 THE BAHAMAS                                                                    
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 13,940 km2; land area: 10,070 km2                                   
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly larger than Connecticut                              
                                                                                
Land boundaries: none                                                           
                                                                                
Coastline: 3,542 km                                                             
                                                                                
Maritime claims:                                                                
                                                                                
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation;                   
                                                                                
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;                                                 
                                                                                
Territorial sea: 3 nm                                                           
                                                                                
Climate: tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream               
                                                                                
Terrain: long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills                
                                                                                
Natural resources: salt, aragonite, timber                                      
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 1%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and                    
pastures NEGL%; forest and woodland 32%; other 67%                              
                                                                                
Environment: subject to hurricanes and other tropical storms                    
that cause extensive flood damage                                               
                                                                                
Note: strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba; extensive island              
chain                                                                           
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 252,110 (July 1991), growth rate 1.4% (1991)                        
                                                                                
Birth rate: 19 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                    
                                                                                
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                          
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 18 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                       
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 76 years female(1991)                  
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 2.2 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Bahamian(s); adjective--Bahamian                             
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: black 85%, white 15%                                          
                                                                                
Religion: Baptist 32%, Anglican 20%, Roman Catholic  19%,                       
Methodist 6%, Church of God 6%, other Protestant 12%, none or unknown           
3%, other 2% (1980)                                                             
                                                                                
Language: English; some Creole among Haitian immigrants                         
                                                                                
Literacy: 90% (male 90%, female 89%) age 15 and over but                        
definition of literacy not available (1963 est.)                                
                                                                                
Labor force: 132,600; government 30%, hotels and restaurants 25%,               
business services 10%, agriculture 5% (1986)                                    
                                                                                
Organized labor: 25% of labor force                                             
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: The Commonwealth of The Bahamas                                 
                                                                                
Type: commonwealth                                                              
                                                                                
Capital: Nassau                                                                 
                                                                                
Administrative divisions: 21 districts; Abaco, Acklins Island,                  
Andros Island, Berry Islands, Biminis, Cat Island, Cay Lobos, Crooked           
Island, Eleuthera, Exuma, Grand Bahama, Harbour Island, Inagua, Long Cay,       
Long Island, Mayaguana, New Providence, Ragged Island, Rum Cay, San             
Salvador, Spanish Wells                                                         
                                                                                
Independence: 10 July 1973 (from UK)                                            
                                                                                
Constitution: 10 July 1973                                                      
                                                                                
Legal system: based on English common law                                       
                                                                                
National holiday: Independence Day, 10 July (1973)                              
                                                                                
Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime                      
minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet                                        
                                                                                
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house             
or Senate and a lower house or House of Assembly                                
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Supreme Court                                                  
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952),                     
represented by Acting Governor General Sir Henry TAYLOR (since 26 June          
1988);                                                                          
Head of Government--Prime Minister Sir Lynden Oscar PINDLING (since             
16 January 1967)                                                                
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders:                                                  
Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), Sir Lynden O. PINDLING;                        
Free National Movement (FNM), Hubert Alexander INGRAHAM                         
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal at age 18                                                   
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
House of Assembly--last held 19 June 1987 (next to be held                      
by June 1992);                                                                  
results--percent of vote by party NA;                                           
seats--(49 total) PLP 32, FNM 17                                                
                                                                                
Communists: none known                                                          
                                                                                
Other political or pressure groups: Vanguard Nationalist and                    
Socialist Party (VNSP), a small leftist party headed by Lionel CAREY;           
Trade Union Congress (TUC), headed by Arlington MILLER                          
                                                                                
Member of: ACP, C, CCC, CARICOM, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB,                   
IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU,            
LORCS, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO,             
WMO                                                                             
                                                                                
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Margaret E. McDONALD;                     
Chancery at Suite 865, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037;        
telephone (202) 944-3390; there are Bahamian Consulates General in Miami        
and New York;                                                                   
                                                                                
US--Ambassador Chic HECHT; Embassy at Mosmar Building,                          
Queen Street, Nassau (mailing address is P. O. Box N-8197, Nassau);             
                                                                                
telephone (809) 322-1181 or 328-2206                                            
                                                                                
Flag: 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, middle-income developing nation              
whose economy is based primarily on tourism and offshore banking. Tourism       
alone provides about 50% of GDP and directly or indirectly employs about        
50,000 people or 40% of the local work force. The economy has slackened         
in recent years, as the annual increase in the number of tourists slowed.       
Nonetheless, the per capita GDP of $9,800 is one of the highest in the          
region.                                                                         
                                                                                
GDP: $2.4 billion, per capita $9,800; real growth rate 2.0%                     
(1989 est.)                                                                     
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.1% (1990 est.)                              
                                                                                
Unemployment: 11.7% (1989)                                                      
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $1.03 billion; expenditures $1.1 billion,                      
including capital expenditures of $275 million (1990)                           
                                                                                
Exports: $300 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--pharmaceuticals, cement, rum, crawfish;                            
                                                                                
partners--US 41%, Norway 30%, Denmark 4%                                        
                                                                                
Imports: $1.23 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);                                     
                                                                                
commodities--foodstuffs, manufactured goods, mineral fuels;                     
                                                                                
partners--US 35%, Nigeria 21%, Japan 13%, Angola 11%                            
                                                                                
External debt: $1.2 billion (December 1990)                                     
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate NA%; accounts for 15% of GDP                 
                                                                                
Electricity: 368,000 kW capacity; 857 million kWh produced,                     
3,480 kWh per capita (1990)                                                     
                                                                                
Industries: tourism, banking, cement, oil refining and                          
transshipment, salt production, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral         
weld, steel pipe                                                                
                                                                                
Agriculture: accounts for less than 5% of GDP; dominated by                     
small-scale producers; principal products--citrus fruit, vegetables,            
poultry; large net importer of food                                             
                                                                                
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine                                  
                                                                                
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY85-88), $1.0                   
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments          
(1970-88), $345 million                                                         
                                                                                
Currency: Bahamian dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Bahamian dollar                  
(B$) = 100 cents                                                                
                                                                                
Exchange rates: Bahamian dollar (B$) per US$1--1.00 (fixed rate)                
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Highways: 2,400 km total; 1,350 km paved, 1,050 km gravel                       
                                                                                
Ports: Freeport, Nassau                                                         
                                                                                
Merchant marine: 636 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 14,266,066              
GRT/23,585,465 DWT; includes 42 passenger, 16 short-sea passenger, 190          
cargo, 41 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 23 container, 5 car carrier,                  
1 railroad carrier, 141 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 8         
liquefied gas, 15 combination ore/oil, 33 chemical tanker, 1 specialized        
tanker, 112 bulk, 8 combination bulk; note--a flag of convenience               
registry                                                                        
                                                                                
Civil air: 9 major transport aircraft                                           
                                                                                
Airports: 59 total, 57 usable; 31 with permanent-surface runways;               
none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 25 with           
runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                           
                                                                                
Telecommunications: highly developed; 99,000 telephones in totally              
automatic system; tropospheric scatter and submarine cable links to             
                                                                                
Florida; stations--3 AM, 2 FM, 1 TV; 3 coaxial submarine cables; 1              
Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station                                           
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Royal Bahamas Defense Force (a coast guard element only),             
Royal Bahamas Police Force                                                      
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 68,020; NA fit for military                 
service                                                                         
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $65 million, 2.7% of GDP (1990)                           
                                                                                
