wagner. In 2016, Wilson spoke on camera about his alleged affair with Wood in a documentary for the cable network Reelz.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Celebrity bodyguard Kris Herzog has stated that Wood told his grandmother, an Avalon socialite, that she was going to divorce Wagner and that he himself saw Wood the morning before she disappeared.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Suzanne Finstad's 2001 biography of Wood alleges that she was raped by a powerful actor when she was 16, though Finstad did not name the assailant. Through the recollection of Wood's close friends, which included actors Scott Marlowe and Dennis Hopper, Finstad said:


title: Natalie Wood

text: In July 2018, Lana Wood said during a 12-part podcast about her sister's life that her sister was sexually assaulted as a teen and that the attack had occurred inside the Chateau Marmont during an audition and went on "for hours". According to professor Cynthia Lucia, who studied the attack claim, Wood's rape was brutal and violent. In the memoir "Little Sister: My Investigation Into the Mysterious Death of Natalie Wood" published in 2021, Lana Wood identified her sister's alleged assailant as Kirk Douglas and said the assault took place in the summer of 1955.


title: Natalie Wood

text: On November 29, 1981, Wood died under mysterious circumstances at age 43 during the making of "Brainstorm." She had been on a weekend boat trip to Santa Catalina Island on board her husband Robert Wagner's motoryacht "Splendour". Other than the fact that she drowned, many of the circumstances are unknown; for example, it has never been determined how she entered the water. Wood was with Wagner, "Brainstorm" co-star Christopher Walken, and "Splendour"s captain Dennis Davern on the evening of November 28. Authorities recovered her body at 8 a.m. on November 29, away from the boat, with a small Valiant-brand inflatable dinghy beached nearby. Wagner said that she was not with him when he went to bed. The autopsy report revealed that she had bruises on her body and arms, as well as an abrasion on her left cheek, but no indication as to how or when the injuries occurred.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Davern had previously stated that Wood and Wagner argued that evening, which Wagner denied at the time. In his memoir "Pieces of My Heart", Wagner admitted that he had an argument with Wood before she disappeared. The autopsy found that Wood's blood alcohol content was 0.14% and that there were traces of a motion-sickness pill and a painkiller in her bloodstream, both of which increase the effects of alcohol. Los Angeles County coroner Thomas Noguchi ruled the cause of her death to be accidental drowning and hypothermia. According to Noguchi, Wood had been drinking and she may have slipped while trying to re-board the dinghy. Her sister Lana expressed doubts, alleging that Wood could not swim and had been "terrified" of water all her life, and that she would never have left the yacht on her own by dinghy. Two witnesses who were on a nearby boat stated that they had heard a woman scream for help during the night.


title: Natalie Wood

text: Wood was buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. Representatives of international media, photographers, and members of the public tried to attend her funeral, but all were required to remain outside the cemetery walls. Among the celebrities were Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Fred Astaire, Rock Hudson, David Niven, Gregory Peck, Gene Kelly, Elia Kazan, and Laurence Olivier. Olivier flew in from London in order to attend the service.


title: Natalie Wood

text: The case was reopened in November 2011 after Davern publicly stated that he had lied to police during the initial investigation and that Wood and Wagner had an argument that evening. He alleged that Wood had been flirting with Walken, that Wagner was jealous and enraged, and that Wagner had prevented Davern from turning on the search lights and notifying authorities after Wood's disappearance. Davern alleged that Wagner was responsible for her death. Walken hired a lawyer, cooperated with the investigation, and was not considered a suspect by authorities.


title: Natalie Wood

text: In 2012, Los Angeles County Chief Coroner Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran amended Wood's death certificate and changed the cause of death from accidental drowning to "drowning and other undetermined factors". The amended document included a statement that it is "not clearly established" how Wood ended up in the water. Detectives instructed the coroner's office not to discuss or comment on the case. On January 14, 2013, the Los Angeles County coroner's office offered a 10-page addendum to Wood's autopsy report. The addendum stated that Wood might have sustained some of the bruises on her body before she went into the water, but that this could not be definitively determined. Forensic pathologist Michael Hunter speculated that Wood was particularly susceptible to bruising because she had taken the drug Synthroid. In 2020, a medical doctor and former intern of Noguchi at the time of Wood's death stated that the bruises were substantial and fitting for someone being thrown out of a boat. He claimed that he made those observations to Noguchi.


title: Natalie Wood

text: In February 2018, Wagner was named a person of interest by the police in the investigation. The police stated that they know that Wagner was the last person to be with Wood before she disappeared. In a 2018 report, the "Los Angeles Times" cited the coroner's report from 2013 saying that Wood had unexplained fresh bruising on her right forearm, left wrist, and right knee, a scratch on her neck, and a superficial scrape on her forehead. Officials said that it is possible that she was assaulted before she drowned.


