Nassau (Bahamas)

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Nassau
Nassau (Bahamas)
Nassau
Nassau
Coordinates 25 ° 4 ′  N , 77 ° 20 ′  W Coordinates: 25 ° 4 ′  N , 77 ° 20 ′  W
Symbols
coat of arms
coat of arms
Basic data
Country Bahamas

island

New Providence
ISO 3166-2 BS-NP
height 10 m
surface 207 km²
Residents 248,948 (2010)
density 1,202.6  Ew. / km²
founding 1656
Map of New Providence, with the individual districts of Nassau in the east of the island
Map of New Providence, with the individual districts of Nassau in the east of the island
Nassau on the map of 1788

Nassau [ ˈnasa͜u ] is the capital of the Caribbean island state of Bahamas . With 248,948 inhabitants (2010 census) it is also the largest city in the island state. It is located on the island of New Providence and forms the transport, banking and commercial center of the country. The Nassau Airport is the main international airport in the Bahamas. The city is named after the Nassauer family .

history

Nassau was founded in 1656 by British settlers and was initially named Charlestown after King Charles II. At the same time, pirates increasingly used the settlement and the surrounding islands as hiding places, so that the city was destroyed in 1684 by a Spanish-French fleet. It was rebuilt in 1687 and was named Nassau in 1689 in honor of Wilhelm III. of Orange-Nassau , governor of the Netherlands , also King of England, Scotland and Ireland. The pirate problem quickly regained importance, so that the Spanish army destroyed the colony a second time in 1695 .

Since the pirates rebuilt Nassau in 1697, the pirate problem could still not be considered resolved. To finally put a stop to the raids, a Spanish-French fleet destroyed the colony one last time in 1703, again without lasting success. The pirates rebuilt the colony and controlled the Bahamas from there from 1706. This culminated in the widespread designation of Blackbeards as the magistrate of the Pirate Republic in 1716 .

In order to master the problem, the former pirate Woodes Rogers was appointed the first crown governor of the Bahamas in 1717 and was given the task of driving out the pirates for good, which he succeeded in 1718. The first parliamentary government was formed in 1728 and was based in Nassau. In the years to come, the city profited from the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1742) and the Seven Years War (1756–1763) by becoming a major hub for contraband.

During the American War of Independence , Nassau was occupied by American invasion troops for about two weeks in 1776 . Nassau also traded in contraband during the war with the United States . After the end of the American War of Independence, thousands of US royalists and their slaves poured into Nassau and the rest of the Bahamas. As recently as 1820 - the place had 10,000 inhabitants at the time, most of the island - a traveler called it a “robbers' nest, rightly called the 'little hell'”: The place lived primarily from rescuing stranded seamen and cargo, but this was mostly illegal Raids, robbery, hostage-taking and the like resulted.

When slavery was banned in 1838 , the economic system of the Bahamas collapsed because it was too oriented towards the plantation economy . During the American Civil War (1861-1865) Nassau served as a base for the Confederate States , which increased prosperity again.

In 1892 the first telegraph line was laid between Florida and Nassau. During Prohibition in the United States (1919–1933) Nassau experienced an economic boom, as it was again able to trade in contraband, alcohol .

Cruise ships in Nassau, 2010

Nassau was already considered a worthwhile destination for American tourists at the beginning of the 20th century , but the boom in tourism did not begin until the 1950s, when high society discovered the holiday paradise. The construction of countless hotel complexes began, which has never ended to this day. Due to a permissive tax policy , countless financial companies settled in Nassau by the beginning of the 21st century , which is still considered a tax haven today, even if a legislative package to improve financial supervision was passed in the Bahamas in 2000. Nassau is the home port of many cruise ships for the same reason .

City structure

The city of Nassau includes New Providence Island as well as some barrier islands, especially off the north and northeast coasts, including Paradise Island . The historic city center is in the northeast across from Paradise Island.

The urban area is divided into 25 supervisory districts .

The constituencies are delimited somewhat differently.

Attractions

Atlantis Paradise Island Casino & Resort, one of the largest hotel complexes in the world
port

The sights of Nassau with its colonial charm include the parliament, court and government building (1801) as well as the city's pirate museum, where you can find out a lot about celebrities from the buccaneer's era such as B. Blackbeard (Edward Thatch), Charles Vane and Jack Rackham learns.

Junkanoo cultural festival

Every year on Boxing Day , Boxing Day , and New Year's Day, the Junkanoo Culture Festival takes place. The origin of the name is not known, but there have been a number of attempts to explain it. One assumes that this is a derivative of "John Canoe". John Canoe was an African tribal leader who was brought to the Bahamas as a slave and who enforced the right to continue celebrating with his compatriots in the traditional way. Today you can admire elaborate costumes and traditional drum music at the well-organized festival.

The Bahamas Historical Society Museum

The museum shows the history of the Bahamas from before the discovery of Christopher Columbus to the present day. Numerous Lucayan - Taíno - Arawak artefacts can be admired here.

The Heritage Museum of The Bahamas

The museum, which opened in August 2014, presents an extensive collection of exhibits from many epochs of Bahamian history. The heart of the museum is a piece of a prehistoric meteorite that once struck the islands. Other rooms house finds from the sea, furniture, documents and historical clothing from different epochs of history such as the pirate era or slavery.

Fort Fincastle

The Fort Fincastle was from , Earl of Dunmore John Murray 4. built around 1793 on the hill Bennet, from where dominates Nassau from them. It was named after the Lord's second title, Viscount Fincastle . She was armed with two 24-pounders, two Carronades 32-pounders, two 12-pounders, and a howitzer .

