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 Europe 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 2007 est.)
Growth rate: 0.602% (2007 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% (male 41,268/female 41,186)
15-64 years: 66.5% (male 99,961/female 103,230)
65 years and over: 6.5% (male 8,176/female 11,834) (2007 est.)

Median age
Total: 28.1 years
Male: 27.3 years
Female: 28.9 years (2007 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.602% (2007 est.)

Birth rate: 17.3 births/1000 population (2007 est.)

Death rate: 9.13 deaths/1000 population (2007 est.)

Net migration rate: -2.15 migrant(s)/1000 population (2007 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: 1.002 male/female
15-64 years: 0.968 male/female
65 years and over: 0.691 male/female
Total population: 0.956 male/female (2007 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 24.17 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 29.58 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 18.65 deaths/1000 live births (2007 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 65.66 years
Male: 62.37 years
Female: 69.02 years (2007 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.15 children born/woman (2007 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 second Sunday in March; ends first Sunday in November

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 Hubert A. INGRAHAM (since 4 May 2007)
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 2 May 2007 (next to be called by May 2012)
Election results: percent of vote by party - FNM 49.86%, PLP 47.02%; seats by party - FNM 23, PLP 18

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 IMSO Interpol IOC IOM ITSO ITU MIGA NAM OAS OPANAL OPCW (signatory) UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNWTO UPU WCO WHO WIPO WMO WTO (observer)

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 Ned L. SIEGEL
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, 356-3,229 (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: $6.556 billion (2006 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 4% (2006 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $21,600 (2006 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% (2000)

Budget
Revenues: $1.03 billion
Expenditures: $1.03 billion (FY04/05)

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Inflation rate consumer prices: 1.2% (2004)

Market value of publicly traded shares: $NA

Exports: $451 million (2005 est.)
Commodities: mineral products and salt animal products rum chemicals fruit and vegetables
Partners: Spain 23.8% US 21.1% Poland 14.4% Germany 7.3% UK 6.1% Guatemala 5.2% (2006)

Imports: $2.16 billion (2005 est.)
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment manufactures chemicals mineral fuels; food and live animals
Partners: US 24.5% Brazil 15.6% Japan 13% South Korea 7.8% Spain 7.1% (2006)

Debt external: $342.6 million (2004 est.)

Exchange rates: Bahamian dollars per US dollar - 1 (2006) 1 (2005) 1 (2004) 1 (2003) 1 (2002)

Electricity
Production: 1.894 billion kWh (2005)
Consumption: 1.762 billion kWh (2005)
Exports: 0 kWh (2005)
Imports: 0 kWh (2005)

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2005 est.)
Consumption: 0 m³ (2005 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 133,100 (2005)
Mobile cellular: 227,800 (2005)

Telephone system
General assessment: modern facilities
Domestic: totally automatic system; highly developed; the Bahamas Domestic Submarine Network links 14 of the islands and is designed to satisfy increasing demand for voice and broadband internet services
International: country code - 1-242; landing point for the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber-optic submarine cable that provides links to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth station - 2 (2007)

Internet
Country code: .bs
Hosts: 248 (2007)
Users: 103,000 (2005)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: 0.5% (2006)

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

Airports: 62 (2007)
With paved runways total: 24
With paved runways over 3047 m: 2
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 12
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 7 (2007)
With unpaved runways total: 38
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 5
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 11
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 22 (2007)

Heliports: 1 (2007)

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

Merchant marine
Total: 1,213 ships (1000 GRT or over) 40,403,455 GRT/54,276,183 DWT
By type: barge carrier 1, bulk carrier 225, cargo 240, chemical tanker 84, combination ore/oil 13, container 72, liquefied gas 49, livestock carrier 2, passenger 117, passenger/cargo 34, petroleum tanker 196, refrigerated cargo 118, roll on/roll off 18, specialized tanker 4, specialized tanker 1, vehicle carrier 39
Foreign owned: 1,134 (Angola 6, Australia 3, Belgium 15, Bermuda 12, Brazil 1, Canada 13, China 9, Croatia 1, Cuba 1, Cyprus 20, Denmark 66, Finland 8, France 43, Germany 40, Greece 214, Hong Kong 3, Iceland 1, Indonesia 3, Ireland 2, Italy 1, Japan 62, Jordan 2, Kenya 1, Malaysia 11, Monaco 11, Montenegro 2, Netherlands 24, Nigeria 2, Norway 232, Philippines 1, Poland 15, Russia 5, Saudi Arabia 15, Singapore 9, Slovenia 1, South Africa 1, Spain 11, Sweden 5, Switzerland 2, Taiwan 1, Thailand 1, Trinidad and Tobago 1, Turkey 5, UAE 20, UK 68, US 162, Uruguay 1, Venezuela 1)
Registered in other countries: 3 (Barbados 1, Panama 2) (2007)

Ports and terminals: Freeport Nassau South Riding Point

Disputes international: disagrees with the US on the alignment of a potential maritime boundary; continues to monitor and interdict drug dealers and Haitian refugees in Bahamian waters

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