Bahamians

the inhabitants of the Bahama Islands in the Caribbean Sea, totaling 144,000 persons (1967 estimate); 85 percent are Negroes and mulattoes. Their ancestors, belonging to various tribes of Africa, were brought from there by the English colonizers in the 17th through early 19th centuries. The remaining population includes the English, mainly descendants of the settlers of the 17th—18th centuries, and Greeks, who immigrated in connection with the burgeoning sponge-gathering industry on the islands. The spoken language is English. The prevailing religions are Anglican, Baptist, and Catholic. The Greeks are Orthodox.