The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and 88% of its population. The archipelagic country consists of more than 3,000 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 U.S. 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 language-speaking Taino people, who arrived between about 500 and 800 AD from other islands of the Caribbean.
This article talks about transportation in the Bahamas, a North American archipelagic state in the Atlantic Ocean.
Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling, KCMG, PC, NH, JP was a Bahamian politician who is regarded by some as the "Father of the Nation", having led the Bahamas to majority rule and independence.
Local government in the Bahamas exists at two levels: 32 districts and 41 towns. The boundaries of districts are defined by the First Schedule of The Bahamas Local Government Act 1996, defined with reference to parliamentary constituency boundaries. The Second Schedule lists 13 districts which are divided into town areas. Towns are governed by directly elected town committees. Second Schedule districts are governed by nine-person district councils composed of the chairs of the town committees, and if numerically required, additional people elected by the town committees. The 19 Third Schedule districts are unitary authorities which cannot be divided into towns. They are governed by nine-person district councils which are directly elected by voters. The powers of Second Schedule and Third Schedule councils are slightly different, and the Third Schedule district known as the City of Freeport has a slightly different list of enumerated powers.
Sir Milo Boughton Butler was a Bahamian politician who served as the second governor-general of the Bahamas from 1973 to 1979. He died in office, aged 72.
Mayaguana is the easternmost island and district of The Bahamas. Its population was 277 in the 2010 census. It has an area of about 280 km2 (110 sq mi).
Ragged Island is a 23 km2 (8.9 sq mi) island and district in the southern Bahamas. Ragged Island is part of the Jumentos Cays and Ragged Island Chain. The crescent-shaped chain measures over 180 km (110 mi) in length and includes cays known as Raccoon Cay, Hog Cay and Double-Breasted Cay. Island ownership is stated to have been granted to William George Lockhart some time in the 18th century. On 8 September 2017, Duncan Town took a direct hit from Hurricane Irma.
Acklins is an island and district of the Bahamas.
Crooked Island is an island and district, part of a group of Bahamian islands defining a large, shallow lagoon called the Bight of Acklins, of which the largest are Crooked Island in the north and Acklins in the south-east, and the smaller are Long Cay in the north-west, and Castle Island in the south.
Elections in the Bahamas take place in the framework of a parliamentary democracy. Since independence, voter turnout has been generally high in national elections, with a low of 87.9% in 1987 and a high of 98.5% in 1997. The current Prime Minister is The Hon. Philip Davis. The electorate is less than half of citizenry.
Long Cay is an 8-square-mile island in the Bahamas in an atoll that includes Acklins Island and Crooked Island. Since 1999, it has also been one of the Third Schedule districts of The Bahamas. As of 2010, its population was 29. Coordinates = 2235 North and 7422 West.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to The Bahamas:
The Bahamas National Trust is a non-profit organisation in the Bahamas that manages the country's 32 national parks. Its headquarters is located in New Providence in the Bay Street Business Centre, East Bay Street. Its office was formally located at The Retreat Gardens on Village Road. The Bahamas National Trust was created by an Act of Parliament in 1959, through the efforts of two groups of conservationists.
The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
Inagua National Park is a national park on the island of Great Inagua in The Bahamas. It was established in 1965 and has an area of 220,000 acres (890 km2).
Polistes bahamensis is a large species of colourful paper wasp in the genus Polistes of the family Vespidae which occurs in the Bahamas, Florida and Louisiana. It is also said to occur in Georgia.
The Bahama Archipelago, also known as the Lucayan Archipelago, is an archipelago 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.
Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins and Long Cay, abbreviated as MICAL, is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Assembly of the Bahamas.
Vernon Symonette was a Bahamian politician and former Speaker of the House of Assembly.
