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Updates: 

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter II-3 is dated 2011-12-15. For the Bahamas, the updates in this newsletter are almost the same as the ones that appeared in Newsletter II-2. The difference is that now Green Turtle Cay (former code GT) has been removed.

Update 3 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes, the successor to FIPS PUB 10-4, was issued on 2011-02-28. It has codes for most of the current districts.

Newsletter II-2, an update to the ISO 3166-2 standard, is dated 2010-06-30. It assigns ISO codes to the current districts, as shown in the main table below. For some reason, ISO removed New Providence (former code NP) from the list of districts.

Sorin Cosoveanu provided evidence that Green Turtle Cay is a separate district. It used to be part of North Abaco. It appears on a list of districts for the 2008 election, and in a table of district administrators for 2010 (source [3]), but it's depicted as part of North Abaco on a map dated 2009 (source [4]).

Background information: the Bahamas consist of twenty-some inhabited islands, 700 smaller islands, and over a thousand cays. Sources disagree on the exact numbers. The nature of the islands makes them hard to count. On a good map, Bimini resolves itself into at least two inhabited islands named North Bimini and South Bimini. Andros Island is crisscrossed with waterways and wetlands, dividing it into sub-islands. How many? That depends on how wet you have to get your feet before you've crossed from one island to the next. On my map, Mangrove Cay, Yellow Cay, Red Shank Cay, Big Wood Cay, and others all appear to be part of Andros Island. Paradise Island is generally considered part of New Providence, to which it's connected by a causeway.

The Local Government Act, 1996 created 23 districts in the Family Islands. New Providence was not part of the district structure. A government document explains, "This historic development of Local Government has radically changed the system of government put in place for the Family Islands 90 years ago.... Local Government is an acknowledgement by the present government that a central government distant from many communities particularly in the Family Islands, cannot adequately respond to the daily needs of Family Island communities in a timely fashion.... Because of the geographical separation of the island from New Providence, the capital, it was felt that the Family Island situation was more urgent.... Local government for New Providence was therefore not considered at that time." In short, the national government is still able to govern New Providence, but the remainder of the country needs local government. To deal with this situation, I have treated New Providence as if it were also a district.

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: 

1. Danish: Bahama-øerne
2. Dutch: Bahama eilanden, Bahama's, Gemenebest der Bahama's (formal)
3. English: Commonwealth of the Bahamas (formal), Lucayas (obsolete)
4. Finnish: Bahama
5. French: Bahamas fp
6. German: Bahama-Inseln fp, Bahamas f
7. Icelandic: Bahamaeyjar
8. Italian: Bahamas p
9. Norwegian: Bahamaøyene, Bahamas, Bahamassambandet (formal)
10. Portuguese: Baamas, Bahamas, Comunidade f das Bahamas fp (formal)
11. Russian: Багамы, Содружество Багамских Островов (formal)
12. Spanish: Bahamas, Commonwealth de las Bahamas fp (formal)
13. Swedish: Bahamas
14. Turkish: Bahamalar

Origin of name: 

Spanish baja mar: low sea

Primary subdivisions: 

The Bahamas are divided into 33 districts. The Local Government Act, 1996, classifies districts as "Second Schedule Districts", which are subdivided into Town Areas, and "Third Schedule Districts", which are not. New Providence is neither.

