Background: Lucayan Indians inhabited the islands when Christopher Columbus first set foot in the New World on San Salvador in 1492. British settlement of the islands began in 1647; the islands became a colony in 1783. Since attaining independence from the UK in 1973 The Bahamas have prospered through tourism and international banking and investment management. Because of its geography the country is a major transshipment point for illegal drugs particularly shipments to the US and its territory is used for smuggling illegal migrants into the US.

Geographic coordinates: 24 15 N 76 00 W

Map reference: Central America and the Caribbean

Area
Total: 13,940 km²
Land: 10,070 km²
Water: 3,870 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Connecticut

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 3,542 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate: tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream

Terrain: long flat coral formations with some low rounded hills

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Extremes highest point: Mount Alvernia, on Cat Island 63 m

Natural resources: salt aragonite timber arable land

Land use
Arable land: 0.58%
Permanent crops: 0.29%
Other: 99.13% (2005)

Irrigated land: 10 km² (2003)

Natural hazards: hurricanes and other tropical storms cause extensive flood and wind damage

Geography
Note: strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba; extensive island chain of which 30 are inhabited

Population
Note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.)
Growth rate: 0.64% (2006 est.)
Below poverty line: 9.3% (2004)

Nationality
Noun: Bahamian
Adjective: Bahamian

Ethnic groups: black 85% white 12% Asian and Hispanic 3%

Languages: English (official) Creole (among Haitian immigrants)

Religions: Baptist 35.4% Anglican 15.1% Roman Catholic 13.5% Pentecostal 8.1% Church of God 4.8% Methodist 4.2% other Christian 15.2% none or unspecified 2.9% other 0.8% (2000 census)

Age structure
0-14 years: 27.5% (male 41,799/female 41,733)
15-64 years: 66.1% (male 98,847/female 102,074)
65 years and over: 6.4% (male 7,891/female 11,426) (2006 est.)

Median age
Total: 27.8 years
Male: 27.1 years
Female: 28.6 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.64% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 17.57 births/1000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 9.05 deaths/1000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: -2.17 migrant(s)/1000 population (2006 est.)

Environment
Current issues: coral reef decay; solid waste disposal
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.02 male/female
Under 15 years: 1 male/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male/female
Total population: 0.96 male/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 24.68 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 30.29 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 18.96 deaths/1000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 65.6 years
Male: 62.24 years
Female: 69.03 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.18 children born/woman (2006 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 3% (2003 est.)
People living with hivaids: 5,600 (2003 est.)
Deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 95.6%
Male: 94.7%
Female: 96.5% (2003 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: Commonwealth of The Bahamas
Conventional short form: The Bahamas

Government type: constitutional parliamentary democracy

Capital
Name: Nassau
Geographic coordinates: 25 05 N, 77 21 W
Time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Daylight saving time: +1hr, begins first Sunday in April; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions: 21 districts; Acklins and Crooked Islands Bimini Cat Island Exuma Freeport Fresh Creek Governor's Harbour Green Turtle Cay Harbour Island High Rock Inagua Kemps Bay Long Island Marsh Harbour Mayaguana New Providence Nichollstown and Berry Islands Ragged Island Rock Sound Sandy Point San Salvador and Rum Cay

Independence: 10 July 1973 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day 10 July (1973)

Constitution: 10 July 1973

Legal system: based on English common law

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Arthur D. HANNA (since 1 February 2006)
Head of government: Prime Minister Perry CHRISTIE (since 3 May 2002) and Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia PRATT (since 7 May 2002)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the prime minister's recommendation
Elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; the prime minister recommends the deputy prime minister

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 1 May 2002 (next to be held by May 2007)
Election results: percent of vote by party - PLP 50.8%, FNM 41.1%, independents 5.2%; seats by party - PLP 29, FNM 7, independents 4

Judicial branch: Privy Council (London); Courts of Appeal; Supreme (lower) Court; magistrates courts

Political parties and leaders: Free National Movement or FNM [Hubert INGRAHAM]; Progressive Liberal Party or PLP [Perry CHRISTIE]

International organization participation: ACP C Caricom CDB FAO G-77 IADB IBRD ICAO ICCt (signatory) ICFTU ICRM IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOM IOC ITU MIGA NAM OAS OPANAL OPCW (signatory) UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WCO WHO WIPO WMO WTO (observer) WToO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: vacant
In the us chancery: 2,220 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 319-2,660
In the us fax: [1] (202) 319-2,668
In the us consulates general: Miami, New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador John D. ROOD
From the us embassy: 42 Queen Street, Nassau
From the us mailing address: local or express mail address: P. O. Box N-8,197, Nassau; US Department of State, 3,370 Nassau Place, Washington, DC 20,521-3,370
From the us telephone: [1] (242) 322-1181, 328-2,206 (after hours)
From the us fax: [1] (242) 356-0222

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of aquamarine (top) gold and aquamarine with a black equilateral triangle based on the hoist side