title: Natalie Wood

text: The 2004 TV film "The Mystery of Natalie Wood" chronicles Wood's life and career. It was partly based on the biographies "Natasha: the Biography of Natalie Wood" by Suzanne Finstad and "Natalie & R.J." by Warren G. Harris. Justine Waddell portrays Wood.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archipelago's population. The archipelagic state consists of more than 3,000 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, and is located north of Cuba and northwest of the island of Hispaniola (split between Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and the Turks and Caicos Islands, southeast of the US state of Florida, and east of the Florida Keys. The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force describes The Bahamas' territory as encompassing of ocean space.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahama Islands were inhabited by the Lucayans, a branch of the Arawakan-speaking Taíno, for many centuries. Christopher Columbus was the first European to see the islands, making his first landfall in the "New World" in 1492 when he landed on the island of San Salvador. Later, the Spanish shipped the native Lucayans to and enslaved them on Hispaniola, after which the Bahama islands were mostly deserted from 1513 until 1648 due to nearly all native Bahamians being forcefully removed through enslavement or dying due to diseases brought to the islands by the Europeans. In 1649, English colonists from Bermuda, known as the Eleutheran Adventurers, settled on the island of Eleuthera.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1718, when the British clamped down on piracy. After the American Revolutionary War, the Crown resettled thousands of American Loyalists to the Bahamas; they took enslaved people with them and established plantations on land grants. Enslaved Africans and their descendants constituted the majority of the population from this period on. The slave trade was abolished by the British in 1807; slavery in the Bahamas was abolished in 1834. Subsequently, the Bahamas became a haven for freed African slaves. Africans liberated from illegal slave ships were resettled on the islands by the Royal Navy, while some North American slaves and Seminoles escaped to the Bahamas from Florida. Bahamians were even known to recognise the freedom of enslaved people carried by the ships of other nations which reached the Bahamas. Today Black-Bahamians make up 90% of the population of 400,516.


title: The Bahamas

text: The country gained governmental independence in 1973, led by Sir Lynden O. Pindling. Charles III is currently its monarch. In terms of gross domestic product per capita, the Bahamas is one of the richest independent countries in the Americas (following the United States and Canada), with an economy based on tourism and offshore finance.


title: The Bahamas

text: The name "Bahamas" is derived from the Lucayan name ' ('large upper middle island'), used by the indigenous Taíno people for the island of Grand Bahama. Tourist guides often state that the name comes from the Spanish ' ('shallow sea'). Wolfgang Ahrens of York University argues that this is a folk etymology. Alternatively, it may originate from "", a local name of unclear meaning.


title: The Bahamas

text: First attested on the 1523 Turin Map, "Bahama" originally referred to Grand Bahama alone but was used inclusively in English by 1670. Toponymist Isaac Taylor argues that the name was derived from "Bimani" (Bimini), which Spaniards in Haiti identified with Palombe, a legendary place where John Mandeville's "Travels" said there was a fountain of youth.


title: The Bahamas

text: The first inhabitants of the Bahamas were the Taino people, who moved into the uninhabited southern islands from Hispaniola and Cuba around the 800s–1000s AD, having migrated there from South America; they came to be known as the Lucayan people. An estimated 30,000 Lucayans inhabited the Bahamas at the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in 1492.


title: The Bahamas

text: Columbus's first landfall in what was to Europeans a "New World" was on an island he named San Salvador (known to the Lucayans as "Guanahani"). Whilst there is a general consensus that this island lay within the Bahamas, precisely which island Columbus landed on is a matter of scholarly debate. Some researchers believe the site to be present-day San Salvador Island (formerly known as Watling's Island), situated in the southeastern Bahamas, whilst an alternative theory holds that Columbus landed to the southeast on Samana Cay, according to calculations made in 1986 by "National Geographic" writer and editor Joseph Judge, based on Columbus's log. On the landfall island, Columbus made first contact with the Lucayans and exchanged goods with them, claiming the islands for the Crown of Castile, before proceeding to explore the larger isles of the Greater Antilles.


title: The Bahamas

text: The 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas theoretically divided the new territories between the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Portugal, placing the Bahamas in the Spanish sphere; however they did little to press their claim on the ground. The Spanish did however exploit the native Lucayan peoples, many of whom were enslaved and sent to Hispaniola for use as forced labour. The slaves suffered harsh conditions and most died from contracting diseases to which they had no immunity; half of the Taino died from smallpox alone. As a result of these depredations the population of the Bahamas was severely diminished.


title: The Bahamas

text: The English had expressed an interest in the Bahamas as early as 1629. However, it was not until 1648 that the first English settlers arrived on the islands. Known as the Eleutherian Adventurers and led by William Sayle, they migrated from Bermuda seeking greater religious freedom. These English Puritans established the first permanent European settlement on an island which they named Eleuthera, Greek for "free". They later settled New Providence, naming it Sayle's Island. Life proved harder than envisaged however, and many – including Sayle – chose to return to Bermuda. To survive, the remaining settlers salvaged goods from wrecks.


title: The Bahamas

text: In 1670, King Charles II granted the islands to the Lords Proprietors of the Carolinas in North America. They rented the islands from the king with rights of trading, tax, appointing governors, and administering the country from their base on New Providence. Piracy and attacks from hostile foreign powers were a constant threat. In 1684, Spanish corsair Juan de Alcon raided the capital Charles Town (later renamed Nassau), and in 1703, a joint Franco-Spanish expedition briefly occupied Nassau during the War of the Spanish Succession.


