diplomatic_relation the bahamas
The Lucayan Archipelago , also known as the Bahama Archipelago , is an island group comprising the Commonwealth of ___MASK88___ and the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands . The archipelago is in the western North Atlantic Ocean , north of the Antilles , and east and southeast of Florida . Florida ( Spanish for " land of flowers ") is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States . It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of ___MASK74___ , to the north by Alabama and ___MASK37___ , to the east by the Atlantic Ocean , and to the south by the Straits of Florida and ___MASK31___ . Florida is the 22nd most extensive , the 3rd most populous , and the 8th most densely populated of the U . S . states . Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States . The Miami metropolitan area is Florida ' s most populous urban area . The city of Tallahassee is the state capital . ___MASK31___ , officially the Republic of ___MASK31___ , is a country comprising the island of ___MASK31___ as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos . ___MASK31___ is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea , the Gulf of Mexico , and the Atlantic Ocean meet . It is south of both the U . S . state of Florida and the Bahamas , west of Haiti , and north of Jamaica . Havana is the largest city and capital ; other major cities include Santiago de ___MASK31___ and Camagüey . ___MASK31___ is the largest island in the Caribbean , with an area of , and the second - most populous after Hispaniola , with over 11 million inhabitants . The Straits of Florida , Florida Straits , or Florida Strait is a strait located south - southeast of the North American mainland , generally accepted to be between the Gulf of ___MASK74___ and the Atlantic Ocean , and between the Florida Keys ( U . S .) and ___MASK31___ . It is 150 km ( 93 mi ) wide at the narrowest point between Key West and the Cuban shore , and has been sounded to a depth of 6 , 000 feet . The strait carries the Florida Current , the beginning of the Gulf Stream , from the Gulf of ___MASK74___ . Isla de la Juventud is the second - largest Cuban island and the seventh - largest island in the West Indies ( after ___MASK31___ itself , Hispaniola , Jamaica , Puerto Rico , Trinidad , and Andros Island ). The island was called the Isle of Pines ( Isla de Pinos ) until 1978 . It has an area and is south of the island of ___MASK31___ , across the Gulf of Batabanó . The island lies almost directly south of Havana and Pinar del Río and is a Special Municipality , not part of any province and is therefore administered directly by the central government of ___MASK31___ . The island has only one municipality , also named Isla de la Juventud . Santo Domingo ( meaning " Saint Dominic "), officially Santo Domingo de Guzmán , is the capital and largest city in the ___MASK70___ and the largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population . In 2010 , its population was counted as 965 , 040 , rising to 2 , 908 , 607 when its surrounding metropolitan area was included . The city is coterminous with the boundaries of the Distrito Nacional (" D . N .", " National District "), itself bordered on three sides by Santo Domingo Province . The Turks and Caicos Islands ( and / / ), or TCI for short , are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands , two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and northern West Indies . The ___MASK3___ , officially the Republic of the ___MASK3___ , is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean . It consists of about 7 , 641 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south : Luzon , Visayas , and Mindanao . The capital city of the ___MASK3___ is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City , both part of Metro Manila . Bounded by the South ___MASK27___ Sea on the west , the Philippine Sea on the east and the Celebes Sea on the southwest , the ___MASK3___ shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north , Vietnam to the west , Palau to the east and Malaysia and Indonesia to the south . New Providence is the most populous island in ___MASK88___ , containing more than 70 % of the total population . It houses the national capital city of Nassau . The island was originally under Spanish control following Christopher Columbus ' s discovery of the New World , but the Spanish government showed little interest in developing the island ( and ___MASK88___ as a whole ). Nassau , the island ' s largest city , was formerly known as Charles - town , but it was burned to the ground by the Spanish in 1684 . It was laid out and renamed Nassau in 1695 by Nicholas Trott , the most successful Lord Proprietor , in honor of the Prince of Orange - Nassau who became William III of England . The three branches of Bahamian Government : the executive , the legislative , and the judiciary , are all headquartered on New Providence . New Providence functions as the main commercial hub of ___MASK88___ . It is also home to more than 400 banks and trust companies , and its hotels and port account for more than two thirds of the four million - plus tourists who visit ___MASK88___ annually . Other settlements on New Providence include Grants Town , Bain Town , Fox Hill , Adelaide , Yamacraw , South Beach , Coral Harbour , Lyford Cay , Paradise Island , Sea Breeze , Centreville , The Grove ( South ) and The Grove ( West Bay ), Cable Beach , Delaporte , Gambier , and Love Beach . The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida , forming the southernmost portion of the continental United States . They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula , about south of Miami , and extend in a gentle arc south - southwest and then westward to Key West , the westernmost of the inhabited islands , and on to the uninhabited Dry Tortugas . The islands lie along the Florida Straits , dividing the Atlantic Ocean to the east from the Gulf of ___MASK74___ to the northwest , and defining one edge of Florida Bay . At the nearest point , the southern part of Key West is just from ___MASK31___ . The Florida Keys are between about 23 . 5 and 25 . 5 degrees North latitude . An island or isle is any piece of sub - continental land that is surrounded by water . Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets , skerries , cays or keys . An island in a river or a lake island may be called an eyot or ait , and a small island off the coast may be called a holm . A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago , e . g . the ___MASK3___ . Paradise Island is an island in ___MASK88___ formerly known as Hog Island . The island , with an area of ( 2 . 