Claim: The Bahamas is a domestically recognized state that comprises a series of islands that form an archipelago.
Evidence: The Bahamas -LRB- -LSB- bəˈhɑːməz -RSB- -RRB- , known officially as the Commonwealth of The Bahamas , is an archipelagic state within the Lucayan Archipelago.
It consists of more than 700 islands , cays , and islets in the Atlantic Ocean and is located north of Cuba and Hispaniola -LRB- Haiti and the Dominican Republic -RRB- ; northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands ; southeast of the US state of Florida and east of the Florida Keys.