The Bahamas became independent from the UK in 1973, although the Queen remains Head of State. Beginning 50 miles off Florida, in the Caribbean, the Bahamas has 700 islands and a population of 342,000 with Nassau as its capital. Bahamas is well connected through a number of international airports and sea ports.
The Bahamas was known as a trust and tourist jurisdiction in the 20th century. Lately it has developed into a financial centre. Though the economy is heavily dependent on tourism with 4m visitors a year, its financial services are steadfastly increasing. The GDP of Bahamas was USD8.3bn in 2007, and GDP per head was about USD 25,000 in 2007.