The Bahamas�(/b??h??m?

z/�(listen)), known officially as the�Commonwealth of The

Bahamas,[12]�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�Hispaniola�Island (Haiti�and the�Dominican Republic), northwest of
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 Bahamas were inhabited by the�Lucayans, a branch of the�Arawakan-speaking�Ta�no
people, for many centuries.[13]�Columbus�was the first European to see the islands,
making his first landfall in the 'New World' in 1492. Later, the�Spanish�shipped
the native Lucayans to slavery on�Hispaniola, after which the Bahama islands were
mostly deserted from 1513 until 1648, when�English�colonists from�Bermuda�settled
on the island of�Eleuthera.
The Bahamas became a�British�crown colony�in 1718, when the British clamped down
on�piracy. After the�American Revolutionary War, the Crown resettled thousands
of�American Loyalists�to The Bahamas; they took their slaves with them and
established�plantations�on land grants. African slaves and their descendants
constituted the majority of the population from this period on. The slave trade was
abolished by the British in 1807; slavery in The Bahamas was abolished in 1834.
Subsequently, The Bahamas became a haven for freed African slaves. Africans
liberated from illegal slave ships were resettled on the islands by the�Royal Navy,
while some�North American slaves�and�Seminoles�escaped to The Bahamas from Florida.
Bahamians were even known to recognise the freedom of slaves carried by the ships
of other nations which reached The Bahamas. Today�Afro-Bahamians�make up 90% of the
population of 332,634.[13]
The country gained governmental independence in 1973 led by�Sir Lynden O. Pindling,
with�Elizabeth II�as�its queen.[13]�In terms of�gross domestic product�per capita,
The Bahamas is one of the richest countries in the�Americas�(following the�United
States�and�Canada), with an economy based on tourism and offshore finance.[14]
Contents
� 1Etymology
� 2History
? 2.1Pre-colonial era
? 2.2Arrival of the Spanish
? 2.3Arrival of the English
? 2.418th century
? 2.519th century
? 2.6Early 20th century
? 2.7Post-Second World War
? 2.8Post-independence
� 3Geography
? 3.1Climate
� 4Geology
� 5Government and politics
? 5.1Political culture
? 5.2Foreign relations
? 5.3Armed forces
? 5.4Administrative divisions
? 5.5National flag
? 5.6Coat of arms
? 5.7National flower
� 6Economy
? 6.1Tourism
? 6.2Financial services
? 6.3Agriculture, natural resources, and manufacturing
� 7Demographics
 ? 7.1Racial and ethnic groups
? 7.2Religion
? 7.3Languages
� 8Culture
? 8.1Sport
� 9Education
� 10Transport
� 11See also
� 12References
? 12.1Citations
? 12.2Sources
� 13Further reading
? 13.1General history
? 13.2Economic history
? 13.3Social history
� 14External links
Etymology[edit]
The name�Bahamas�is most likely derived from either the�Ta�no�ba ha ma�("big upper
middle land"), which was a term for the region used by the indigenous people,
[15]�or possibly from the�Spanish�baja mar�("shallow water or sea" or "low tide")
reflecting the shallow waters of the area. Alternatively, it may originate
from�Guanahani, a local name of unclear meaning.[16][better�source�needed]
The word�The�constitutes an integral part of the short form of the name and is,
therefore, capitalised.[citation needed]�The Constitution of the Commonwealth of
The Bahamas, the country's fundamental law, capitalises the "T" in "The Bahamas".
[17]
History[edit]
Main article:�History of The Bahamas
Pre-colonial era[edit]
The first inhabitants of The Bahamas were the�Taino�people, who moved into the
uninhabited southern islands from�Hispaniola�and�Cuba�around the 800s�1000s AD,
having migrated there from South America; they came to be known as the�Lucayan
people.[18]�An estimated 30,000 Lucayans inhabited The Bahamas at the time
of�Christopher Columbus's arrival in 1492.[19]
Arrival of the Spanish[edit]

A depiction of Columbus's first landing, claiming possession of the�New World�for

the�Crown of Castile�in�caravels; the�Ni�a�and the�Pinta, on Watling Island, an
island of The Bahamas that the natives called�Guanahani�and that he named�San
Salvador, on 12 October 1492.[20]
Columbus's first landfall in what was to Europeans a 'New World' was on an island
he named San Salvador (known to the Lucayans as�Guanahani). Whilst there is a
general consensus that this island lay within The Bahamas, precisely which island
Columbus landed on is a matter of scholarly debate. Some researchers believe the
site to be present-day�San Salvador Island�(formerly known as Watling's Island),
situated in the southeastern Bahamas, whilst an alternative theory holds that
Columbus landed to the southeast on�Samana Cay, according to calculations made in
1986 by�National Geographic�writer and editor�Joseph Judge, based on Columbus's
log. On the landfall island, Columbus made first contact with the Lucayans and
exchanged goods with them, claiming the islands for the�Crown of Castile, before
proceeding to explore the larger isles of the�Greater Antilles.[18]
The 1494�Treaty of Tordesillas�theoretically divided the new territories between
the�Kingdom of Castile�and the�Kingdom of Portugal, placing The Bahamas in the
Spanish sphere; however they did little to press their claim on the ground. The
Spanish did however make use of the native Lucayan peoples, many of whom were
enslaved and sent to Hispaniola for use as forced labour.[18]�The slaves suffered
from harsh conditions and most died from contracting�diseases�to which they had
no�immunity; half of the Taino died from�smallpox�alone.[21]�As a result of these
depredations the population of The Bahamas was severely diminished.[22]
Arrival of the English[edit]
The English had expressed an interest in The Bahamas as early as 1629. However, it
was not until 1648 that the first English settlers arrived on the islands. Known as
the�Eleutherian Adventurers�and led by�William Sayle, they migrated
to�Bermuda�seeking greater religious freedom. These English�Puritans�established
the first permanent European settlement on an island which they named 'Eleuthera',
Greek for 'freedom'. They later settled�New Providence, naming it Sayle's Island.
Life proved harder than envisaged however, and many � including Sayle � chose to
return to Bermuda.[18]�To survive, the remaining settlers�salvaged goods from
wrecks.
In 1670,�King Charles II�granted the islands to the�Lords Proprietors�of
the�Carolinas�in North America. T