• The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic country in the Caribbean within the Lucayan Archipelago.
• Comprises 700 islands and over 2,500 cays located north of Cuba and the Dominican Republic, southeast of Florida.
• Capital and largest city is Nassau on New Providence island, with a territory encompassing 470,000 km² of ocean space.
• Inhabited by Arawak and Lucayan peoples for centuries; first European sighting by Christopher Columbus in 1492 on San Salvador.
• Native Lucayans were enslaved and the islands were largely deserted until English colonists settled in Eleuthera in 1649.
• The name "Bahamas" is derived from the Lucayan word meaning 'large upper middle island,' initially referring to Grand Bahama.
• Alternate etymology suggests it comes from Spanish 'baja mar' (shallow sea) or from local names with unclear meanings.
• The Bahamas is one of two countries whose official short name starts with the definite article, the other being The Gambia.

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