The Bahamas is an internationally recognized state that comprises a series of islands that form the Lucayan Archipelago.
== History ===== Pre-colonial era ===The first inhabitants of the Bahamas were the Taino people, who moved into the uninhabited southern islands from Hispaniola and Cuba around the 800s1000s AD, having migrated there from South America; they came to be known as the Lucayan people
== Naming and etymology ==The name Bahamas is derived from the Lucayan name Bahama ('large upper middle island'), used by the indigenous Tano people for the island of Grand Bahama