Fort Charlotte

Fort Charlotte is the largest and most interesting of the three forts in Nassau. It was built by Lord Dunmore between 1787 and 1789 and is named in honor of King George III's wife . , Sophie Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz . This fortress never fired a shot in combat and has a waterless moat, drawbridge, ramparts and dungeons. From the fortress you have a good view of the port of Nassau.

Fort Montagu

This fortress was completed in late July 1742 and was armed with eight 18-pounders, three 9-pounders, and six 6-pounders. Inside the fortress is a terraced cistern that holds 30 tons of water and is built to hold any rain that falls inside the fortress and drain away the excess water. Fort Montagu is also equipped with officers and soldiers' barracks, a guard room and a bomb-proof powder magazine with space for 95 barrels.

Pompey Museum

Beaches in Nassau
Government building

The building was built before 1796 and named after a slave who lived in Steventon on Exuma Island . Until the late 19th century, today's two-story museum functioned as a marketplace. Slaves were among the goods sold at the time. The permanent exhibition is dedicated to the experiences of African slaves in the Bahamas. The exhibits include items from earlier plantations as well as objects of African origin.

Queen's staircase

The most visited attraction in Nassau is the 65-step, recently renovated Queen's Staircase. It was created between 1793 and 1794 by slaves who carved it in solid limestone . It is said that the slaves were forced to work the stones with axes and other sharp hand tools. The stairs are 31 meters high. In addition to its impressive character, the staircase also has a second purpose, it enables a shorter route to and from the Bennet hill. Next to the stairs is the only waterfall in the Bahamas. This was created artificially. In pictures he can usually be seen without water.

The straw market

After the sponge industry collapsed in the 1940s, many women looked for a new source of income. They began to weave baskets, bags and dolls from dried palm and sisal leaves . Soon many were also making straw souvenirs, which were in demand with holidaymakers. After the Second World War , more and more Americans were vacationing in the Bahamas, and so did the popularity of straw souvenirs. Straw selling is one of the oldest industries in the country and still has organized markets in Nassau, Cable Beach, Paradise Island, and other nearby islands.

The monastery

In the 1920s, a monastery built in France in the 14th century was imported brick by brick into the USA by the newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst . In the 1960s, Huntington Hartford bought the monastery and built it on top of a hill on Paradise Island as the French Cloisters , overlooking Nassau Harbor.

Nassau as the home port

Due to the liberal tax policy, the Bahamas are popular as a flag of convenience, so Nassau is home port u. a. the following cruise ships :

climate

Temperatures in Nassau are relatively stable all year round. Most of the precipitation falls in the months of June to October. The main travel season is accordingly from the end of November to the beginning of May. At this time there is no risk of hurricanes. These can mainly occur between July and October. The water temperature of the sea around Nassau is a pleasant 24 ° C even in winter.

Nassau
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.
 
 
47
 
25th
17th
 
 
40
 
25th
17th
 
 
40
 
27
18th
 
 
54
 
28
19th
 
 
116
 
29
21st
 
 
233
 
31
23
 
 
158
 
32
24
 
 
216
 
32
24
 
 
171
 
31
24
 
 
176
 
30th
22nd
 
 
57
 
28
20th
 
 
52
 
26th
18th
Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm
Source: wetterkontor.de
Monthly average temperatures and rainfall for Nassau
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 25.2 25.3 26.5 27.7 29.2 30.7 31.7 31.8 31.3 29.7 27.7 25.9 O 28.6
Min. Temperature (° C) 16.7 16.9 17.7 19.0 21.0 22.9 23.7 23.8 23.6 22.2 20.0 17.7 O 20.4
Precipitation ( mm ) 47 40 40 54 116 233 158 216 171 176 57 52 Σ 1,360
Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 7.1 7.6 8.3 9.2 8.7 7.7 8.8 8.6 7.1 7.2 7.4 6.9 O 7.9
Water temperature (° C) 24 24 24 25th 26th 28 29 29 29 28 26th 25th O 26.4
Humidity ( % ) 78 78 76 74 77 79 77 79 81 80 78 78 O 77.9
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
25.2
16.7
25.3
16.9
26.5
17.7
27.7
19.0
29.2
21.0
30.7
22.9
31.7
23.7
31.8
23.8
31.3
23.6
29.7
22.2
27.7
20.0
25.9
17.7
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
N
i
e
d
e
r
s
c
h
l
a
g 		47
40
40
54
116
233
158
216
171
176
57
52
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Source: wetterkontor.de

sons and daughters of the town

Web links

Commons : Nassau  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Nassau, Bahamas  - Travel Guide

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Letter from an AE Perez to the Austrian Chancellor Metternich 1820 (on the Caribbean). Reproduced in Rudolf Agstner : "... which would be a convenable colony for Austria ..." - Kk consulates in the Caribbean or Puerto Rico as an kk colony? In: ders .: From emperors, consuls and merchants: The k. (U.) K. Consulates in Arabia, Latin America, Latvia, London and Serbia , Volume 2 (= Volume 7 of Research on the History of the Austrian Foreign Service ), LIT Verlag Münster, 2012, ISBN 978-3-643-50459-3 , in particular p. 96 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  2. ↑ New Providence: 2010 Census of Population and Housing, Table 2.0 TOTAL POPULATION BY SEX, ISLAND AND NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS
  3. ↑ Map with structure according to supervisory districts (p. 14)
  4. ^ Map of the constituencies