title: The Bahamas

text: During proprietary rule, the Bahamas became a haven for pirates, including Blackbeard ("circa" 1680–1718). To put an end to the "Pirates' republic" and restore orderly government, Britain made the Bahamas a crown colony in 1718, which they dubbed "the Bahama islands" under the governorship of Woodes Rogers. After a difficult struggle, he succeeded in suppressing piracy. In 1720, the Spanish attacked Nassau during the War of the Quadruple Alliance. In 1729, a local assembly was established giving a degree of self-governance for British settlers. The reforms had been planned by the previous Governor George Phenney and authorised in July 1728.


title: The Bahamas

text: During the American War of Independence in the late 18th century, the islands became a target for US naval forces. Under the command of Commodore Esek Hopkins, US Marines, the US Navy occupied Nassau in 1776, before being evacuated a few days later. In 1782 a Spanish fleet appeared off the coast of Nassau, and the city surrendered without a fight. Later, in April 1783, on a visit made by Prince William of the United Kingdom (later to become King William IV) to Luis de Unzaga at his residence in the Captaincy General of Havana, they made prisoner exchange agreements and also dealt with the preliminaries of the Treaty of Paris (1783), in which the recently conquered Bahamas would be exchanged for East Florida, which would still have to conquer the city of St. Augustine, Florida in 1784 by order of Luis de Unzaga; after that, also in 1784, the Bahamas would be declared a British colony.


title: The Bahamas

text: After US independence, the British resettled some 7,300 Loyalists with their African slaves in the Bahamas, including 2,000 from New York and at least 1,033 European, 2,214 African ancestrals and a few Native American Creeks from East Florida. Most of the refugees resettled from New York had fled from other colonies, including West Florida, which the Spanish captured during the war. The government granted land to the planters to help compensate for losses on the continent. These Loyalists, who included Deveaux and also Lord Dunmore, established plantations on several islands and became a political force in the capital. European Americans were outnumbered by the African-American slaves they brought with them, and ethnic Europeans remained a minority in the territory.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Slave Trade Act 1807 abolished slave trading to British possessions, including the Bahamas. The United Kingdom pressured other slave-trading countries to also abolish slave-trading, and gave the Royal Navy the right to intercept ships carrying slaves on the high seas. Thousands of Africans liberated from slave ships by the Royal Navy were resettled in the Bahamas.


title: The Bahamas

text: In the 1820s during the period of the Seminole Wars in Florida, hundreds of North American slaves and African Seminoles escaped from Cape Florida to the Bahamas. They settled mostly on northwest Andros Island, where they developed the village of Red Bays. From eyewitness accounts, 300 escaped in a mass flight in 1823, aided by Bahamians in 27 sloops, with others using canoes for the journey. This was commemorated in 2004 by a large sign at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. Some of their descendants in Red Bays continue African Seminole traditions in basket making and grave marking.


title: The Bahamas

text: In 1818, the Home Office in London had ruled that "any slave brought to the Bahamas from outside the British West Indies would be manumitted." This led to a total of nearly 300 enslaved people owned by US nationals being freed from 1830 to 1835. The American slave ships "Comet" and "Encomium" used in the United States domestic coastwise slave trade, were wrecked off Abaco Island in December 1830 and February 1834, respectively. When wreckers took the masters, passengers and slaves into Nassau, customs officers seized the slaves and British colonial officials freed them, over the protests of the Americans. There were 165 slaves on the "Comet" and 48 on the "Encomium". The United Kingdom finally paid an indemnity to the United States in those two cases in 1855, under the Treaty of Claims of 1853, which settled several compensation cases between the two countries.


title: The Bahamas

text: Slavery was abolished in the British Empire on 1 August 1834. After that British colonial officials freed 78 North American slaves from the "Enterprise", which went into Bermuda in 1835; and 38 from the "Hermosa", which wrecked off Abaco Island in 1840. The most notable case was that of the "Creole" in 1841: as a result of a slave revolt on board, the leaders ordered the US brig to Nassau. It was carrying 135 slaves from Virginia destined for sale in New Orleans. The Bahamian officials freed the 128 slaves who chose to stay in the islands. The "Creole" case has been described as the "most successful slave revolt in U.S. history".


title: The Bahamas

text: These incidents, in which a total of 447 enslaved people belonging to US nationals were freed from 1830 to 1842, increased tension between the United States and the United Kingdom. They had been co-operating in patrols to suppress the international slave trade. However, worried about the stability of its large domestic slave trade and its value, the United States argued that the United Kingdom should not treat its domestic ships that came to its colonial ports under duress as part of the international trade. The United States worried that the success of the "Creole" slaves in gaining freedom would encourage more slave revolts on merchant ships.


title: The Bahamas

text: During the American Civil War of the 1860s, the islands briefly prospered as a focus for blockade runners aiding the Confederate States.


title: The Bahamas

text: The early decades of the 20th century were ones of hardship for many Bahamians, characterised by a stagnant economy and widespread poverty. Many eked out a living via subsistence agriculture or fishing.