Economy overview: The Bahamas is a stable developing nation with an economy heavily dependent on tourism and offshore banking. Tourism together with tourism-driven construction and manufacturing accounts for approximately 60% of GDP and directly or indirectly employs half of the archipelago's labor force. Steady growth in tourism receipts and a boom in construction of new hotels resorts and residences had led to solid GDP growth in recent years but the slowdown in the US economy and the attacks of 11 September 2001 held back growth in these sectors in 2001-03. The current government has presided over a period of economic recovery and an upturn in large-scale private sector investments in tourism. Financial services constitute the second-most important sector of the Bahamian economy accounting for about 15% of GDP. However since December 2000 when the government enacted new regulations on the financial sector many international businesses have left The Bahamas. Manufacturing and agriculture together contribute approximately a tenth of GDP and show little growth despite government incentives aimed at those sectors. Overall growth prospects in the short run rest heavily on the fortunes of the tourism sector which depends on growth in the US the source of more than 80% of the visitors.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $6.105 billion (2005 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 3.7% (2005 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $20,200 (2005 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 3%
Industry: 7%
Services: 90% (2001 est.)

Agriculture products: citrus vegetables; poultry

Industries: tourism banking cement oil transshipment salt rum aragonite pharmaceuticals spiral-welded steel pipe

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force: 176,300 (2004)
By occupation agriculture: 5%
By occupation industry: 5%
By occupation tourism: 50%
By occupation other services: 40% (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate: 10.2% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line: 9.3% (2004)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: NA%
Highest 10: 27%

Budget
Revenues: $1.03 billion
Expenditures: $1.03 billion; including capital expenditures of $130 million (FY04/05)

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Inflation rate consumer prices: 1.2% ( 2004)

Exports: $469.3 million (2004 est.)
Commodities: mineral products and salt animal products rum chemicals fruit and vegetables
Partners: US 31% Spain 29.7% Poland 9.3% Germany 5.6% Guatemala 4.1% (2005)

Imports: $1.82 billion (2004 est.)
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment manufactures chemicals mineral fuels; food and live animals
Partners: US 22.5% South Korea 20.2% Spain 7.8% Brazil 7.1% Italy 6.5% Germany 5.4% (2005)

Debt external: $342.6 million (2004 est.)

Exchange rates: Bahamian dollars per US dollar - 1 (2005) 1 (2004) 1 (2003) 1 (2002) 1 (2001)

Electricity
Production: 1.81 billion kWh (2003)
Consumption: 1.683 billion kWh (2003)
Exports: 0 kWh (2003)
Imports: 0 kWh (2003)

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2003 est.)
Consumption: 0 m³ (2003 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 139,900 (2004)
Mobile cellular: 186,000 (2004)

Telephone system
General assessment: modern facilities
Domestic: totally automatic system; highly developed
International: country code - 1-242; tropospheric scatter and submarine cable to Florida; 3 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth station - 2 (2005)

Internet
Country code: .bs
Hosts: 591 (2006)
Users: 93,000 (2005)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: NA

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001)

Airports: 64 (2006)
With paved runways total: 29
With paved runways over 3047 m: 2
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 14
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 9
With paved runways under 914 m: 1 (2006)
With unpaved runways total: 35
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 3
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 10
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 22 (2006)

Heliports: 1 (2006)

Roadways
Total: 2,693 km
Paved: 1,546 km
Unpaved: 1,147 km (1999)

Merchant marine
Total: 1,177 ships (1000 GRT or over) 37,743,270 GRT/50,918,747 DWT
By type: barge carrier 1, bulk carrier 253, cargo 250, chemical tanker 64, container 79, liquefied gas 35, livestock carrier 2, passenger 115, passenger/cargo 34, petroleum tanker 175, refrigerated cargo 114, roll on/roll off 20, specialized tanker 5, vehicle carrier 30
Foreign owned: 1,093 (Angola 5, Australia 2, Belgium 13, Canada 18, China 3, Cuba 1, Cyprus 13, Denmark 59, Estonia 1, Finland 8, France 37, Germany 22, Greece 232, Hong Kong 8, Iceland 1, India 1, Indonesia 4, Ireland 2, Israel 1, Italy 5, Japan 51, Jordan 2, Kenya 1, Latvia 1, Malaysia 12, Monaco 17, Montenegro 2, Netherlands 24, Nigeria 2, Norway 259, Philippines 1, Poland 15, Reunion 1, Russia 6, Saudi Arabia 12, Singapore 12, Slovenia 1, Spain 12, Sweden 6, Switzerland 2, Thailand 1, Turkey 8, UAE 16, UK 69, Uruguay 2, US 121, Venezuela 1)
Registered in other countries: 4 (Barbados 1, Liberia 1, Panama 2) (2006)

Ports and terminals: Freeport Nassau South Riding Point

Disputes international: disagrees with the US on the alignment of the maritime boundary; continues to monitor and interdict Haitian refugees fleeing economic privation and political instability

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for US and Europe; offshore financial center