The Bahamas, known officially as the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,[ is an archipelagic state within the Lucayan Archipelago.
It consists of more than seven hundred islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean and is located north of Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic); northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands; southeast of the US state of Florida and east of the Florida Keys.
The Bahamas becomes an independent Commonwealth realm in 1973, retaining the British monarch, then and currently Queen Elizabeth II, as its head of state.
The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence.
The designation of "the Bahamas" can refer either to the country or to the larger island chain that it shares with the Turks and Caicos Islands.
As stated in the mandate/manifesto of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the Bahamas territory encompasses 470,000 km2 (180,000 sq mi) of ocean space\
In terms of gross domestic product per capita, The Bahamas is one of the richest countries in the Americas (following the United States and Canada), with an economy based on tourism and finance.
Today the descendants of slaves and free Africans make up nearly ninety percent of the population; issues related to the slavery years are part of society.