title: The Bahamas

text: In August 1940, the Duke of Windsor (erstwhile King Edward VIII) was appointed Governor of the Bahamas. He arrived in the colony with his wife. Although disheartened at the condition of Government House, they "tried to make the best of a bad situation". He did not enjoy the position, and referred to the islands as "a third-class British colony". He opened the small local parliament on 29 October 1940. The couple visited the "Out Islands" that November, on Axel Wenner-Gren's yacht, which caused controversy; the British Foreign Office strenuously objected because they had been advised by United States intelligence that Wenner-Gren was a close friend of the Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring of Nazi Germany.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Duke was praised at the time for his efforts to combat poverty on the islands. A 1991 biography by Philip Ziegler, however, described him as contemptuous of the Bahamians and other non-European peoples of the Empire. He was praised for his resolution of civil unrest over low wages in Nassau in June 1942, when there was a "full-scale riot". Ziegler said that the Duke blamed the trouble on "mischief makers – communists" and "men of Central European Jewish descent, who had secured jobs as a pretext for obtaining a deferment of draft". The Duke resigned from the post on 16 March 1945.


title: The Bahamas

text: Modern political development began after the Second World War. The first political parties were formed in the 1950s, split broadly along ethnic lines, with the United Bahamian Party (UBP) representing the English-descended Bahamians (known informally as the "Bay Street Boys") and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) representing the Black-Bahamian majority.


title: The Bahamas

text: A new constitution granting the Bahamas internal autonomy went into effect on 7 January 1964, with Chief Minister Sir Roland Symonette of the UBP becoming the first Premier. In 1967, Lynden Pindling of the PLP became the first black Premier of the Bahamian colony; in 1968, the title of the position was changed to Prime Minister. In 1968, Pindling announced that the Bahamas would seek full independence. A new constitution giving the Bahamas increased control over its own affairs was adopted in 1968. In 1971, the UBP merged with a disaffected faction of the PLP to form a new party, the Free National Movement (FNM), a centre-right party which aimed to counter the growing power of Pindling's PLP.


title: The Bahamas

text: The United Kingdom Government gave the Bahamas its independence by an Order in Council dated 20 June 1973. The Order came into force on 10 July 1973, on which date Prince Charles delivered the official documents to Prime Minister Lynden Pindling. This date is now celebrated as the country's Independence Day. It joined the Commonwealth of Nations on the same day. Sir Milo Butler was appointed the first governor-general of The Bahamas (the official representative of Queen Elizabeth II) shortly after independence.


title: The Bahamas

text: Shortly after independence, The Bahamas joined the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on 22 August 1973, and later the United Nations on 18 September 1973.


title: The Bahamas

text: Politically, the first two decades were dominated by Pindling's PLP, who went on to win a string of electoral victories. Allegations of corruption, links with drug cartels and financial malfeasance within the Bahamian government failed to dent Pindling's popularity. Meanwhile, the economy underwent a dramatic growth period fuelled by the twin pillars of tourism and offshore finance, significantly raising the standard of living on the islands. The Bahamas' booming economy led to it becoming a beacon for immigrants, most notably from Haiti.


title: The Bahamas

text: In 1992, Pindling was unseated by Hubert Ingraham of the FNM. Ingraham went on to win the 1997 Bahamian general election, before being defeated in 2002, when the PLP returned to power under Perry Christie. Ingraham returned to power from 2007 to 2012, followed by Christie again from 2012 to 2017. With economic growth faltering, Bahamians re-elected the FNM in 2017, with Hubert Minnis becoming the fourth prime minister.


title: The Bahamas

text: In September 2019, Hurricane Dorian struck the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama at Category 5 intensity, devastating the northwestern Bahamas. The storm inflicted at least US$7 billion in damages and killed more than 50 people, with 1,300 people still missing.


title: The Bahamas

text: In September 2021, the ruling Free National Movement lost to the opposition Progressive Liberal Party in a snap election, as the economy struggled to recover from its deepest crash since at least 1971. Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won 32 of the 39 seats in the House of Assembly. Free National Movement (FNM), led by Minnis, took the remaining seats. On 17 September 2021, the chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Phillip "Brave" Davis was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Bahamas to succeed Hubert Minnis.


title: The Bahamas

text: The landmass that makes up what is the modern-day Bahamas, lies at the northern part of the Greater Antilles region and was believed to have been formed 200 million years ago when they began to separate from the supercontinent Pangaea. The Pleistocene Ice Age around 3 million years ago, had a profound impact on the archipelago's formation.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahamas consists of a chain of islands spread out over some in the Atlantic Ocean, located to the east of Florida in the United States, north of Cuba and Hispaniola and west of the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands (with which it forms the Lucayan archipelago). It lies between latitudes 20° and 28°N, and longitudes 72° and 80°W and straddles the Tropic of Cancer. There are some 700 islands and 2,400 cays in total (of which 30 are inhabited) with a total land area of .


title: The Bahamas

text: Nassau, capital city of The Bahamas, lies on the island of New Providence; the other main inhabited islands are Grand Bahama, Eleuthera, Cat Island, Rum Cay, Long Island, San Salvador Island, Ragged Island, Acklins, Crooked Island, Exuma, Berry Islands, Mayaguana, the Bimini islands, Great Abaco and Great Inagua. The largest island is Andros.


title: The Bahamas

text: All the islands are low and flat, with ridges that usually rise no more than . The highest point in the country is Mount Alvernia (formerly Como Hill) on Cat Island at .


title: The Bahamas

text: The country contains three terrestrial ecoregions: Bahamian dry forests, Bahamian pine mosaic, and Bahamian mangroves. It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.35/10, ranking it 44th globally out of 172 countries.


