Bahamas

COUNTRY DESCRIPTION: The Bahamas is a developed, English-speaking Caribbean nation composed of hundreds of islands covering a territory approximately the size of California. Tourism and financial services comprise the two largest sectors of the economy. Independent from the United Kingdom since 1973, The Bahamas is a Commonwealth nation with a democratic tradition more than a century old. The capital, Nassau, is located on New Providence Island. To the north lies Freeport on Grand Bahama Island, the nearest sizeable settlement to Florida’s major shipping hub, and second most important populous city in The Bahamas. Please read the Department of State Fact Sheet on The Bahamas for additional information.

Location

Bahamas is a country located in the Caribbean chain of Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean southwest of Florida. The Bahamas is a group of about 700 islands and 2,400 uninhabited islets and cays in the western Atlantic Ocean. Only about 30 of the islands are inhabited; the most important is New Providence (80 sq mi; 207 sq km), on which the capital, Nassau, is situated. Other islands include Grand Bahama, Abaco, Eleuthera, Andros, Cat Island, and San Salvador (or Watling's Island). The largest of the islands is Andros Island.


TOPOGRAPHY

The Bahamas were formed as surface outcroppings of two oceanic banks, the Grand Bahama Bank and the Little Bahama Bank. The islands are for the most part low and flat, rising to a peak elevation of about 63 m (206 ft), which is Mt. Alvernia on Cat Island. The terrain is broken by lakes and mangrove swamps, and the shorelines are marked by coral reefs.
Climate
The term, “Isles of June” has often aptly been used to describe the Bahamas due to its mild climate. Having a tropical maritime wet and dry climate, with slight incursions of mildly polar air, generally the Bahamas does not experience extremes of temperatures. The humidity is fairly high, especially in the summer months, but there is usually a pleasant...