The Bahamas are an archipelago of about 700 islands and 2,400 uninhabited islets and cays lying off the east coast of Florida. Only about 30 of the islands are inhabited; the most important is New Providence, on which the capital, Nassau, is situated.
During proprietary rule, the Bahamas became a haven for pirates, including the infamous Blackbeard. To restore orderly government, the Bahamas was made a British crown colony in 1718 under the royal governorship of Woodes Rogers, who, after a difficult struggle, succeeded in suppressing piracy.
The Bahamian dollar is pegged to the US dollar, and US notes and coins are used interchangeably with Bahamian currency for most practical purposes. However, government exchange controls still apply for the purchase of foreign currency. ENJOY!!

Languages: English, Creole (among Haitian immigrants)
Religions: Baptist, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal
Status: Commonwealth of Nations. Elizabeth II is the head of the state as the Queen of the Bahamas

The seafaring Taino people moved into the uninhabited southern Bahamas from Hispaniola and Cuba around the 7th century AD. These people came to be known as the Lucayans. There were an estimated 30,000+ Lucayans at the time of Columbus' arrival in 1492. Christopher Columbus's first landfall in the New World was on an island named San Salvador (known to the Lucayans Guanahani) which is generally accepted to be present-day San Salvador Island (also known as Watling Island) in the southeastern Bahamas. Here, Columbus made first contact with the Lucayans and exchanged goods with them.