Time in Bahamas (North America)
Time in Bahamas, Carribean (North America)
The analog clock above is running live the current local time in Bahamas
which is Bahamas Standard Time. At this time the time zone of Bahamas is
UTC-5:00 hours. However, between March and November every year the clock time
gets one hour added to it because usually in these months Daylight Saving Time
or DST comes into force. Irrespective of this fact, the clock seen above will
continue to run the correct time in Bahamas which follows EST or Eastern
Standard Time and during DST period follows EDT or Eastern Daylight Saving Time
in its clocks.
![]() |
About Bahamas at this Time
At this time the country of Bahamas is located in 25o04'N Latitude
and 77o20'W Longitude where its Capital Nassau is situated. The
Bahamas is officially in Commonwelath and is an archipelagic state of the
Lucayan Archipelago which consists of over 00 islands, cays and Islets in the
Atlantic Ocean lying north west of the Turks and Caicos Islands, South East of
the US state of Florida but to the east of Florida Keys and Cuba is in its
North. The Capital of Bahamas at this time Nassau located on the island of the
New Providence.
Time and History of Bahamas
The Bahamas is also supposed to be the first landfall in the New World in
1492 by Columbus during which time the Lucayan which was inhabited by a branch
of the Arawakan speaking Taino people at that time. The Spanish never wanted to
settle in Bahamas. But they took the native Lucayans to Hispaniola as slaves and
the island became deserted between 1513 till 1648. After that time the English
colonists from Bermuda came and settled on the island of Eleuthera and finally
Bahamas became a British Crown Colony by 1718.
Slavery Abolished at that time in Bahamas
Once the American War of Independence got over, thousands of American Loyalists are known to have come and settled in Bahamas bringing along with them their own slaves and estabilished plantations on the land grants. At this time Bahamas became the heaven for the African Slaves who were freed. Even slaves who were rescued from illegal slave ships by the Royal Navy are known to have been settled in Bahamas. Americal slaves and Seminoles from Florida escaped and came to settle in Bahamas at that time. Due to bad weather an American Domestic ship carrying American freed slaves came here. Finally in 1834 Slavery was Abolished in Bahamas. Hence 90% of people in Bahamas happens to be the descendants of slaves and Free Africans.
Area, Population and GDP at this time in Bahamas
At this time in Bahamas the total area is about 13,878 square kilometer which
is at the 160th position in the world areawise. Out of this area 28% or more
than one fourth is covered by water. The population estimate at this time (2016)
is 392,718 people which makes The Bahamas the 177 the most populated country in
the world with a population density of 25 people per square kilometer. At this
time in Bahamas the GDP(PPP) is estimated at USD 13,000 billion with a per
capita of 32,400 USD. The GDP(Nominal) of Bahamas at this time is estimated at
US Dollar 8,000 billion with a per capita of 22,832 US Dollars. At this time in
The Bahamas, the currency in use is actually the Bahamian Dollar (BDS). However
US dollars are widely accepted due to tourists inflow to Bahamas.
Languages at this Time in Bahamas
At this time in The Bahamas, the official language is English. But many residents are known to speak Bahamina Dialect. However, the 1995 estimates shows that over 98 % Bahamian adult population is literate.
Climate at this time in Bahamas
At this time in Bahamas, there is Tropical Savannah Climate or Aw according
tothe Koppen Classification. The low elevation and the presence of warm tropical
Gulf Stream ensures that Bahamas is usually warm climate with no winter climate
at all. The warmest and coldest months shows only about 08o C
difference in Bahamas at this time. Howev er there has been a history in between
a few decades when the temperature did fall nto the 3 to 5 deg C or 37 to 41 deg
F for a few hours when a seer cold wave engulfed Bahamas which probably came
from the North Americal Landmass. At this time in Bahamas rainfall always is
followed by Sun shine and the wettest season is the Summer. Bahamas gets at this
time gets about 340 days of sunshine amounting to 3000 hours or more per year.