title: The Bahamas

text: According to the Köppen climate classification, the climate of The Bahamas is mostly tropical savannah climate or "Aw", with a hot and wet season and a warm and dry season. The low latitude, warm tropical Gulf Stream, and low elevation give The Bahamas a warm and winterless climate.


title: The Bahamas

text: As with most tropical climates, seasonal rainfall follows the sun, and summer is the wettest season. There is only a difference between the warmest month and coolest month in most of the Bahama islands. Every few decades low temperatures can fall below for a few hours when a severe cold outbreak comes down from the North American mainland, however there has never been a frost or freeze recorded in the Bahamian Islands. Only once in recorded history has snow been seen in the air anywhere in The Bahamas, this occurred in Freeport on 19 January 1977, when snow mixed with rain was seen in the air for a short time. The Bahamas are often sunny and dry for long periods of time, and average more than 3,000 hours or 340 days of sunlight annually. Much of the natural vegetation is tropical scrub and cactus and succulents are common in landscapes.


title: The Bahamas

text: Tropical storms and hurricanes occasionally impact The Bahamas. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew passed over the northern portions of the islands, and Hurricane Floyd passed near the eastern portions of the islands in 1999. Hurricane Dorian of 2019 passed over the archipelago at destructive Category 5 strength with sustained winds of and wind gusts up to , becoming the strongest tropical cyclone on record to impact the northwestern islands of Grand Bahama and Great Abaco.


title: The Bahamas

text: It was generally believed that the Bahamas were formed in approximately 200 million years ago, when Pangaea started to break apart. In current times, it endures as an archipelago containing over 700 islands and cays, fringed around different coral reefs. The limestone that comprises the Banks has been accumulating since at least the Cretaceous period, and perhaps as early as the Jurassic; today the total thickness under the Great Bahama Bank is over 4.5 kilometres (2.8 miles). As the limestone was deposited in shallow water, the only way to explain this massive column is to estimate that the entire platform has subsided under its own weight at a rate of roughly 3.6 centimetres (2 inches) per 1,000 years.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahamas is part of the Lucayan Archipelago, which continues into the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Mouchoir Bank, the Silver Bank, and the Navidad Bank. The Bahamas Platform, which includes The Bahamas, Southern Florida, Northern Cuba, the Turks and Caicos, and the Blake Plateau, formed about 150 Ma, not long after the formation of the North Atlantic. The thick limestones, which predominate in The Bahamas, date back to the Cretaceous. These limestones would have been deposited in shallow seas, assumed to be a stretched and thinned portion of the North American continental crust. Sediments were forming at about the same rate as the crust below was sinking due to the added weight. Thus, the entire area consisted of a large marine plain with some islands. Then, at about 80 Ma, the area became flooded by the Gulf Stream. This resulted in the drowning of the Blake Plateau, the separation of The Bahamas from Cuba and Florida, the separation of the southeastern Bahamas into separate banks, the creation of the Cay Sal Bank, plus the Little and Great Bahama Banks. Sedimentation from the "carbonate factory" of each bank, or atoll, continues today at the rate of about per kyr. Coral reefs form the "retaining walls" of these atolls, within which oolites and pellets form.


title: The Bahamas

text: Coral growth was greater through the Tertiary, until the start of the ice ages, and hence those deposits are more abundant below a depth of . In fact, an ancient extinct reef exists half a kilometre seaward of the present one, below sea level. Oolites form when oceanic water penetrate the shallow banks, increasing the temperature about and the salinity by 0.5 per cent. Cemented ooids are referred to as grapestone. Additionally, giant stromatolites are found off the Exuma Cays.


title: The Bahamas

text: Sea level changes resulted in a drop in sea level, causing wind blown oolite to form sand dunes with distinct cross-bedding. Overlapping dunes form oolitic ridges, which become rapidly lithified through the action of rainwater, called eolianite. Most islands have ridges ranging from , though Cat Island has a ridge in height. The land between ridges is conducive to the formation of lakes and swamps.


title: The Bahamas

text: Solution weathering of the limestone results in a "Bahamian Karst" topography. This includes potholes, blue holes such as Dean's Blue Hole, sinkholes, beachrock such as the Bimini Road ("pavements of Atlantis"), limestone crust, caves due to the lack of rivers, and sea caves. Several blue holes are aligned along the South Andros Fault line. Tidal flats and tidal creeks are common, but the more impressive drainage patterns are formed by troughs and canyons such as Great Bahama Canyon with the evidence of turbidity currents and turbidite deposition.


title: The Bahamas

text: The stratigraphy of the islands consists of the Middle Pleistocene Owl's Hole Formation, overlain by the Late Pleistocene Grotto Beach Formation, and then the Holocene Rice Bay Formation. However, these units are not necessarily stacked on top of each other but can be located laterally. The oldest formation, Owl's Hole, is capped by a terra rosa paleosoil, as is the Grotto Beach, unless eroded. The Grotto Beach Formation is the most widespread.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahamas is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, with King of the Bahamas Charles III as head of state represented locally by a governor-general. Political and legal traditions closely follow those of England and the Westminster system. The Bahamas is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares its head of state with some other Commonwealth realms.


