Culture

Bahamian culture is a hybrid of African and European influences. Though increasingly influenced by commercialisation (due to tourism) and American music and television, Bahamian culture retains much of its uniqueness.

Bahamian culture is related to other Creole cultures throughout the Caribbean Basin, but also to the Gullah culture in coastal South Carolina and Georgia in the United States. Many Gullah people were taken to the Bahamas after the American Revolutionary War.

Arts

Traditional crafts include straw work on most islands (each one having a unique plaiting or braiding style) creating beautiful hats and baskets from palm fronds. This skill was useful when Bahamians led subsistence lifestyles, with baskets being used for carrying fruit and fishing traps. Today strawwork, and wood carvings, are produced and sold to tourists in Nassau's Straw Market.

Quilting has also been practiced on the island of Spanish Wells for generations.

Film

The Bahamas has long been a coveted location for films due to its beautiful environment, and cheap taxation and duty laws.

Film makers have used the island chain since 1916, when a portion of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was shot there. More recent films include Flipper, My Father the Hero and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

To date there has been a notable lack of ethnically Bahamian films. However, thanks to the inception of the Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF), a new generation of filmmakers are telling stories of the Bahamas.

Music

Junkanoo music is indigenous to the Bahamas. It is associated primarily with Junkanoo, a type of street carnival which occurs on Boxing Day (December 26) and New Year's Day (January 1). The parades are characterised by spectacular costumes made of crepe paper and powerful rhythms beaten traditionally on goatskin drums (accompanied more recently with tom-tom drums or bongo drums) as well as rich Brassbands and shaking cowbells.

Aside from Junkanoo, other indigenous forms of music include rake and scrape, calypso, and a unique form of hymnal, known internationally through the music of the late Joseph Spence. Marching bands are also an important part of life, playing at funerals, weddings and other ceremonial events.

Bahamian music also incorporates other Caribbean forms such as Calypso, Trinidadian Soca and Jamaician Reggae, as well as American-inspired Rap and Hip-Hop. Calypso and Rake 'n' Scrape singers and bands such as Baha Men have gained massive popularity in Japan, the United States and elsewhere. While Bahamian music continues to be enjoyed by the Bahamian public, with singers such as Ronnie Butler, 'King' Eric Gibson, K.B, and the Brilanders.

Religion

A strongly religious country, there are more places of worship per person in the Bahamas than many other nations in the world. The islands are overwhelmingly Protestant Christian (over 80%). Baptists form the largest denomination (about one third), followed by the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.

A few people, especially in the southern and eastern islands, practice Obeah, a spiritualistic religion similar to Voodoo. While well-known throughout the Bahamas, Obeah is shunned by many people. Voodoo is practiced by the large number of immigrants from Haiti, Cuba and Dominican Republic.

Sport

Officially, the national sport of the Bahamas is cricket. Although other British sports such as football and rugby have some following, American sports including basketball, softball, baseball and American football are more popular. In addition, track and field is very popular in the Bahamas.

Bahamians have won Olympic gold medals in sailing (Sir Durwood Knowles and Cecile Cooke - 1964), and track and field (Tonique Williams-Darling - 400m (2004) and women's relay team - 4 x 100 (2000)).