Lucayan Archipelago

Lucayan Archipelago Lucayan Archipel (Haitian Creole)
Antilles
Location within the Caribbean
Region	Caribbean
Countries and territories	2 Bahamas Turks and Caicos Islands (UK)
Area
• Total	14,308 km2 (5,524 sq mi)
Population (2009)
• Total	367,536
• Density	24.6/km2 (64/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Bahamian, Turks Islander, Caicos Islander
Time zone	EST (UTC−5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)

The Lucayan Archipelago, also known as the Bahama Archipelago, is an island group comprising the Commonwealth of the Bahamas 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.

William Keegan writes that the Bahama archipelago includes the territories of both the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, adding: "Modern political considerations aside, the islands form a single archipelago with common geological, ecological, and cultural roots." Because the two nations of the Lucayan Archipelago do not border the Caribbean Sea, they are technically part of the West Indies but not the Caribbean. They are, however, often grouped with the Caribbean nations for convenience.

Proposed federation

The leaders of the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands discussed the possibility of forming a federation in 2010.

Countries and territories

• Bahamas
• Turks and Caicos Islands (United Kingdom)

See also

• List of islands of the Lucayan Archipelago
• West Indies

References

• Keegan, William F. (1992) The People Who Discovered Columbus: The Prehistory of the Bahamas. University Press of Florida ISBN 0-8130-1137-X

Further reading

• Granberry, Julian (October 1991). "Lucayan Toponyms". Journal of the Bahamas Historical Society 13. Retrieved 8 December 2013.