The Islands of The Bahamas

Local Government Councils

The Local Government Act, 1996 created 23 districts in the Family Islands, and

in 1999, the Minister for Family Island Affairs, under authority of the Local Government Act, 1996, created eight new districts. The Districts by Island page lists the resulting 31 districts, as shown below. The Local Government Act classifies districts as "Second Schedule Districts", which are subdivided into Town Areas, and "Third Schedule Districts", which are not.

Country overview:

Short name BAHAMAS
ISO code BS
FIPS code BF
Language English (en)
Time zone -5 ~
Capital Nassau
 

The Bahama Islands were a British possession until 1973-07-10, when they gained independence.

Other names of country:

Bahama (Finnish, Italian); Bahama eilanden (Dutch); Bahamaeyjar (Icelandic); Bahama-Inseln (German); Bahamaøyene (Norwegian); Commonwealth of the Bahamas (formal); Lucayas (obsolete)

Origin of name:

Spanish baja mar : low sea

Primary subdivisions:

The Bahamas are divided into 32 districts.

District HASC Sch ISO Island
Acklins BS.AK 3 AC Acklins Crooked Island / Long Cay
Berry Islands BS.BR 3 NB Bimini / Berry Islands
Bimini BS.BI 3 BI Bimini / Berry Islands
Black Point BS.BP 3 EX Exuma / Ragged Island
Cat Island BS.CI 2 CI Cat Island
Central Abaco BS.CB 2 MH Abaco
Central Andros BS.CN 2 FC Andros
Central Eleuthera BS.CE 2 GH Eleuthera
City of Freeport BS.FP 3 FP Grand Bahama
Crooked Island BS.CK 3 AC Acklins Crooked Island / Long Cay
East Grand Bahama BS.EB 2 HR Grand Bahama
Exuma BS.EM 2 EX Exuma / Ragged Island
Grand Cay BS.GC 3 GT Abaco
Harbour Island BS.HB 3 HI Eleuthera
Hope Town BS.HT 3 MH Abaco
Inagua BS.IN 3 IN Inagua
Long Island BS.LI 2 LI Long Island
Mangrove Cay BS.MC 3 KB Andros
Mayaguana BS.MG 3 MG Mayaguana
Moore's Island BS.MI 3 SP Abaco
New Providence BS.NW   NP New Providence
North Abaco BS.NB 2 GT Abaco
North Andros BS.NN 2 NB Andros
North Eleuthera BS.NE 3 HI Eleuthera
Ragged Island BS.RI 3 RI Exuma / Ragged Island
Rum Cay BS.RC 3 SR San Salvador
San Salvador BS.SS 3 SR San Salvador
South Abaco BS.SB 2 SP Abaco
South Andros BS.SN 2 KB Andros
South Eleuthera BS.SE 2 RS Eleuthera
Spanish Wells BS.SW 3 HI Eleuthera
West Grand Bahama BS.WB 2 FP Grand Bahama
  • HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes .
  • Sch: Schedule number (type of district)
  • ISO: ISO 3166-2 code representing the division from that standard that
    contains this district. I have assumed that there are no overlaps (districts
    that overlap more than one ISO 3166-2 division), which may not be true.
    For key to codes, see "Administrative Subdivisions of Countries".
  • Island: Island or island group containing this district (these are general
    descriptions, not a standardized list of divisions)

Territorial extent:

The Bahamas are separated from Cuba by the Nicholas Channel and Old Bahama Channel. Cay Sal Bank, Guinchos Cay, Cay Lobos, Cay Santo Domingo, and Great Inagua Island are among the closest points to Cuba in the Bahamas. They are separated from the United States by the Straits of Florida. Cay Sal Bank, Ocean Cay, Bimini Islands, and Grand Bahama Island are among the closest to the United States. The Caicos Passage separates the Bahamas from the Turks and Caicos Islands on the east. Mayaguana and Little Inagua Islands are among the easternmost of the Bahamas.

Abaco includes Moore's Island (Mores Island).

Bimini includes Cay Sal Bank.

Origins of names:

Eleuthera: Greek for place of freedom; named by Puritans from Bermuda

Change history:

1973-07-10: At independence, the Bahamas was divided into 21 electoral districts which corresponded to islands or island groups.

District HASC FIPS Population Area(km.²) Area(mi.²) Chief town
Abaco BS.AB BF01 10,061 1,681 649 Marsh Harbour
Acklins Island BS.AK BF02 428 389 150 Masons Bay
Andros BS.AN BF03 8,155 5,957 2,300 Nicholls' Town
Berry Islands BS.BR BF04 634 31 12 Bullocks Harbor
Biminis BS.BI BF05 1,638 23 9 Alice Town
Cat Island BS.CI BF06 1,678 388 150 Arthur's Town
Cay Lobos BS.CL BF07 25 18 7 Cay Lobos
Crooked Island BS.CK BF08 423 238 92 Colonel Hill
Eleuthera BS.EL BF09 9,300 518 200 Governor's Harbour
Exuma BS.EX BF10 3,539 290 112 Georgetown
Grand Bahama BS.GB BF11 41,035 1,373 530 Freeport
Harbour Island BS.HB BF12 (a) 4 2 Dunmore Town
Inagua BS.IN BF13 985 1,671 645 Matthew Town
Long Cay BS.LC BF14 (b) 23 9 Albert Town
Long Island BS.LI BF15 3,107 448 173 Clarence Town
Mayaguana BS.MG BF16 308 110 42 Abraham's Bay
New Providence BS.NW BF17 171,542 207 80 Nassau
Ragged Island BS.RI BF18 89 23 9 Duncan Town
Rum Cay BS.RC BF19 (c) 78 30 Port Nelson
San Salvador BS.SS BF20 539 163 63 Cockburn Town
Spanish Wells BS.SW BF21 (a) 1 0 Spanish Wells
21 districts 253,486 13,634 5,264
 

In February, 1993, a new release of FIPS PUB 10-3 showed changes to many of the districts of the Bahamas. When ISO DIS 3166-2 was released in 1996, it used the same districts. Areas and populations are not available for the new districts. This table shows how they probably relate to the old ones.