District	HASC	Sch	ISO	FIPS	Before	Capital	Island
Acklins	BS.AK	3	AK	BF24	AC	Mason Bay	Acklins Crooked Island / Long Cay
Berry Islands	BS.BR	3	BY	BF32	NB	Nicholls Town	Bimini / Berry Islands
Bimini	BS.BI	3	BI	BF05	BI	Alice Town	Bimini / Berry Islands
Black Point	BS.BP	3	BP	BF36	EX	Black Point	Exuma / Ragged Island
Cat Island	BS.CI	2	CI	BF06	CI	The Bight	Cat Island
Central Abaco	BS.CB	2	CO	BF37	MH	Marsh Harbour	Abaco
Central Andros	BS.CN	2	CS	BF38	FC	Fresh Creek	Andros
Central Eleuthera	BS.CE	2	CE	BF39	GH	Governor's Harbour	Eleuthera
City of Freeport	BS.FP	3	FP	BF25	FP	Freeport	Grand Bahama
Crooked Island	BS.CK	3	CK	BF40	AC	Moss Town	Acklins Crooked Island / Long Cay
East Grand Bahama	BS.EB	2	EG	BF41	HR	High Rock	Grand Bahama
Exuma	BS.EM	2	EX	BF10	EX	George Town	Exuma / Ragged Island
Grand Cay	BS.GC	3	GC	BF42	GT	Cooper's Town	Abaco
Green Turtle Cay	BS.GT	3			GT	Cooper's Town	Abaco
Harbour Island	BS.HB	3	HI	BF22	HI	Harbour Island	Eleuthera
Hope Town	BS.HT	3	HT	BF43	MH	Marsh Harbour	Abaco
Inagua	BS.IN	3	IN	BF13	IN	Matthew Town	Inagua
Long Island	BS.LI	2	LI	BF15	LI	Clarence Town	Long Island
Mangrove Cay	BS.MC	3	MC	BF44	KB	Kemp's Bay	Andros
Mayaguana	BS.MG	3	MG	BF16	MG	Abraham's Bay	Mayaguana
Moore's Island	BS.MI	3	MI	BF45	SP	Sandy Point	Abaco
New Providence	BS.NW				NP	Nassau	New Providence
North Abaco	BS.NA	2	NO	BF46	GT	Cooper's Town	Abaco
North Andros	BS.NN	2	NS	BF47	NB	Nicholls Town	Andros
North Eleuthera	BS.NE	3	NE	BF48	HI	Upper Bogue	Eleuthera
Ragged Island	BS.RI	3	RI	BF18	RI	George Town	Exuma / Ragged Island
Rum Cay	BS.RC	3	RC	BF49	SR	Rum Cay	San Salvador
San Salvador	BS.SS	3	SS	BF35	SR	Cockburn Town	San Salvador
South Abaco	BS.SB	2	SO	BF50	SP	Sandy Point	Abaco
South Andros	BS.SN	2	SA	BF51	KB	Kemp's Bay	Andros
South Eleuthera	BS.SE	2	SE	BF52	RS	Rock Sound	Eleuthera
Spanish Wells	BS.SW	3	SW	BF53	HI	Lower Bogue	Eleuthera
West Grand Bahama	BS.WB	2	WG	BF54	FP	Eight Mile Rock	Grand Bahama
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. Sch: Schedule number (type of district). ISO: ISO 3166-2 code. FIPS: Codes from "Geopolitical Entities and Codes". Before: Approximate pre-1996 district corresponding to this one, represented by an ISO code (for key, see table under Change history). Capital: Location of district office. 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.

The Out Islands, or Family Islands (a synonymous phrase that the tourist industry finds more appealing), are all the Bahamas except New Providence and Grand Bahama. Originally, New Providence was the only exception, and all the rest of the country was Out Islands; more recently, Grand Bahama has grown in importance, and is usually not considered an Out Island.

Abaco includes Moore's Island (Mores Island).

Bimini includes Cay Sal Bank.

The UN LOCODE page  for Bahamas lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

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. These districts are also cited in a census report dated 1963-11-15, as "island of residence".

District	HASC	FIPS	Pop-1953	Pop-1990	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Chief town
Abaco	BS.AB	BF01	3,407	10,061	1,681	649	Marsh Harbour
Acklins Island	BS.AK	BF02	1,273	428	389	150	Masons Bay
Andros	BS.AN	BF03	7,136	8,155	5,957	2,300	Nicholls' Town
Berry Islands	BS.BR	BF04	327	634	31	12	Bullocks Harbor
Biminis	BS.BI	BF05	1,325	1,638	23	9	Alice Town
Cat Island	BS.CI	BF06	3,201	1,678	388	150	Arthur's Town
Cay Lobos	BS.CL	BF07	5	25	18	7	Cay Lobos
Crooked Island	BS.CK	BF08	836	423	238	92	Colonel Hill
Eleuthera	BS.EL	BF09	6,070	9,300	518	200	Governor's Harbour
Exuma	BS.EX	BF10	2,919	3,539	290	112	Georgetown
Grand Bahama	BS.GB	BF11	4,095	41,035	1,373	530	Freeport
Harbour Island	BS.HB	BF12	840	(a)	4	2	Dunmore Town
Inagua	BS.IN	BF13	999	985	1,671	645	Matthew Town
Long Cay	BS.LC	BF14	80	(b)	23	9	Albert Town
Long Island	BS.LI	BF15	3,755	3,107	448	173	Clarence Town
Mayaguana	BS.MG	BF16	615	308	110	42	Abraham's Bay
New Providence	BS.NW	BF17	46,125	171,542	207	80	Nassau
Ragged Island	BS.RI	BF18	320	89	23	9	Duncan Town
Rum Cay	BS.RC	BF19	133	(c)	78	30	Port Nelson
San Salvador	BS.SS	BF20	694	539	163	63	Cockburn Town
Spanish Wells	BS.SW	BF21	686	(a)	1	0	Spanish Wells
21 districts				253,486	13,634	5,264
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Pop-1953: 1953-12-06 census (source [10]). Pop-1990: 1990-05-01 census. Population included in: (a) Eleuthera. (b) Crooked Island. (c) San Salvador.