8 km / 1 . 1 sq mi ), is located just off the shore of the city of Nassau , which is itself located on the northern edge of the island of New Providence . It is best known for the sprawling resort Atlantis with its extensive water park rides , pools , beach , restaurants , walk - in aquarium and casinos . A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth . Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria , up to seven regions are commonly regarded as continents . Ordered from largest in size to smallest , they are : Asia , Africa , North America , South America , Antarctica , Europe , and ___MASK9___ . In geology , areas of continental crust include regions covered with water . Hispaniola ( Spanish : " La Española "; Latin : " Hispaniola "; Taíno : " ___MASK50___ ") is the 22nd - largest island in the world , located in the Caribbean island group , the Greater Antilles . It is the second largest island in the Caribbean after ___MASK31___ , and the tenth most populous island in the world . Havana ( Spanish : " La Habana ") is the capital city , largest city , province , major port , and leading commercial centre of ___MASK31___ . The city proper has a population of 2 . 1 million inhabitants , and it spans a total of  making it the largest city by area , the most populous city , and the third largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region . The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay , which is entered through a narrow inlet and which divides into three main harbours : Marimelena , Guanabacoa and Atarés . The sluggish Almendares River traverses the city from south to north , entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay . Saint Martin is an island in the northeast Caribbean , approximately east of Puerto Rico . The island is divided roughly 60 / 40 between the French Republic and the ___MASK95___ ; but the two parts are roughly equal in population , with slightly more people living on the Dutch side . It is the smallest inhabited island divided between two nations . The division dates to 1648 . The southern Dutch part comprises Sint Maarten and is one of four constituent countries that form the ___MASK95___ . The northern French part comprises the Collectivité de Saint - Martin ( Collectivity of St Martin ) and is an overseas collectivity of France . ___MASK74___ (, modern Nahuatl ), officially the United Mexican States , is a federal republic in the southern half of North America . It is bordered to the north by the United States ; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean ; to the southeast by ___MASK4___ , Belize , and the Caribbean Sea ; and to the east by the Gulf of ___MASK74___ . Covering almost two million square kilometers ( over 760 , 000 sq mi ), ___MASK74___ is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area and the 13th largest independent nation in the world . With an estimated population of over 120 million , it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish - speaking country in the world while being the second most populous country in Latin America . ___MASK74___ is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city . Other metropolises include Guadalajara , Monterrey , Puebla , Toluca , Tijuana and León . The Caribbean ( or ) is a region that consists of the Caribbean Sea , its islands ( some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean ) and the surrounding coasts . The region is southeast of the Gulf of ___MASK74___ and the North American mainland , east of Central America , and north of South America . The Dry Tortugas are a small group of islands , located in the Gulf of ___MASK74___ at the end of the Florida Keys , United States , about west of Key West , and west of the Marquesas Keys , the closest islands . Still further west is the Tortugas Bank , which is submerged . The first Europeans to discover the islands were the Spanish in 1513 , led by explorer Juan Ponce de León . They are an unincorporated area of Monroe County , Florida , and belong to the Lower Keys Census County Division . With their surrounding waters , they constitute the Dry Tortugas National Park . The Greater Antilles is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea : ___MASK31___ , Hispaniola ( containing Haiti and the Dominican Republic ), Puerto Rico , Jamaica , and the Cayman Islands . The Greater Antilles constitute over 90 % of the land mass of the entire West Indies , as well as over 90 % of its population , with the balance made of the archipelago of the Lesser Antilles , which is a chain of islands to the east ( running north - south and encompassing the eastern edge of the Caribbean Sea where it meets the Atlantic Ocean ) and south ( running east - west off the northern coast of South America ). The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere . It is bounded by ___MASK74___ and Central America to the west and south west , to the north by the Greater Antilles starting with ___MASK31___ , to the east by the Lesser Antilles , and to the south by the north coast of South America . " See also West Indies , Caribbean " The Antilles (" Antilles " in French ; " Antillas " in Spanish ; " Antillen " in Dutch and " Antilhas " in Portuguese ) are an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west , the Gulf of ___MASK74___ to the northwest , and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east . The contiguous United States consists of the 48 adjoining U . S . states plus Washington , D . C . ( federal district ), on the continent of North America . The term excludes the non - contiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii and all off - shore United States territories and possessions , which include American ___MASK83___ , Guam , the Northern Mariana Islands , Puerto Rico , and the U . S . Virgin Islands . The ___MASK70___ is a sovereign state occupying the eastern two - thirds of the island of Hispaniola , in the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region . The western one - third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti , making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands , along with Saint Martin , that are shared by two countries . The ___MASK70___ is the second - largest Caribbean nation by area ( after ___MASK31___ ) at , and 3rd by population with 10 . 