title: The Bahamas

text: The prime minister is the head of government and is the leader of the party with the most seats in the House of Assembly. Executive power is exercised by the Cabinet, selected by the prime minister and drawn from his supporters in the House of Assembly. The current governor-general is The Honourable Cornelius A. Smith, and the current prime minister is The Hon. Philip Davis MP.


title: The Bahamas

text: Legislative power is vested in a bicameral parliament, which consists of a 38-member House of Assembly (the lower house), with members elected from single-member districts, and a 16-member Senate, with members appointed by the governor-general, including nine on the advice of the Prime Minister, four on the advice of the leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition, and three on the advice of the prime minister after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. As under the Westminster system, the prime minister may dissolve Parliament and call a general election at any time within a five-year term.


title: The Bahamas

text: Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement and association. The Judiciary of the Bahamas is independent of the executive and the legislature. Jurisprudence is based on English law.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahamas has a two-party system dominated by the centre-left Progressive Liberal Party and the centre-right Free National Movement. A handful of other political parties have been unable to win election to parliament; these have included the Bahamas Democratic Movement, the Coalition for Democratic Reform, Bahamian Nationalist Party and the Democratic National Alliance.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahamas has strong bilateral relationships with the United States and the United Kingdom, represented by an ambassador in Washington and High Commissioner in London. The Bahamas also associates closely with other nations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).


title: The Bahamas

text: The embassy of the United States in Nassau donated $3.6 million to the Minister for Disaster Preparedness, Management, and Reconstruction for modular shelters, medical evacuation boats, and construction materials. The donation was made 2 weeks after the one year anniversary of Hurricane Dorian.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahamian military is the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), the navy of The Bahamas which includes a land unit called Commando Squadron (Regiment) and an Air Wing (Air Force). Under the Defence Act, the RBDF has been mandated, in the name of the King, to defend The Bahamas, protect its territorial integrity, patrol its waters, provide assistance and relief in times of disaster, maintain order in conjunction with the law enforcement agencies of The Bahamas, and carry out any such duties as determined by the National Security Council. The Defence Force is also a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)'s Regional Security Task Force.


title: The Bahamas

text: The RBDF came into existence on 31 March 1980. Its duties include defending The Bahamas, stopping drug smuggling, illegal immigration and poaching, and providing assistance to mariners. The Defence Force has a fleet of 26 coastal and inshore patrol craft along with 3 aircraft and over 1,100 personnel including 65 officers and 74 women.


title: The Bahamas

text: The districts of The Bahamas provide a system of local government everywhere except New Providence (which holds 70 percent of the national population), whose affairs are handled directly by the central government. In 1996, the Bahamian Parliament passed the "Local Government Act" to facilitate the establishment of family island administrators, local government districts, local district councillors and local town committees for the various island communities. The overall goal of this act is to allow the various elected leaders to govern and oversee the affairs of their respective districts without the interference of the central government. In total, there are 32 districts, with elections being held every five years. There are 110 councillors and 281 town committee members elected to represent the various districts.


title: The Bahamas

text: Each councillor or town committee member is responsible for the proper use of public funds for the maintenance and development of their constituency.


title: The Bahamas

text: By the terms of GDP per capita, The Bahamas is one of the richest countries in the Americas. Its currency (the Bahamian dollar) is kept at a 1-to-1 peg with the US dollar.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahamas relies heavily on tourism to generate most of its economic activity. The Bahamas attracted 5.8 million visitors in 2012, more than 70% of whom were cruise visitors.


title: The Bahamas

text: After tourism, the next most important economic sector is banking and offshore international financial services, accounting for some 15% of GDP. It was revealed in the Panama Papers that The Bahamas is the jurisdiction with the most offshore entities or companies in the world.


title: The Bahamas

text: The economy has a very competitive tax regime (classified by some as a tax haven). The government derives its revenue from import tariffs, VAT, licence fees, property and stamp taxes, but there is no income tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, or wealth tax. Payroll taxes fund social insurance benefits and amount to 3.9% paid by the employee and 5.9% paid by the employer. In 2010, overall tax revenue as a percentage of GDP was 17.2%.


title: The Bahamas

text: Agriculture and manufacturing form the third largest sector of the Bahamian economy, representing 5–7% of total GDP. An estimated 80% of the Bahamian food supply is imported. Major crops include onions, okra, tomatoes, oranges, grapefruit, cucumbers, sugar cane, lemons, limes, and sweet potatoes.


title: The Bahamas

text: Access to biocapacity in the Bahamas is much higher than world average. In 2016, the Bahamas had 9.2 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, much more than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 the Bahamas used 3.7 global hectares of biocapacity per person - their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use less biocapacity than the Bahamas contains. As a result, the Bahamas is running a biocapacity reserve.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahamas contains about of paved roads. Inter-island transport is conducted primarily via ship and air. The country has 61 airports, the chief of which are Lynden Pindling International Airport on New Providence, Grand Bahama International Airport on Grand Bahama Island and Leonard M. Thompson International Airport (formerly Marsh Harbour Airport) on Abaco Island.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahamas had a population of at the 2018 Census, of which 25.9% were 14 or under, 67.2% 15 to 64 and 6.9% over 65. It has a population growth rate of 0.925% (2010), with a birth rate of 17.81/1,000 population, death rate of 9.35/1,000, and net migration rate of −2.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population. The infant mortality rate is 23.21 deaths/1,000 live births. Residents have a life expectancy at birth of 69.87 years: 73.49 years for females, 66.32 years for males. The total fertility rate is 2.0 children born/woman (2010). The latest official estimate (as at 2022) is 400,516.