 

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 these districts. This table shows how they probably relate to the old ones.

District	ISO	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 (source [6]) 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. This change was made by the Minister for Family Island Affairs, who is given authority to create new districts by the LGA.
3. ~2008: Green Turtle Cay district split from North Abaco (former HASC code BS.NB).

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Biminis: Bimini, Bimini and Cat Cay (new)
2. Cat Island: Ilha do Gato (Portuguese); Isla del Gato (Spanish)
3. Cay Lobos: Caio Lobos (Portuguese); Cayo Lobos (Spanish)
4. Crooked Island: Crooked Island and Long Cay (new)
5. Eleuthera: Eleutéria (Portuguese); Eleutère (French)
6. Inagua: Inague (French)
7. Long Cay: Caio Longo (Portuguese); Cayo Largo (Spanish); Fortune Island (variant)
8. Long Island: Ilha Longa (Portuguese); Isla Larga (Spanish)
9. New Providence: Nova Providência (Portuguese); Nueva Providencia (Spanish)
10. San Salvador: São Salvador (Portuguese); Watling Island (variant)

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-2010	Pop-2000	Pop-1990	Area(km.²)	Supervisory District	Population
Abaco	16,692	13,170	10,003	1,681	North Abaco	6,612
					South Abaco	6,558
Acklins	560	428	405	497	Acklins	428
Andros	7,386	7,686	8,177	5,957	Fresh Creek	2,576
					Kemp's Bay	1,666
					Nicholls Town	3,444
Berry Islands	798	709	628	31	Berry Islands	709
Biminis	2,008	1,717	1,639	23	Biminis	1,717
Cat Island	1,503	1,647	1,698	388	Cat Island	1,647
Crooked Island	323	350	412	241	Crooked Island	350
Eleuthera	7,826	7,999	7,993	484	North Eleuthera	2,981
					South Eleuthera	5,018
Exuma and Cays	7,314	3,571	3,556	290	Exuma and Cays	3,571
Grand Bahama	51,756	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	1,702	1,639	1,219	34	Harbour Island	1,639
Inagua	911	969	985	1,537	Inagua	969
Long Island	3,024	2,992	2,949	596	Long Island	2,992
Mayaguana	271	259	312	285	Mayaguana	259
New Providence	248,948	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	70	72	89	36	Ragged Island	72
Rum Cay	99	80	53	*	Rum Cay	80
San Salvador	930	970	465	241	San Salvador	970
Spanish Wells	1,537	1,527	1,372	*	Spanish Wells	1,527
Totals	353,658	303,611	255,049	13,939
Pop-2010: 2010-05-04 census (source [9]). Pop-2000: 2000-05-01 census (source [7]). Pop-1990: 1990-05-01 census (source [8]). Area: (Source [8]) * Area of Rum Cay included in San Salvador. Area of Spanish Wells included in Harbour Island. Population: 2000-05-01 census.

Sources: 

1. [1] The Local Government System in the Bahamas  is a country profile from the Commonwealth Local Government forum (retrieved 2010-07-29).
2. [2] The official Web site of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas  had inconsistent information about the subdivisions of the Bahamas (retrieved 2002-08).
3. [3] Posting of Administrators As at 5th January, 2010 . Click on wedges to expand islands (retrieved 2010-07-29).
4. [4] District Map of Abaco  from the Abaconian newspaper (retrieved 2010-07-29).
5. [5] The Districts by Island  page lists 31 districts (retrieved 2002-08-25).
6. [6] Local Government Act, 1996  (PDF, slow download; retrieved 2002-08-25).
7. [7] General Statistics .
8. [8] Commonwealth of the Bahamas Census of Population and Housing 2000 Preliminary Results.
9. [9] Comparison between the 2000 and 2010 Population Censuses , Department of Statistics of the Bahamas (retrieved 2011-03-25).
10. [10] Demographic Yearbook , 7th Ed. Statistical Office of the United Nations, New York, 1955.