NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — A bridge in the Bahamas is being renamed to honour Sidney Poitier, who spent part of his childhood in the island chain east of Florida.

Prime Minister Perry Christie says the Paradise Island Bridge will be rechristened as part of next month's 40th anniversary celebration of Bahamian independence. Christie says the 88-year-old film star is being honoured because of his life story and diplomacy. Poitier has been Bahamian ambassador to Japan and UNESCO.

The Oscar-winning Poitier was born in the United States but spent much of his childhood on Cat Island, a sparsely populated island in the central Bahamas.

The Paradise Island Bridge is the largest in the Bahamas. It connects the capital to the Atlantis resort, one of the region's top tourist destinations. The renaming was announced Tuesday.

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