The Bahamas, known officially as the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is a country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archipelago's population. The archipelagic state consists of more than 700 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, and is located north of Cuba and northwest of the island of Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands, southeast of the US state of Florida, and east of the Florida Keys. The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force describes The Bahamas' territory as encompassing 470,000 km2 (180,000 sq mi) of ocean space.
The earliest arrival of people in the islands now known as The Bahamas was in the first millennium AD. The first inhabitants of the islands were the Lucayans, an Arawakan-speaking Taino people, who arrived between about 500 and 800 AD from other islands of the Caribbean.
The Lucayanpeople were the original residents of the Bahamas before the European conquest of the Americas. They were a branch of the Tainos who inhabited most of the Caribbean islands at the time. The Lucayans were the first indigenous Americans encountered by Christopher Columbus. Shortly after contact, the Spanish kidnapped and enslaved Lucayans, with the genocide culminating in complete eradication of Lucayan people from the Bahamas by 1520.
Andros Island is an archipelago within the Bahamas, the largest of the Bahamian Islands. Politically considered a single island, Andros in total has an area greater than all the other 700 Bahamian islands combined. The land area of Andros consists of hundreds of small islets and cays connected by mangrove estuaries and tidal swamplands, together with three major islands: North Andros, Mangrove Cay, and South Andros. The three main islands are separated by "bights", estuaries that trifurcate the island, connecting the island's east and west coasts. It is 167 kilometres (104 mi) long by 64 km (40 mi) wide at the widest point.
Eleuthera refers both to a single island in the archipelagic state of The Commonwealth of the Bahamas and to its associated group of smaller islands. Eleuthera forms a part of the Great Bahama Bank. The island of Eleuthera incorporates the smaller Harbour Island. "Eleuthera" derives from the feminine form of the Greek adjective ἐλεύθερος (eleútheros), meaning "free". Known in the 17th century as Cigateo, it lies 80 km east of Nassau. It is long and thin—180 km long and in places little more than 1.6 km wide. Its eastern side faces the Atlantic Ocean, and its western side faces the Great Bahama Bank. The topography of the island varies from wide rolling pink sand beaches to large outcrops of ancient coral reefs, and its population is approximately 11,000. The principal economy of the island is tourism.
Cat Island is located in central Bahamas, and is one of its districts. Cat Island also has the nation's highest point, Mount Alvernia. It rises to 206 feet (63 m) and is topped by a monastery called The Hermitage. This assembly of buildings was erected by the Franciscan "Brother Jerome".
The Eleutheran Adventurers were a group of English Puritans and religious Independents who left Bermuda to settle on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas in the late 1640s. The small group of Puritan settlers, led by a man named William Sayle, were expelled from Bermuda for their failure to swear allegiance to the Crown, and left in search of a place in which they could freely practice their faith. This group represented the first concerted European effort to colonize the Bahamas.
South Andros is a district of the nation of the Bahamas.
Harbour Island is an island and administrative district in the Bahamas and is located off the northeast coast of Eleuthera Island. It has a population of 1,762.
North Eleuthera is one of the districts of the Bahamas, on the island of Eleuthera. It has a population of 3,247.
Spanish Wells is one of the districts of the Bahamas.
Dunmore Town is a town in the Bahamas. It has a population of 1,762.
The Bluff is a settlement on North Eleuthera, Bahamas.
The effects of Hurricane Andrew in the Bahamas included three direct fatalities and $250 million (1992 USD) in damage. Forming from a tropical wave on August 16, Andrew remained weak until rapidly intensifying on August 22, and late on August 23 it made its first landfall in The Bahamas on Eleuthera as a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 260 km/h (160 mph); early the next day Hurricane Andrew passed through the southern Berry Islands with winds of 240 km/h (150 mph). The hurricane later made a devastating landfall in southern Florida, and after striking southern Louisiana it dissipated over the eastern United States. Andrew was the first major hurricane to affect the nation since Hurricane Betsy in 1965. It caused $250 million in damage, with damage heaviest on Eleuthera and Cat Cay. Four deaths occurred due to the storm, of which one was indirectly related to the hurricane.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to The Bahamas:
The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
The 1933 Treasure Coast hurricane was the second-most intense tropical cyclone to strike the United States during the active 1933 Atlantic hurricane season. The eleventh tropical storm, fifth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the season, it formed east-northeast of the Leeward Islands on August 31. The tropical storm moved rapidly west-northwestward, steadily intensifying to a hurricane. It acquired peak winds of 140 miles per hour (225 km/h) and passed over portions of the Bahamas on September 3, including Eleuthera and Harbour Island, causing severe damage to crops, buildings, and infrastructure. Winds over 100 mph (161 km/h) affected many islands in its path, especially those that encountered its center, and many wharves were ruined.
Man Island is a small, undeveloped island located near Eleuthera in the Bahamas Islands. Man Island is located in a group of islands that form a natural harbor and the largest island in this chain is Harbour Island. Man Island is situated between Harbour Island and the island of Spanish Wells.
Current Island is an island in the Bahamas, located in the district of North Eleuthera. The island had a population of 38 at the 2010 census. The island is separated from the island of North Eleuthera by a channel known as the Current Cut, which is a site used for diving.
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