08 million people , of which approximately three million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo , the capital city . Established in 1973 , the Caribbean Community ( CARICOM ) is an organization of fifteen Caribbean nations and dependencies . CARICOM ' s main purposes are to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members , to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared , and to coordinate foreign policy . Its major activities involve coordinating economic policies and development planning ; devising and instituting special projects for the less - developed countries within its jurisdiction ; operating as a regional single market for many of its members ( Caricom Single Market ); and handling regional trade disputes . The secretariat headquarters is based in Georgetown , ___MASK20___ . The Gulf of ___MASK74___ is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent . It is bounded on the northeast , north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States , on the southwest and south by ___MASK74___ , and on the southeast by ___MASK31___ . The U . S . states of Alabama , Florida , Louisiana , Mississippi and Texas border the Gulf on the north , which are often referred to as the " Third Coast " in comparison with the U . S . Atlantic and Pacific coasts , or sometimes the " south coast ", in juxtaposition to the Great Lakes region being the " north coast ." One of the gulf ' s seven main areas is the Gulf of ___MASK74___ basin . The Royal Bahamas Defence Force ( RBDF ) is the navy of ___MASK88___ . Since ___MASK88___ does not have an army or an air force , its navy composes the entirety of its armed forces . Under The Defence Act , the Royal Bahamas Defence Force has been mandated to defend ___MASK88___ , protect its territorial integrity , patrol its waters , provide assistance in times of disaster , maintain order in conjunction with the law enforcement agencies of ___MASK88___ , and carry out any such duties as determined by the National Security Council . The Defence Force is also a member of Caricom ' s Regional Security Task Force . The task force has seen action in the United Nations mandate in Haiti 1994 . ___MASK50___ , officially the Republic of ___MASK50___ , is a sovereign state located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea . It occupies the western three - eighths of the island , which it shares with the ___MASK70___ . ___MASK50___ is in size and has an estimated 10 . 6 million people , making it the most populous country in the Caribbean Community ( CARICOM ) and the second - most populous country in the Caribbean as a whole . Santiago de ___MASK31___ is the second largest city of ___MASK31___ and capital city of Santiago de ___MASK31___ Province in the south - eastern area of the island , some south - east of the Cuban capital of Havana . ___MASK46___ is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea , consisting of the third - largest island of the Greater Antilles . The island , in area , lies about south of ___MASK31___ , and west of Hispaniola ( the island containing the nation - states of Haiti and the Dominican Republic ). ___MASK46___ is the fourth - largest island country in the Caribbean , by area . A cay ( or ), also spelled caye or key , is a small , low - elevation , sandy island on the surface of a coral reef . Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific , Atlantic and Indian Oceans ( including in the Caribbean and on the Great Barrier Reef and ___MASK79___ Barrier Reef ). Camagüey is a city and municipality in central ___MASK31___ and is the nation ' s third largest city with more than 321 , 000 inhabitants . It is the capital of the Camagüey Province . Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent , at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys . The island is about from ___MASK31___ . ___MASK88___ i / bhmz / , officially the Commonwealth of ___MASK88___ , is an island country of the Lucayan Archipelago consisting of more than 700 islands , cays , and islets in the Atlantic Ocean ; north of ___MASK31___ 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 , ___MASK88___ 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 , ___MASK88___ were the site of Columbus ' first landfall in the New World in 1492 . Although the Spanish never colonised ___MASK88___ , 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 . ___MASK88___ became a British Crown colony in 1718 , when the British clamped down on piracy . After the American War of Independence , the Crown resettled thousands of American Loyalists in ___MASK88___ ; they brought their slaves with them and established plantations on land grants . Africans constituted the majority of the population from this period . ___MASK88___ became a haven for freed African slaves : the Royal Navy resettled Africans here liberated from illegal slave ships ; American slaves and Seminoles escaped here from Florida ; and the government freed American slaves carried on United States domestic ships that had reached ___MASK88___ due to weather . Slavery in ___MASK88___ was abolished in 1834 . Today the descendants of slaves and free Africans make up nearly 90 % of the population ; issues related to the slavery years are part of society . ___MASK88___ became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1973 , retaining Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch . In terms of gross domestic product per capita , ___MASK88___ is one of the richest countries in the Americas ( following the United States and Canada ) . Its economy is based on tourism and finance . Christopher Columbus ( 20 May 1506 ) was an Italian explorer , navigator , colonizer , and citizen of the Republic of Genoa . Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of ___MASK64___ , he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean . Those voyages and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola initiated the European colonization of the New World . William III ( 4 November 1650  8 March 1702 ; also widely known as William of Orange ) was sovereign Prince of Orange from birth , Stadtholder of Holland , Zeeland , Utrecht , Gelderland , and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 1672 , and King of England , ___MASK58___ , and Scotland from 1689 until his death . It is a coincidence that his regnal number ( III ) was the same for both Orange and England . As King of Scotland , he is known as William II . He is informally known by sections of the population in Northern ___MASK58___ and Scotland as " King Billy ". Alabama is a state in the southeastern region of the United States . It is bordered by Tennessee to the north , ___MASK37___ to the east , Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south , and Mississippi to the west . Alabama is the 30th - most extensive and the 24th - most populous of the U . S . states . At nearly , Alabama has one of the nation ' s longest navigable inland waterways .