The Bahamas

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For the Canadian singer-guitarist, see Bahamas (musician).

Commonwealth of The Bahamas
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Forward, Upward, Onward, Together"
Anthem: "March On, Bahamaland" Royal anthem: "God Save the Queen"
Capital (and largest city)		Nassau 25°4′N 77°20′W / 25.067°N 77.333°W / 25.067; -77.333
Official language(s)		English
Recognised regional languages		Bahamian Creole
Ethnic groups		85% Africans, 12% Europeans, 3% Asians
Demonym		Bahamian
Government		Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy
-	Monarch	Queen Elizabeth II
-	Governor-General	Sir Arthur Foulkes
-	Prime Minister	Hubert Ingraham
Legislature		Parliament
-	Upper House	Senate
-	Lower House	House of Assembly
Independence		from the United Kingdom
-	Self-governing	1865
-	Full independence	July 10, 1973[1]
Area
-	Total	13,878 km2 (160th) 5,358 sq mi
-	Water (%)	28%
Population
-	2009 estimate	330,000[2] (177th)
-	1990 census	254,685
-	Density	23.27/km2 (181st) 60/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2009 estimate
-	Total	$8.793 billion[3]
-	Per capita	$25,807[3]
GDP (nominal)		2010 estimate
-	Total	$7.538 billion[3]
-	Per capita	$22,650[3]
HDI (2010)		0.784[4] (high) (43rd)
Currency		Bahamian dollar (BSD)
Time zone		EST (UTC−5)
-	Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)
Drives on the		left
Internet TLD		.bs
Calling code		+1-242

The Bahamas (pronounced /ðə bəˈhɑːməz/ ( listen)), officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a country consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets (rocks). It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States (nearest to the state of Florida). Its total land area is 13,939 km² (5,382 sq mi), with an estimated population of 330,000. Its capital is Nassau. Geographically, the Bahamas lie in the same island chain as Cuba, Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands; the designation of Bahamas refers normally to the commonwealth and not the geographic chain.
Originally inhabited by the Lucayans, a branch of the Arawakan-speaking Taino people, The Bahamas were the site of Columbus' first landfall in the New World in 1492. Although the Spanish never colonized The Bahamas, they shipped the native Lucayans to slavery in Hispaniola. The islands were mostly deserted from 1513 to 1648, when British colonists from Bermuda settled on the island of Eleuthera.
The Bahamas became a Crown Colony in 1718 when the British clamped down on piracy. Following the American War of Independence, thousands of pro-British loyalists and enslaved Africans moved to The Bahamas and set up a plantation economy. The slave trade was abolished in the British Empire in 1807 and many Africans liberated from slave ships by the Royal Navy were settled in The Bahamas during the 19th century. Slavery itself was abolished in 1834 and the descendants of enslaved and liberated Africans form the bulk of The Bahamas's population today.