The Bahamas summary

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National anthem of The BahamasThe instrumental version of the national anthem of The Bahamas.

The Bahamas, officially Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Archipelago and state, northwestern edge of the West Indies, lying southeast of Florida and north of Cuba. It consists of about 700 islands and numerous cays. Area: 5,382 sq mi (13,939 sq km). Population: (2024 est.) 409,000. Capital: Nassau (on New Providence Island). The people are of African and European ancestry, a legacy of the slave trade. Language: English (official). Religion: Christianity (mostly Protestant; also Roman Catholic, other Christians). Currency: Bahamian dollar. Chief among the islands, from north to south, are Grand Bahama, Abaco, Eleuthera, New Providence, Andros, Cat, and Inagua; New Providence has most of the population. All are composed of coralline limestone and lie mostly only a few feet above sea level; the highest point is Mount Alvernia (206 ft [63 m]) on Cat Island. There are no rivers. The country’s market economy is heavily dependent on tourism, for which gambling is a particular attraction, and on international financial services. Most foodstuffs are imported; refined petroleum and chemicals are significant exports. The U.S. is the major trading partner of The Bahamas. The Bahamas is a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses; its head of state is the British monarch, represented by a governor-general, and the head of government is the prime minister. The islands were inhabited by Lucayan Tainos when Christopher Columbus sighted them on Oct. 12, 1492. Many scholars believe Columbus landed on San Salvador (Watling) Island, though others contend his first landfall was on Samana Cay or Cat Island. The Spaniards made no attempt to settle but carried out slave raids that depopulated the islands; when English settlers arrived in 1648 from Bermuda, the islands were uninhabited. They became a haunt of pirates and buccaneers, and few of the ensuing settlements prospered. The islands enjoyed some prosperity following the American Revolution, when loyalists fled the U.S. and established cotton plantations there. The islands were a centre for blockade runners during the American Civil War. Not until the development of tourism after World War II did permanent economic prosperity arrive. The Bahamas was granted internal self-government in 1964 and became independent in 1973.

Commonwealth Summary

Commonwealth, a free association of sovereign states comprising the United Kingdom and a number of its former dependencies who have chosen to maintain ties of friendship and practical cooperation and who acknowledge the British monarch as symbolic head of their association. The Commonwealth was an

West Indies Summary

West Indies, crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north. From the peninsula of Florida on the mainland of the United States, the islands stretch

Atlantic Ocean, with depth contours and submarine features

Atlantic Ocean Summary

Atlantic Ocean, body of salt water covering approximately one-fifth of Earth’s surface and separating the continents of Europe and Africa to the east from those of North and South America to the west. The ocean’s name, derived from Greek mythology, means the “Sea of Atlas.” It is second in size to

North America Summary

North America, third largest of the world’s continents, lying for the most part between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer. It extends for more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) to within 500 miles (800 km) of both the North Pole and the Equator and has an east-west extent of 5,000 miles. It