The Commonwealth of The Bahamas is an archipelagic nation in the Atlantic Ocean, comprising over 700 islands and 2,500 cays, with its capital Nassau located on New Providence. Its history is steeped in early exploration, as Christopher Columbus made his first New World landfall on San Salvador in 1492, though the islands were later left mostly deserted after the Spanish enslaved the native Lucayans until English settlers from Bermuda arrived in 1649. Becoming a British crown colony in 1718 to curb piracy, the Bahamas later served as a haven for freed slaves, with slavery fully abolished in 1834. The country gained independence as a Commonwealth realm in 1973, led by first Prime Minister Lynden Pindling, and today recognizes King Charles III as its monarch. With a population of about 400,516—90% of whom are Black Bahamians—its economy thrives on tourism and offshore finance, boasting the 14th-largest GDP per capita in the Americas. Interestingly, its name derives from the Lucayan word Bahama (meaning 'large upper middle island'), not the Spanish baja mar, and it is one of only two countries whose official short name begins with "The".