title: The Bahamas

text: The most populous islands are New Providence, where Nassau, the capital and largest city, is located; and Grand Bahama, home to the second largest city of Freeport.


title: The Bahamas

text: According to the 99% response rate obtained from the race question on the 2010 Census questionnaire, 90.6% of the population identified themselves as being Black, 4.7% White and 2.1% of a Mixed (African and European). Three centuries prior, in 1722 when the first official census of The Bahamas was taken, 74% of the population was native European and 26% native African.


title: The Bahamas

text: Since the colonial era of plantations, Africans or Afro-Bahamians have been the largest ethnic group in The Bahamas, whose primary ancestry was based in West Africa. The first Africans to arrive to The Bahamas were freed slaves from Bermuda; they arrived with the Eleutheran Adventurers looking for new lives.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Haitian community in The Bahamas is also largely of African descent and numbers about 80,000. Due to an extremely high immigration of Haitians to The Bahamas, the Bahamian government started deporting illegal Haitian immigrants to their homeland in late 2014.


title: The Bahamas

text: The white Bahamian population are mainly the descendants of the English Puritans and American Loyalists escaping the American Revolution who arrived in 1649 and 1783, respectively. Many Southern Loyalists went to the Abaco Islands, half of whose population was of European descent as of 1985. The term "white" is usually used to identify Bahamians with Anglo ancestry, as well as some light-skinned Afro-Bahamians. Sometimes Bahamians use the term "Conchy Joe" to describe people of Anglo descent. Generally, however, Bahamians self-identify as white or black along the lines similar to the distinction made in the US.


title: The Bahamas

text: A small portion of the Euro-Bahamian population are Greek Bahamians, descended from Greek labourers who came to help develop the sponging industry in the 1900s. They make up less than 2% of the nation's population, but have still preserved their distinct Greek Bahamian culture.


title: The Bahamas

text: The islands' population is predominantly Christian. Protestant denominations collectively account for more than 70% of the population, with Baptists representing 35% of the population, Anglicans 15%, Pentecostals 8%, Church of God 5%, Seventh-day Adventists 5% and Methodists 4%. There is also a significant Roman Catholic community accounting for about 14%.


title: The Bahamas

text: Jews in the Bahamas have a history dating back to the Columbus expeditions, where Luis De Torres, an interpreter and member of Columbus' party, is believed to have been secretly Jewish. Today, there is a small community with about 200 members, according to census data, although higher estimates place this figure at 300.


title: The Bahamas

text: Muslims also have a minority presence. While some slaves and free Africans in the colonial era were Muslim, the religion was eradicated until around the 1970s, when it experienced a revival. Today, there are about 300 Muslims.


title: The Bahamas

text: There are also smaller communities of Baháʼís, Hindus, Rastafarians and practitioners of traditional African religions such as Obeah.


title: The Bahamas

text: The official language of The Bahamas is English. Many people speak an English-based creole language called "Bahamian dialect" (known simply as "dialect") or "Bahamianese". Laurente Gibbs, a Bahamian writer and actor, was the first to coin the latter name in a poem and has since promoted its usage. Both are used as autoglossonyms. Haitian Creole, a French-based creole language is spoken by Haitians and their descendants, who make up of about 25% of the total population. It is known simply as "Creole" to differentiate it from Bahamian English.


title: The Bahamas

text: The University of the Bahamas (UB) is the national higher education/tertiary system. Offering baccalaureate, masters and associate degrees, UB has three campuses, and teaching and research centres throughout The Bahamas. The University of the Bahamas was chartered on 10 November 2016.


title: The Bahamas

text: The culture of the islands is a mixture of African (Afro-Bahamians being the largest ethnicity), British and American due to historical family ties, migration of freed slaves from the United States to The Bahamas, and as the dominant country in the region and source of most tourists).


title: The Bahamas

text: A form of African-based folk magic is practiced by some Bahamians, mainly in the Family Islands (out-islands) of The Bahamas. The practice of obeah is illegal in The Bahamas and punishable in law.


title: The Bahamas

text: In the outer islands also called Family Islands, handicrafts include basketry made from palm fronds. This material, commonly called "straw", is plaited into hats and bags that are popular tourist items.


title: The Bahamas

text: Junkanoo is a traditional Afro-Bahamian street parade of 'rushing', music, dance and art held in Nassau (and a few other settlements) every Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Junkanoo is also used to celebrate other holidays and events such as Emancipation Day.


title: The Bahamas

text: Regattas are important social events in many family island settlements. They usually feature one or more days of sailing by old-fashioned work boats, as well as an onshore festival.


title: The Bahamas

text: Many dishes are associated with Bahamian cuisine, which reflects Caribbean, African and European influences. Some settlements have festivals associated with the traditional crop or food of that area, such as the "Pineapple Fest" in Gregory Town, Eleuthera or the "Crab Fest" on Andros. Other significant traditions include story telling.


