The independent Commonwealth of the Bahamas is an
archipelago consisting of about 700 islands and cays (keys) and almost 2,400
low, barren rock formations. Only 22 of the islands and cays are inhabited. The
archipelago extends about 750 miles (1,200 kilometers), reaching from a point
off the east coast of Florida almost to the island of Hispaniola. Through this
island barrier there are only three channels for large vessels, for the islands
are merely the exposed portions of the Great Bahama Bank, an extension of the
North American continental shelf.
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