Countries
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Disputes - international: disagrees with the US on the alignment of the northern axis of a potential maritime boundary
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for US and Europe; offshore financial center
Military branches: Royal Bahamas Defense Force: Land Force, Navy, Air Wing
Military service age and obligation: 17 1/2-25 years of age for voluntary male and female service; no conscription
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 85,568
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 2,829
female: 2,750
Military expenditures: 0.7% of GDP
country comparison to the world: 150
Airports: 61
country comparison to the world: 81
Heliports: 1
Roadways: total: 2,717 km
country comparison to the world: 169
Merchant marine: total: 1,160
country comparison to the world: 10
by type: barge carrier 1, bulk carrier 238, cargo 170, carrier 2, chemical tanker 87, combination ore/oil 8, container 57, liquefied gas 71, passenger 102, passenger/cargo 26, petroleum tanker 225, refrigerated cargo 97, roll on/roll off 13, specialized tanker 2, vehicle carrier 61
foreign-owned: 1,063 (Angola 6, Australia 1, Belgium 6, Bermuda 15, Brazil 1, Canada 96, Croatia 1, Cyprus 23, Denmark 69, Finland 8, France 15, Germany 30, Greece 225, Guernsey 6, Hong Kong 3, Indonesia 2, Ireland 3, Italy 1, Japan 88, Jordan 2, Kuwait 1, Malaysia 13, Monaco 8, Montenegro 2, Netherlands 23, Nigeria 2, Norway 186, Poland 34, Saudi Arabia 16, Singapore 7, South Korea 1, Spain 6, Sweden 11, Switzerland 1, Thailand 4, Turkey 3, UAE 23, UK 18, US 109)
registered in other countries: 6 (Panama 6)
Ports and terminals: Freeport, Nassau, South Riding Point
Telephones - main lines in use: 129,300
country comparison to the world: 142
Telephones - mobile cellular: 428,400
country comparison to the world: 167
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
Broadcast media: 2 TV stations operated by government-owned, commercially run Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas (BCB); multi-channel cable TV subscription service is available; about 15 radio stations operating with BCB operating a multi-channel radio broadcasting network alongside privately-owned radio stations
Internet country code: .bs
Internet hosts: 20,674
country comparison to the world: 118
Internet users: 115,800
country comparison to the world: 156
The Bahamas is one of the wealthiest Caribbean countries 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. Prior to 2006, a steady growth in tourism receipts and a boom in construction of new hotels, resorts, and residences led to solid GDP growth but since then tourism receipts have begun to drop off. The global recession in 2009 took a sizeable toll on The Bahamas, resulting in a contraction in GDP and a widening budget deficit. The decline was reversed in 2010-11 as tourism from the US and sector investment returned. Financial services constitute the second-most important sector of the Bahamian economy and, when combined with business services, account for about 36% of GDP. However, the financial sector currently is smaller than it has been in the past because of the enactment of new and stricter financial regulations in 2000 that caused many international businesses to relocate elsewhere. Manufacturing and agriculture combined contribute approximately a 10th 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 and foreign investment in tourism related infrastructure projects. The government also completed the sale of 51% of the telecommunications company in 2011 after 14 years of trying to privatize the state-owned enterprise.
Government type: constitutional parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm
Administrative divisions: 31 districts; Acklins Islands, Berry Islands, Bimini, Black Point, Cat Island, Central Abaco, Central Andros, Central Eleuthera, City of Freeport, Crooked Island and Long Cay, East Grand Bahama, Exuma, Grand Cay, Harbour Island, Hope Town, Inagua, Long Island, Mangrove Cay, Mayaguana, Moore's Island, North Abaco, North Andros, North Eleuthera, Ragged Island, Rum Cay, San Salvador, South Abaco, South Andros, South Eleuthera, Spanish Wells, West Grand Bahama
Legal system: common law system based on the English model
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Ethnic groups: black 85%, white 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3%
Languages: English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)
Religions: Protestant 67.6% (Baptist 35.4%, Anglican 15.1%, Pentecostal 8.1%, Church of God 4.8%, Methodist 4.2%), Roman Catholic 13.5%, other Christian 15.2%, none or unspecified 2.9%, other 0.8%
Population: 316,182
country comparison to the world: 178
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, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
Median age: total: 30.5 years
male: 29.4 years
female: 31.7 years
Population growth rate: 0.904%
country comparison to the world: 124
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
country comparison to the world: 75
Urbanization: urban population: 84% of total population
rate of urbanization: 1.3% annual rate of change
Major cities - population: NASSAU (capital) 248,000
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 71.44 years
country comparison to the world: 138
male: 69.04 years
female: 73.91 years
Total fertility rate: 1.98 children born/woman
country comparison to the world: 130
Health expenditures: 7.2% of GDP
country comparison to the world: 72
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 95.6%
male: 94.7%
female: 96.5%
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24: total: 18.9%
country comparison to the world: 63
male: 16.7%
female: 21.7%
Location: chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida, northeast of Cuba
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
Natural resources: salt, aragonite, timber, arable land
Land use: arable land: 0.58%, permanent crops: 0.29%, other: 99.13%
Natural hazards: hurricanes and other tropical storms cause extensive flood and wind damage
Environment - current issues: coral reef decay; solid waste disposal
Environment - 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
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba; extensive island chain of which 30 are inhabited
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 has 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.
Bahamas
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