The highest recorded temperature average for the year is 28.8 deg C or 83.9 deg
Fand lowest is just about 20.8 deg C or 69.5 deg F (just 8 deg C difference) and
the mean temperature throughout the year hoves around 24.8 deg C or 76.7 deg F.
The average amount of precipitation at this time Bahama receives is about139 cm
which is over a period of 140 days in a year.
Hurricanes at this Time in Bahamas
Hurricanes do hit Bahamas like the 1992 Hurricane Andrew which passed the northers islands and Hurricane Floyd which passed over the Eastern parts of the Islands in 1999. A considerable amount of damage was done by these two hurricanes at that time in Bahamas. But since then there has not been a major hurricane passing over Bahamas.
Tourism at this time in Bahamas
At this time in the country of The Bahamas, Tourism is flourishing. In fact The Bahamas relies heavily on the Tourism industry to generate most of its economic activity. The tourism actually accounts for over 60% of the Bahamian economy at this time and is providing jobs for more than half the country. It is estimated in 2012 that close to six million people visited the Bahamas in 2012 out of which more than 70% came in Cruize ships. The next important economic sector of Bahamas at this time is International Financial Services because it accounts for over 15% of the Bahamas economy. This is followed by the Agricultural industry which represents about 7% of the Bahamas total GDP. But in contrast, 80% of the food consumed in The Bahamas is being imported at this time.
Government at this time in Bahamas.
At this time the Bahamas has a Unitary Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
where there is a Monarch, a Governor General and a Priminister running the
government fairly similar to the UK. At this time The Bahamas is a member of
Commonwealth of Nations retaining the Queen as the head of State who is
represented by the Governor General. All the legislative powers are vested in a
Bicameral Parliment with a 38 member House of Assembly or the Lower House, whose
members get elected from single member districts and a 16 member Senate. All the
members are elected by the Governor General which includes the 09 seats on the
advice of the Prime Minister, three on the advice of the Prime Minister after
consultation with the leader of the opposition and four on the advice of the
Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.
The Powers of Prime Minister at this Time in Bahamas
The Prime Minister is the Head of the Government who has the power to
dissolve Parliament and call for a General Election any time during the five
year term. The Prime Minister is usually the leader of the Party with the most
seats in the House of Assembly. All the Executive Powers are exercised by the
Cabinet who were selected by the Prime Minister and drawn from his supporters in
the House of Assembly. The judiciary is completely free from the executive as
well as the legislature and the Jurisprudence is actually based on the English
Law. At this time The Bahamas constitution safeguards its citizen's freedom of
speech, the press, the right to worship, movement and association.
Local Government at this Time in Bahamas
Except New Providence every other districts of Bahamas has a local government directly administered by the central government as per the Local Government Act passed sometime in 1996. The districts have councillors and Local Town Comitties who oversee all the affairs of their respective district and expenditure of Public Funds, without the Central Government needing to interfere in their affairs. There are a total of 32 districs where elections are held once every five years for 110 Councillors and 281 Town Commitee members. The districts existing at this time in Bahamas are Auklins, Berry Islands, Black Point Exua, Bimini, Central Abaco, Cat Island, Central Eleuthera, Central Andros, Crooked Island, City of Freeport Grand Bahama, Exuma, Grand Cay Abaco, Harbour Island Eleuthera, Hope Town Abaco, Inagua, Long Island, Mayaguana, Mangrove Cay Andros, Moore's Island Abaco, North Andros, North Eleuthera, North Abaco, Rum Cay, Ragged Island, San Salvador, South Abaco, South Eleuthera, South Andros, Spanish Wells Eleuthera and West Grand Bahama.
Why Named Bahamas?
Bahamas is known to have been named based on the Spanish word Baja Mar or Shallow Water/Sea or Low Tide reflecting the shallow waters around these islands. Some theory says Taino ba ha ma or Big Upper Middle Land gave it the name Bahamas at that time. Some linguistics are of the opinion that Bahamas name originated from Guanahani which is local name of unclear meaning. However, there are only countries in the world which has their names starting with the word the which are The Bahamas and The Gambia.