BS
The Commonwealth of the Bahamas
Bahamas
Summary
- Official Name
- The Commonwealth of the Bahamas
- Population
- 396,900
- General Remarks
- 700 islands and islets, 23 inhabited
- Principal Languages
- English
- Literacy Rate
- 96% (Roser and Ortiz-Ospina 2018)
- International Conventions
- CPPDCE (2006), CSICH (2012), ICCPR (1966), UNCRPD (2006), UNDRIP (2007)
- General References
- Hall 1966, Holm 1989
- Deaf Population
- 310–1,100
- Language Counts
- The number of established languages listed for Bahamas is 3. All are living languages. Of these, 1 is indigenous and 2 are non-indigenous. Furthermore, 1 is institutional and 2 are vigorous. Also listed are 2 unestablished languages.
Languages
- American Sign Language ase
- Scattered. Users: 400 in Bahamas (2021 SIL). Estimated, based on 0.1% of the total population. Status: 6a* (Vigorous). Alternate Names: ASL Classification: Sign language, Deaf community sign language
- Bahamas English Creole bah
- Widespread. Users: 328,000 (2018). Status: 6a* (Vigorous). De facto language of national identity. Alternate Names: Bahamian Dialect, Bahamian English Creole Classification: Creole, English based, Atlantic, Eastern, Northern
- English eng
- Users: 36,300 in Bahamas (2018). Status: 1 (National). De facto national language. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, English
- Haitian Creole hat
- Users: 15,400 in Bahamas (2018). Status: Unestablished. Classification: Creole, French based
- Jamaican English Creole jam
- Users: 6,180 in Bahamas (2018). Status: Unestablished. Classification: Creole, English based, Atlantic, Western
Languages by Status
Maps
Graphs
Language Vitality Profile

Full explanation
Language Status Profile

Full explanation