District IS FIPS Before change, was:
Acklins and Crooked Islands AC BF24 BF02, BF08, and BF14
Bimini BI BF05 BF05
Cat Island CI BF06 BF06
Exuma EX BF10 BF10
Freeport FP BF25 Part of BF11
Fresh Creek FC BF26 Part of BF03
Governor's Harbour GH BF27 Part of BF09
Green Turtle Cay GT BF28 Part of BF01
Harbour Island HI BF22 BF12, BF21, and possibly part of BF09
High Rock HR BF29 Part of BF11
Inagua IN BF13 BF13
Kemps Bay KB BF30 BF07 and part of BF03
Long Island LI BF15 BF15
Marsh Harbour MH BF31 Part of BF01
Mayaguana MG BF16 BF16
New Providence NP BF23 Part of BF17
Nichollstown and Berry Islands NB BF32 BF04 and part of BF03
Ragged Island RI BF18 BF18
Rock Sound RS BF33 Part of BF09
Sandy Point SP BF34 Part of BF01
San Salvador and Rum Cay SR BF35 BF19 and BF20
  1. 1996: The Local Government Act, 1996 (PDF, long download) divided the Bahamas into 23 local government districts and New Providence, which was administered by the national government.
  2. 1999: Acklins, Crooked Island and Long Cay district split into Acklins and Crooked Island districts. Hope Town district split from Central Abaco. Exuma and Exuma Cays district split into Black Point and Exuma. Grand Cay district split from North Abaco. Harbour Island and Spanish Wells districts split from North Eleuthera. Moore's Island district split from South Abaco. Mangrove Cay district split from South Andros. Name of Bimini and Cat Cay changed to Bimini.

Population history:

The 1990 and 2000 censuses are reported by "Island" (or island group), and then by "Supervisory District". There are 19 islands and 51 supervisory districts. There is not necessarily a direct correspondence between these entities and the local government districts.

Island Pop-2000 Pop-1990 Area(km.²) Supervisory District Population
Abaco 13,170 10,003 1,681 North Abaco 6,612
South Abaco 6,558
Acklins 428 405 497 Acklins 428
Andros 7,686 8,177 5,957 Fresh Creek 2,576
Kemp's Bay 1,666
Nicholls Town 3,444
Berry Islands 709 628 31 Berry Islands 709
Biminis 1,717 1,639 23 Biminis 1,717
Cat Island 1,647 1,698 388 Cat Island 1,647
Crooked Island 350 412 241 Crooked Island 350
Eleuthera 7,999 7,993 484 North Eleuthera 2,981
South Eleuthera 5,018
Exuma and Cays 3,571 3,556 290 Exuma and Cays 3,571
Grand Bahama 46,994 40,898 1,373 Eight Mile Rock 8,345
High Rock 6,912
Lucaya 9,924
Marco City 8,170
Pineridge 8,816
West End 4,827
Harbour Island 1,639 1,219 34 Harbour Island 1,639
Inagua 969 985 1,537 Inagua 969
Long Island 2,992 2,949 596 Long Island 2,992
Mayaguana 259 312 285 Mayaguana 259
New Providence 210,832 172,196 207 Adelaide 11,983
Bain Town 8,173
Bamboo Town 8,198
Blue Hills 11,159
Carmichael 6,772
Centreville 10,080
Delaporte 9,483
Englerston 8,748
Fort Charlotte 7,833
Fox Hill 8,371
Garden Hills 8,204
Golden Gates 7,499
Grants Town 10,411
Holy Cross 8,339
Kennedy 8,521
Malcolm Creek 11,834
Marathon 6,571
Montagu 8,106
Mount Moriah 7,179
Saint Cecelia 8,827
Saint Margaret 8,390
Shirlea 9,359
South Beach 8,473
Yamacraw 8,319
Ragged Island 72 89 36 Ragged Island 72
Rum Cay 80 53 * Rum Cay 80
San Salvador 970 465 241 San Salvador 970
Spanish Wells 1,527 1,372 * Spanish Wells 1,527
Totals 303,611 255,049 13,939
  • Pop-2000: 2000-05-01 census. Source: General Statistics
  • Pop-1990: 1990-05-01 census. Source: Commonwealth of the Bahamas
    Census of Population and Housing 2000 Preliminary Results
  • Area: * Area of Rum Cay included in San Salvador. Area of Spanish
    Wells included in Harbour Island. Source: same as Pop-1990
  • Population: 2000-05-01 census.

Other names of subdivisions:

  1. Biminis: Bimini (new)
  2. Cat Island: Ilha do Gato (Portuguese); Isla del Gato (Spanish)
  3. Cay Lobos: Caio Lobos (Portuguese); Cayo Lobos (Spanish)
  4. Eleuthera: Eleutéria (Portuguese); Eleutère (French)
  5. Inagua: Inague (French)
  6. Long Cay: Caio Longo (Portuguese); Cayo Largo (Spanish); Fortune Island (variant)
  7. Long Island: Ilha Longa (Portuguese); Isla Larga (Spanish)
  8. New Providence: Nova Providência (Portuguese); Nueva Providencia (Spanish)
  9. San Salvador: São Salvador (Portuguese); Watling Island (variant)
Back to main statoids page Last updated: 2004-08-11
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