The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and 88% of its population. The archipelagic state 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 Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King-in-Council, the Privy Council formerly acted as the court of last resort for the entire British Empire, other than for the United Kingdom itself.
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts. The Supreme Court is bijural, hearing cases from two major legal traditions and bilingual, hearing cases in both official languages of Canada.
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.
The Right Honourable is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is predominantly used today as a style associated with the holding of certain senior public offices in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and, to a lesser extent, Australia.
New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. On the eastern side of the island is the national capital city of Nassau; it had a population of 246,329 at the 2010 Census; the latest estimate (2016) is 274,400.
The honorific prefix "The Most Honourable" is a form of address that is used in several countries. In the United Kingdom, it precedes the name of a marquess or marchioness.
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.
Sir Orville Alton Turnquest is a Bahamian politician who was the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Bahamas from 1992 to 1994, and the sixth governor-general of the Bahamas from 3 January 1995 until his retirement on 13 November 2001.
The Parliament of The Bahamas is the bicameral national parliament of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The parliament is formally made up of the sovereign, an appointed Senate, and an elected House of Assembly. It currently sits at the Bahamian Parliament Building in Nassau, the national capital.
Sir Anand Satyanand, is a former lawyer, judge and ombudsman who served as the 19th Governor-General of New Zealand from 2006 to 2011.
The Barbados National Honours and Decorations system is similar to that of the United Kingdom. Likewise, it consists of three types of award – honours, decorations and medals. Appointments are made on a yearly basis on Independence Day by the president of Barbados.
The monarchy of The Bahamas is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The current Bahamian monarch and head of state since 8 September 2022, is King Charles III. As sovereign, he is the personal embodiment of the Bahamian Crown. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled King of The Bahamas and, in this capacity, he and other members of the royal family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of the Bahamian state. However, the King is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the Bahamas government ministry which oversees the foreign relations of Bahamas. The Current foreign affairs minister is the Honourable Darren Henfield, MP for North Abaco.
Hubert Alexander Minnis, ON is a Bahamian politician and doctor who served as prime minister of the Bahamas from May 2017 to 16 September 2021. Minnis is the leader of the Free National Movement, the former governing party, and the Member of Parliament for the New Providence constituency of Killarney. First elected to the legislature in the 2007 election, he succeeded Hubert Ingraham as party leader following the party's defeat in the 2012 election.
The Honourable or The Honorable is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain people, usually with official governmental or diplomatic positions.
Dame Doris Sands Johnson was a Bahamian teacher, suffragette, and politician. She was the first Bahamian woman to contest an election in the Bahamas, the first female Senate appointee, and the first woman granted a leadership role in the Senate. Once in the legislature, she was the first woman to be made a government minister and then was elected as the first woman President of the Senate. She was the first woman to serve as Acting Governor General of the Bahamas, and was honored as Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.
The Order of the National Hero is the highest honour that can be given by the government of the Bahamas. It was founded in 2016. The first dedicatees of the Order were Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling, Sir Roland Theodore Symonette, Sir Milo Boughton Butler, and Sir Cecil Vincent Wallace-Whitfield, all of whom were granted the Order posthumously on July 10, 2018. Members are accorded the style "The Right Excellent" and also entitled to place the post-nominal letters "N.H". after their name.
Hon. Kenneth George Smith, OJ, was a Jamaican judge. He was Chief Justice of Jamaica from 1973 to 1984.
Sir Cornelius Alvin Smith is a Bahamian politician and diplomat, who served as the 11th Governor-General of the Bahamas from 2019 to 2023.
