The Bahamas

Coordinates: 24°15′N 76°00′W / 24.250°N 76.000°W / 24.250; -76.000

The Bahamas ⁱ/bəˈhɑːməz/, officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is an island country of the Lucayan Archipelago consisting of more than 700 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean; 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. Its capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence. The designation of "Bahamas" can refer to either the country or 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.

Originally inhabited by the Lucayan, a branch of the Arawakan-speaking Taino people, the Bahamas were the site of Columbus' first landfall in the New World in 1492. Although the Spanish never colonised the Bahamas, they shipped the native Lucayans to slavery in Hispaniola. The islands were mostly deserted from 1513 until 1648, when English colonists from Bermuda settled on the island of Eleuthera.

Bahama (disambiguation)

Bahama or Bahamas are the name of the country officially known as The Bahamas

Bahama may also refer to:

Bahamas may also refer to:

Bahamas (musician)

Afie Jurvanen (born April 28, 1981), known by his stage name Bahamas, is a Canadian musician born in Toronto, and raised in Barrie, Ontario. Jurvanen is self-taught on guitar and has worked with such musicians as Feist, Howie Beck, Jason Collett, Jack Johnson, The Weather Station, and Zeus. Bahamas' songs are represented by Downtown Music Publishing.

Jurvanen recorded his debut album, Pink Strat, in a cabin in rural Ontario in 2008. It was released under the name Bahamas in 2009 and subsequently nominated for a 2010 Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Solo.

Bahamas' second album, Barchords, was released on February 7, 2012. At the 2013 Juno Awards, it was nominated for the Adult Alternative Album of the Year and Jurvanen was nominated for Songwriter of the Year for the tracks "Be My Witness", "Caught Me Thinking", and "Lost in the Light".

His third album, Bahamas Is Afie, was released on August 19, 2014. It was awarded first place on Q's Top 20 Albums of 2014. At the Juno Awards of 2015, Bahamas Is Afie was nominated for Adult Alternative Album of the Year, and Jurvanen was nominated for Songwriter of the Year for "All the Time", "Bitter Memories" and "Stronger Than That". He won the awards in both categories.