Arawak 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.

Caribbean, chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida, northeast of Cuba

24 15 N, 76 00 W

total: 13,940 sq km
land: 10,070 sq km
water: 3,870 sq km

0 km

3,542 km

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream

long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills

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

salt, aragonite, timber, arable land

arable land: 0.58%
permanent crops: 0.29%
other: 99.13% (2005)

10 sq km (2003)

hurricanes and other tropical storms cause extensive flood and wind damage

coral reef decay; solid waste disposal

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

303,770
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.)

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.)

total: 27.8 years
male: 27.1 years
female: 28.6 years (2006 est.)

0.64% (2006 est.)

17.57 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

9.05 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

-2.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

total: 24.68 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 30.29 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 18.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

total population: 65.6 years
male: 62.24 years
female: 69.03 years (2006 est.)

2.18 children born/woman (2006 est.)

3% (2003 est.)

5,600 (2003 est.)

less than 200 (2003 est.)

noun: Bahamian(s)
adjective: Bahamian

black 85%, white 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3%

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)

English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 95.6%
male: 94.7%
female: 96.5% (2003 est.)

conventional long form: Commonwealth of The Bahamas
conventional short form: The Bahamas

constitutional parliamentary democracy

Nassau

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

10 July 1973 (from UK)

Independence Day, 10 July (1973)

10 July 1973

based on English common law

18 years of age; universal

bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (16-member body appointed by the governor general upon the advice of the prime minister and the opposition leader for five-year terms) and the House of Assembly (40 seats; members elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms); the government may dissolve the Parliament and call elections at any time
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

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

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.

$5.696 billion (2005 est.)

$5.779 billion (2005 est.)

3% (2005 est.)

$18,900 (2005 est.)

agriculture: 3%
industry: 7%
services: 90% (2001 est.)

176,300 (2004)

agriculture 5%, industry 5%, tourism 50%, other services 40% (2005 est.)

10.2% (2005 est.)

9.3% (2004)

lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: 27%

1.2% (2004)

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

citrus, vegetables; poultry

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

1.81 billion kWh (2003)

1.683 billion kWh (2003)

23,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

transhipments of 29,000 bbl/day (2003)

$469.3 million (2004 est.)

mineral products and salt, animal products, rum, chemicals, fruit and vegetables

US 40.5%, Poland 13.4%, Spain 12.3%, Germany 5.9%, France 4.3% (2004)

$1.82 billion (2004 est.)

machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and live animals

US 22.4%, South Korea 18.9%, Brazil 9.2%, Japan 7.9%, Italy 7.8%, Venezuela 6.6% (2004)

$342.6 million (2004 est.)

$5 million (2004)

Bahamian dollar (BSD)

1 July - 30 June

139,900 (2004)

186,000 (2004)

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)

AM 3, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2006)

2 (2006)

.bs

359 (2005)

93,000 (2005)

64 (2005)

total: 30
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 14
914 to 1,523 m: 10
under 914 m: 1 (2005)

total: 34
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 9
under 914 m: 22 (2005)

1 (2005)

total: 2,693 km
paved: 1,546 km
unpaved: 1,147 km (1999)

total: 1,156
by type: barge carrier 1, bulk carrier 226, cargo 251, chemical tanker 60, combination ore/oil 18, container 71, liquefied gas 31, livestock carrier 2, passenger 118, passenger/cargo 37, petroleum tanker 171, refrigerated cargo 121, roll on/roll off 18, specialized tanker 4, vehicle carrier 27
foreign-owned: 1,070 (Angola 5, Australia 3, Belgium 11, Canada 14, China 5, Croatia 1, Cuba 1, Cyprus 13, Denmark 65, Egypt 1, Estonia 1, Finland 7, France 28, Germany 12, Greece 217, Hong Kong 7, Indonesia 2, Ireland 2, Israel 5, Italy 6, Japan 51, Jordan 2, Kenya 1, Latvia 1, Malaysia 12, Monaco 17, Netherlands 25, NZ 1, Nigeria 2, Norway 258, Philippines 1, Poland 15, Reunion 1, Russia 4, Saudi Arabia 12, Serbia and Montenegro 2, Singapore 14, Slovenia 1, Spain 11, Sweden 10, Switzerland 7, Thailand 1, Turkey 10, UAE 14, UK 68, US 121, Uruguay 2)
registered in other countries: 5 (Barbados 1, Liberia 2, Panama 1, unknown 1) (2005)

Freeport, Nassau, South Riding Point

Royal Bahamaian Defense Force (naval forces) (2004)

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

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