The Bahamas let the good times keep rolling. (Diaspora).

The Islands of the Bahamas celebrate 30 years of independence on 10th July. The 700 islands that make up the country have had its shady characters of yesteryear (Christopher Columbus and the lot), but if three decades of independence can produce athletes of such quality as Debbie Ferguson, that's good enough. "Let's drink to the next 30 years", writes Clayton Goodwin.

Christopher Columbus, "Black-beard" (Edward Teach, the Pirate), the Duke of Windsor, James Bond, Sidney Poitier, Yama Bahama...The Islands of Bahamas, which celebrate their 30th anniversary of independence in July, have certainly had a colourful and varied history.

Yet this Commonwealth of over 700 islands and 2,500 cays is about as tranquil a place as can be found on earth. There are no reports of the political and social tension which affects other countries in the region ... Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti or almost anywhere else in what was once the Spanish Main where privateers and pirates marauded unhindered. The Bahamas hardly disturb the international headlines. Can you name a well-known Bahamian? Well--any Bahamian? Apart, that is, from their outstanding athletes who dominated the Manchester Commonwealth Games.

Even so, the placid present is not all that different from the turbulent past. The Bahamas are noted now as a haven for tourism, such would tempt a new Columbus to leave his home and sail the seas to view the excellent coral reefs and wildlife; as a centre of off-shore banking as to induce a contemporary "Black-beard" to open an account rather than trust to a buried chest in the sand; for the casino-gambling of which James Bond, himself, would approve; and, in spire of its proximity and association with the USA, for its British constitutional ties, including the regular changing of the guard at Government House, as would befit a former King of England.

The name "Bahamas" comes from the Spanish "bajar mar" (meaning "shallow seas"). Columbus landed on the Guanahani island, now San Salvador, on 12 October 1492. As we have all been told, he "discovered" the New World--not that the Lucayans could understand that. They had been on the islands for some time--a thousand years or so--and were part of the Arawak peoples who lived throughout the region.

These gentle folk, caught between the acquisitive Europeans and the rather fearsome Caribs, did not have much of a chance of surviving the diseases, transportation for hard labour in the mines and slavery which "civilisation" brought to them, and they died out within little more than a generation.

By the mid-l7th century, the Bahamas had been settled by English puritans and Bermudian religious refugees on the island of Eleuthera, and, conversely if not quite in contradiction, played host to some of the most rapacious pirates. King George I must have appreciated the irony when in 1718 he appointed Captain Woodes Rogers, a former pirate, as the first Royal Governor of The Bahamas.

True to the tradition of the poacher turned game-keeper, the Governor cracked down on his former profession with an almost religious fervour--so much so that the national motto is "Pirates Expelled--Commerce Restored".

The population was swelled by the many African slaves brought into the islands to replace the Lucayans and by British and British-sympathisers who left the USA on the latter's attainment of independence. Later privateers, such as the Confederate blockade-runners in the American Civil War and rum-runners from Prohibition contributed to the country's dubious, yet romantic, development.

By 1964, however, the Bahamas, which had already enjoyed some two centuries of democracy, acquired self-government and nine years later achieved full independence under Prime Minister (later Sir) Lynden O. Pindling who retained office until 1992 when his Progressive Liberal Parry (PLP) lost power to the Free National Movement led by Hubert Ingraham.

During Ingraham's administration, the Bahamas were opened to further foreign industry and investment. The PLP returned to power under Perry Christie, the present prime minister, in May 2002.

The 30th anniversary of independence will be celebrated with church services throughout the islands and with yachting, regattas, sports events and cultural activities.

The Bahamas pride themselves on their cosmopolitan nature as a meeting-place for peoples and cultures, set in what is described as a "tropical paradise". That is certainly true of the natural advantages of its climate and silver white beaches. In 1998, the Caribbean Travel Organisation recognised the Bahamas as "the most popular destination among all the Caribbean islands". In spite of the proliferation of islands, of which Andros is the largest, over half of the population (some 8085% of which are of African heritage) live in Nassau, the capital, which is situated on New Providence. Consequently a greater percentage of the land--and sea--mass is uninhabited and more in tune with nature.

Eco-tourism is a growing sector of the industry. Bimi is reported to be the big game fishing capital of the world. Swimming with dolphins and feeding sharks are popular activities. Tourism--which depends substantially on those arriving from the USA--accounts for some 60% of the GDP and has led to a boom in the construction of hotels, resorts and residential property. Many visitors are attracted to establishments such as the Atlantis-Paradise Island resort and casino which was opened in 1995 as "the world's largest outdoor aquarium", as to the beaches.

Tourism, too, brings its problems of the jet-age and Aids is a cause of concern here as it is at other resorts in the region. The Lucayans could tell their successors a thing or two about diseases brought by outsiders.

Because of its proximity to North America, the islands are a major transit point for illegal drugs and the smuggling of immigrants. There is an influx of unskilled refugees from Haiti. Nevertheless, the net financial profit from tourism may not be as great as it appears to be at first sight--it is estimated that about $0.80 from every tourist dollar goes towards importing foodstuffs for the tourist sector.

The stable Bahamian economy is one of the most prosperous in the Caribbean and is sympathetic to international banking, oil trans-shipment, shipping registration, business incentives, and investment management.

The statistics are all very well and it is encouraging to read such optimistic reports--though I remain to be convinced that the majority of the population can be truly fulfilled, rather than merely content, to service the tourism trade--but it is the characters we met in the opening paragraph who capture the imagination. And a rather shady lot they appear to be--thank goodness. "Black beard" had a penchant for sticking lighted candies in his hair and firing pistols under the table (and into the legs of his companions) while playing cards.

The Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII, was sent there at the height of the Second World War to get him "out of the way" because, it is alleged, the British government could not be sure of his sympathies.

The unsolved murder of Sir Harry Oakes, one of the richest men in the then British Empire, was a celebrated real-life "who-done it" which occurred during his governorship.

Spy/adventurer James Bond would have felt at home in the islands, where many scenes of the films were shot. Bimini-born Yama Bahama (real name "William Butler Jnr"), by the way, was a more than competent welterweight/middleweight boxer of the late-1950s. At least he was born in the Bahamas.

Even actor Sidney Poitier, the best-known Bahamian who came from Cat Island, can not claim that: he happened to be born in Miami which his parents were visiting and he left the islands when he was 15 years old.

Even so his achievement in breaking new ground for black actors in Hollywood has brought more credit than if he had stayed at home waiting on tables, casting a fishing-line or shuffling playing-cards. In 1998 Sidney was appointed ambassador for the Bahamas in Japan.

Millions of people who have never been a tourist, never gambled a button or had a bank account, nor seen a "royal" or spied a spy, have heard about the Bahamas solely because of the exploits of their track and field athletes.

Debbie Ferguson, 27 years old, achieved the sprint double in the Manchester Commonwealth Games last summer, and with her compatriots Chandra Sturrup and Sevatheda Fynes have been leading lights of short-distance running in competitions of the highest standard throughout the world.

This year Debbie could have the world literally at her feet as her "nemesis", mother-to-be Marion Jones of the USA, will be missing. Avard Moncur, the 400 metres world champion, is similarly prominear in the men's events.

You can keep the gambling, snorkeling, off-shore accounts, and the movies ... If three decades of independence can produce athletics of such quality, that's good enough for me. Let us drink to the next 30 years.