Countries

 Bahamas

The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is an English-speaking country consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets (rocks). I

t is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) and the Caribbean Sea, northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States of America. Its total land area is almost 14 000 km², with an estimated population of 330,000. Its capital is Nassau.

Originally inhabited by Arawakan Taino people, the Bahamas were first colonized by the Spanish empire. British colonists later settled the islands, bringing with them their system of slavery and forced agricultural labor. The descendants of these African slaves today form the bulk of the Bahamas's population.

The Bahamian economy has prospered since the 1950s. Economic activity is mostly based on tourism and shipping, with a minor financial sector.