Country
Countries A-Z
Bahamas
Commonwealth of the Bahamas
Political Status: Independent member of the Commonwealth since July 10, 1973.
Area: 5,380 sq. mi. (13,935 sq. km.).
Population: 304,913 (2000C); 328,000 (2004E).
Major Urban Center (1999E): NASSAU (173,700).
Official Language: English.
Monetary Unit: Bahamian Dollar (principal rate July 1, 2005: 1.00 dollars = $1US).
Sovereign: Queen ELIZABETH II.
Governor General: Dame Ivy DUMONT; sworn in on November 13, 2001, succeeding Sir Orville Alton TURNQUEST.
Prime Minister: Perry G. CHRISTIE (Progressive Liberal Party); sworn in on May 3, 2002, in succession to Hubert Alexander INGRAHAM (Free National Movement), following election of May 2.
The Country
The Commonwealth of the Bahamas encompasses a group of some 700 flat, coral islands stretching from the Western Atlantic near Florida to the Caribbean Sea. Geomorphically an extension of the Little and Great Bahama banks, the archipelago ...