title: The Bahamas

text: Bahamians have created a rich literature of poetry, short stories, plays and short fictional works. Common themes in these works are (1) an awareness of change, (2) a striving for sophistication, (3) a search for identity, (4) nostalgia for the old ways and (5) an appreciation of beauty. Some major writers are Susan Wallace, Percival Miller, Robert Johnson, Raymond Brown, O.M. Smith, William Johnson, Eddie Minnis and Winston Saunders.


title: The Bahamas

text: Bahamas culture is rich with beliefs, traditions, folklore and legend. The best-known folklore and legends in The Bahamas include the lusca and chickcharney creatures of Andros, Pretty Molly on Exuma Bahamas and the Lost City of Atlantis on Bimini Bahamas.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahamian flag was adopted in 1973. Its colours symbolise the strength of the Bahamian people; its design reflects aspects of the natural environment (sun and sea) and economic and social development. The flag is a black equilateral triangle against the mast, superimposed on a horizontal background made up of three equal stripes of aquamarine, gold and aquamarine.


title: The Bahamas

text: The coat of arms of The Bahamas contains a shield with the national symbols as its focal point. The shield is supported by a marlin and a flamingo, which are the national animals of The Bahamas. The flamingo is located on the land, and the marlin on the sea, indicating the geography of the islands.


title: The Bahamas

text: On top of the shield is a conch shell, which represents the varied marine life of the island chain. The conch shell rests on a helmet. Below this is the actual shield, the main symbol of which is a ship representing the "Santa María" of Christopher Columbus, shown sailing beneath the sun. Along the bottom, below the shield appears a banner upon which is the national motto:


title: The Bahamas

text: The national flower of The Bahamas is the yellow elder, as it is endemic to the Bahama islands and it blooms throughout the year.


title: The Bahamas

text: Selection of the yellow elder over many other flowers was made through the combined popular vote of members of all four of New Providence's garden clubs of the 1970s—the Nassau Garden Club, the Carver Garden Club, the International Garden Club and the YWCA Garden Club. They reasoned that other flowers grown there—such as the bougainvillea, hibiscus and poinciana—had already been chosen as the national flowers of other countries. The yellow elder, on the other hand, was unclaimed by other countries (although it is now also the national flower of the United States Virgin Islands) and also the yellow elder is native to the family islands.


title: The Bahamas

text: Sport is a significant part of Bahamian culture. The national sport is cricket, which has been played in The Bahamas from 1846 and is the oldest sport played in the country today. The Bahamas Cricket Association was formed in 1936, and from the 1940s to the 1970s, cricket was played amongst many Bahamians. Bahamas is not a part of the West Indies Cricket Board, so players are not eligible to play for the West Indies cricket team. The late 1970s saw the game begin to decline in the country as teachers, who had previously come from the United Kingdom with a passion for cricket, were replaced by teachers who had been trained in the United States. The Bahamian physical education teachers had no knowledge of the game and instead taught track and field, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball and Association football where primary and high schools compete against each other. Today cricket is still enjoyed by a few locals and immigrants in the country, usually from Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Barbados. Cricket is played on Saturdays and Sundays at Windsor Park and Haynes Oval in Nassau, Bahamas. Whiles the main and only cricket grounds on Grand Bahama is the Lucaya Cricket Oval.


title: The Bahamas

text: The only other sporting event that began before cricket was horse racing, which started in 1796. The most popular spectator sports are those imported from the United States, such as basketball, American football, and baseball, rather than from the British Isles, due to the country's close proximity to the United States, unlike their other Caribbean counterparts, where cricket, soccer, and netball have proven to be more popular.


title: The Bahamas

text: Over the years American football has become much more popular than soccer. Leagues for teens and adults have been developed by the Bahamas American Football Federation. However soccer, as it is commonly known in the country, is still a very popular sport amongst high school pupils. Leagues are governed by the Bahamas Football Association. In 2013 the Bahamian government has been working closely with Tottenham Hotspur of London to promote the sport in the country as well as promoting The Bahamas in the European market. In 2013, 'Spurs' became the first Premier League club to play an exhibition match in The Bahamas, facing the Jamaica men's national team. Joe Lewis, the owner of the club, is based in The Bahamas.


title: The Bahamas

text: Other popular sports are swimming, tennis and boxing, where Bahamians have enjoyed some degree of success at the international level. Other sports such as golf, rugby league, rugby union, beach soccer, and netball are considered growing sports. Athletics, commonly known as 'track and field' in the country, is the most successful sport by far amongst Bahamians. Bahamians have a strong tradition in the sprints and jumps. Track and field is probably the most popular spectator sport in the country next to basketball due to their success over the years. Triathlons are gaining popularity in Nassau and the Family Islands.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahamas first participated at the Olympic Games in 1952, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except when they participated in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. The nation has never participated in any Winter Olympic Games. Bahamian athletes have won a total of sixteen medals, all in athletics and sailing. The Bahamas has won more Olympic medals than any other country with a population under one million.


title: The Bahamas

text: The Bahamas were hosts of the first men's senior FIFA tournament to be staged in the Caribbean, the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. The Bahamas also hosted the first 3 editions of the IAAF World Relays. The nation also hosted the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games, along with annual events Bahamas Bowl and Battle 4 Atlantis.


title: James Caan

text: James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in "The Godfather" (1972) – a performance which earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised his role in "The Godfather Part II" (1974). He received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978.