Bahamas, The
The Country of the Week
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Nassau
- Population
- 415,306 (2025 est.)
- Area
- 13,880 sq km
- Government
- parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
- Languages
- English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)
- Religions
- Protestant 69.9% (includes Baptist 34.9%, Anglican 13.7%, Pentecostal 8.9% Seventh Day Adventist 4.4%, Methodist 3.6%, Church of God 1.9%, Plymouth Brethren 1.6%, other Protestant 0.9%), Roman Catholic 12%, other Christian 13% (includes Jehovah's Witness 1.1%), other 0.6%, none 1.9%, unspecified 2.6% (2010 est.)
- Ethnic Groups
- African descent 90.6%, White 4.7%, mixed 2.1%, other 1.9%, unspecified 0.7% (2010 est.)
- Currency
- Bahamian dollars (BSD)
- Life Expectancy
- 76.7 years (2024 est.)
- Internet Domain
- .bs
- Climate
- tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream
- Terrain
- long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills
- Natural Resources
- salt, aragonite, timber, arable land
- Major Exports
- refined petroleum, ships, aluminum, shellfish, plastics (2023)
Source: CIA World Factbook (public domain)
Overview
Lucayan Indians inhabited the Bahama islands when Christopher COLUMBUS first set foot in the New World in 1492. British settlement of the islands began in 1647; the islands became a colony in 1783.