The Bahamas, officialy 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 3000 [2] 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 American 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.
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as the means by which a mayor is elected or otherwise mandated. Depending on the system chosen, a mayor may be the chief executive officer of the municipal government, may simply chair a multi-member governing body with little or no independent power, or may play a solely ceremonial role. A mayor's duties and responsibilities may be to appoint and oversee municipal managers and employees, provide basic governmental services to constituents, and execute the laws and ordinances passed by a municipal governing body. Options for selection of a mayor include direct election by the public, or selection by an elected governing council or board.
A councillor is a member of a local government council in some countries.
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council member elected by voters.
Local government in the Bahamas exists in two forms, namely second-schedule and third-schedule district councils. There are a total of 32 local government districts: 13 second-schedule districts, which are further sub-divided into town areas, and 19 third-schedule districts, which are all unitary authorities. The second and third schedules together make up the first schedule. Local government policy is formulated and administered by the Department of Lands and Local Government through the Office of the Prime Minister. The day-to-day policy handling of the portfolio falls to the Minister of Local Government who also is empowered to create new local government areas from time to time based on demographics. The administrative and financial management is overseen by the ministry's permanent secretary.
Hubert Alexander Ingraham is a Bahamian politician who was Prime Minister of the Bahamas from August 1992 to May 2002 and again from May 2007 to May 2012. He is a member of the Free National Movement Party (FNM). Prior to the 2012 election, he was the FNM's Party Leader and was the Member of Parliament for the North Abaco constituency. He served as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly from 2005 to 2007.
The Abaco Islands lie in the northern Bahamas. The main islands are Great Abaco and Little Abaco. There are several smaller barrier cays, of which the northernmost are Walker's Cay and its sister island Grand Cay. To the south, the next inhabited islands are Spanish Cay and Green Turtle Cay, with its settlement of New Plymouth, Great Guana Cay, private Scotland Cay, Man-O-War Cay, and Elbow Cay, with its settlement of Hope Town. Southernmost are Tilloo Cay and Lubbers Quarters. Another of note off Abaco's western shore is Gorda Cay, now a Disney-owned island and a cruise ship stop renamed Castaway Cay. Also in the vicinity is Moore's Island. On the Big Island of Abaco is Marsh Harbour, the Abacos' commercial hub and the Bahamas' third largest city, plus the resort area of Treasure Cay. Both have airports. A few mainland settlements of significance are Coopers Town and Fox Town in the north and Cherokee and Sandy Point in the south. Administratively, the Abaco Islands constitute seven of the 31 Local Government Districts of the Bahamas: Grand Cay, North Abaco, Green Turtle Cay, Central Abaco, South Abaco, Moore's Island, and Hope Town.
Exuma is a district of The Bahamas, consisting of over 365 islands, also called cays.
Elbow Cay is an eight-mile-long (13-kilometre) cay in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas. Originally populated by British loyalists fleeing the newly independent United States of America in 1785, it has survived on fishing, boat building, and salvage. Its main village of Hope Town surrounds a protected harbor with a noted red-and-white-striped one-hundred-and-twenty-foot-tall (37-metre) lighthouse built in 1863. On September 1, 2019, Elbow Cay took a direct hit from Category 5 Hurricane Dorian, with sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h). The lighthouse survived.
Derry City Council was the local government authority for the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. It merged with Strabane District Council in April 2015 under local government reorganisation to become Derry and Strabane District Council.
The City of Marion is a local government area in part of the southern and western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. The council offices are in the suburb of Sturt.
Man-O-War Cay is a small island in the Abaco region of the Bahamas. It had a population of 215 at the 2010 census.
Hope Town is one of the districts of the Bahamas, on the Abaco islands as well as a small village on Elbow Cay, located in Abaco. The area had a population of 458 in 2010.
The City of Albury is a local government area in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The area covers 305.9 square kilometres (118.1 sq mi) to the north of the Murray River. The area extends around 10 to 12 kilometres east and west along the river from the centre of Albury and up to 20 kilometres (12 mi) north. The population of the City of Albury area was 53,767 in June 2018.
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 Sea of Abaco, located in The Bahamas, is an approximately 100 kilometres long saltwater lagoon separating Great Abaco Island from a chain of barrier islands known as the Abaco Cays. Depths in the Sea of Abaco are generally a few metres, and shallow reefs and shoals can pose a serious hazard to navigation. Despite these hazards, the sea is popular with boaters and is sometimes referred to as a ‘marine highway’, offering a sheltered passage through the Abaco Islands. The majority of the largest settlements and towns in the Abaco Islands are located along the shores of the sea.
Boat building on Man-O-War Cay in Bahamas dates back to the 1880s. During the middle of the last century, numerous boat yards lined the harbor.
The Bahama Archipelago, also known as the Lucayan Archipelago, is an island group comprising the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The archipelago is in the western North Atlantic Ocean, north of Cuba along with the other Antilles, and east and southeast of Florida. The archipelago has experienced the effects of at least 22 Atlantic hurricanes, or storms that were once tropical or subtropical cyclones, including 17 since 2000. The storms collectively killed 101 people.
