]! ^! 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 ^$ Central America and the Caribbean ^% `! 13,940 sq km `" 10,070 sq km `# 3,870 sq km ^& slightly smaller than Connecticut ^' 0 km ^( 3,542 km ^) `$ 12 nm `I 200 nm ^* tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream ^+ long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills ^, `% Atlantic Ocean 0 m `& Mount Alvernia, on Cat Island 63 m ^- salt, aragonite, timber, arable land ^. `' 0.8% `( 0.4% `) 98.8% (2001) ^/ NA ^0 hurricanes and other tropical storms cause extensive flood and wind damage ^1 coral reef decay; solid waste disposal _J `K Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands `L none of the selected agreements ^2 strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba; extensive island chain of which 30 are inhabited 
]# ^3 301,790 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 2005 est.) ^4 `* 27.9% (male 42,142/female 42,096) `+ 65.9% (male 97,865/female 101,047) `, 6.2% (male 7,616/female 11,024) (2005 est.) ^5 `! 27.55 years `- 26.78 years `. 28.34 years (2005 est.) ^6 0.67% (2005 est.) ^7 17.87 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^8 8.97 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^9 -2.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^: `/ 1.02 male(s)/female `0 1 male(s)/female `+ 0.97 male(s)/female `, 0.69 male(s)/female `1 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.) ^; `! 25.21 deaths/1,000 live births `- 31.02 deaths/1,000 live births `. 19.28 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) ^< `1 65.54 years `- 62.11 years `. 69.04 years (2005 est.) ^= 2.2 children born/woman (2005 est.) ^> 3% (2003 est.) ^? 5,600 (2003 est.) ^@ less than 200 (2003 est.) ^A `2 Bahamian(s) `3 Bahamian ^B black 85%, white 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3% ^C 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) ^D English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants) ^E `M age 15 and over can read and write `1 95.6% `- 94.7% `. 96.5% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `4 Commonwealth of The Bahamas `5 The Bahamas ^H constitutional parliamentary democracy ^I Nassau ^J 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 ^K 10 July 1973 (from UK) ^L Independence Day, 10 July (1973) ^M 10 July 1973 ^N based on English common law ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `6 Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Dame Ivy DUMONT (since NA May 2002) `7 Prime Minister Perry CHRISTIE (since 3 May 2002) and Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia PRATT (since 7 May 2002) `8 Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the prime minister's recommendation `9 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 ^Q 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 `9 last held 1 May 2002 (next to be held by May 2007) `: percent of vote by party - PLP 50.8%, FNM 41.1%, independents 5.2%; seats by party - PLP 29, FNM 7, independents 4 ^R Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; magistrates courts ^S Free National Movement or FNM [Tommy TURNQUEST]; Progressive Liberal Party or PLP [Perry CHRISTIE] ^T NA ^U ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOM, IOC, ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer) ^V `N Ambassador Joshua SEARS `O 2220 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 `P [1] (202) 319-2660 `Q [1] (202) 319-2668 `R Miami and New York ^W `N Ambassador John D. ROOD `Z 42 Queen Street, Nassau `[ local or express mail address: P. O. Box N-8197, Nassau; Department of State, 3370 Nassau Place, Washington, DC 20521-3370 `P [1] (242) 322-1181, 328-2206 (after hours) `Q [1] (242) 356-0222 ^X three equal horizontal bands of aquamarine (top), gold, and aquamarine, with a black equilateral triangle based on the hoist side 
]% ^Y The Bahamas is a stable, developing nation with an economy heavily dependent on tourism and offshore banking. Tourism alone accounts for more than 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. 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. In addition to tourism and banking, the government supports the development of a "third pillar," e-commerce. ^Z $5.295 billion (2004 est.) ^[ 3% (2004 est.) ^\ purchasing power parity - $17,700 (2004 est.) ^] `; 3% `< 7% `= 90% (2001 est.) ^^ 156,000 (1999) ^_ agriculture 5%, industry 5%, tourism 50%, other services 40% (1999 est.) ^` 10.2% (2004 est.) ^a NA _! `> NA `? 27% (2000) _" 1.2% (year ending September 2004) _# `@ $1 billion `A $1 billion, including capital expenditures of $106.7 million (FY03/04) _$ citrus, vegetables; poultry _% tourism, banking, cement, oil transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral-welded steel pipe _& NA _' 1.716 billion kWh (2002) _( 1.596 billion kWh (2002) _) 0 kWh (2002) _* 0 kWh (2002) _+ 0 bbl/day (2001 est.) _, 23,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) _- transhipments of 29,000 bbl/day (2003) _. NA _/ $636 million (2003 est.) _0 mineral products and salt, animal products, rum, chemicals; fruit and vegetables _1 US 40.2%, Poland 13.3%, Spain 11.6%, Germany 5.9%, France 4.3% (2004) _2 $1.63 billion (2003) _3 machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and live animals _4 US 22.4%, South Korea 18.9%, Brazil 9.2%, Japan 7.9%, Italy 7.8%, Venezuela 6.6% (2004) _5 $308.5 million (2002) _6 $9.8 million (1995) _7 Bahamian dollar (BSD) _8 Bahamian dollars per US dollar - 1 (2004), 1 (2003), 1 (2002), 1 (2001), 1 (2000) _9 1 July - 30 June 
]& _: 131,700 (2003) _; 121,800 (2002) _< `B modern facilities `C totally automatic system; highly developed `D country code - 1-242; tropospheric scatter and submarine cable to Florida; 3 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (1997) _= AM 3, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2004) _> 2 (2004) _? .bs _@ 302 (2003) _A 84,000 (2003) 
]' _B `! 2,693 km `E 1,546 km `F 1,147 km (1999 est.) _C Freeport, Nassau, South Riding Point _K `! 1,119 by type: barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 183, cargo 259, chemical tanker 54, combination ore/oil 17, container 74, liquefied gas 28, livestock carrier 2, passenger 116, passenger/cargo 40, petroleum tanker 168, refrigerated cargo 130, roll on/roll off 20, specialized tanker 2, vehicle carrier 24 `S 968 (Angola 4, Australia 4, Belgium 17, Canada 9, China 3, Croatia 1, Cuba 1, Cyprus 13, Denmark 18, Estonia 1, Finland 7, France 28, Germany 15, Greece 194, Hong Kong 11, Indonesia 2, Ireland 1, Israel 1, Italy 7, Japan 49, Jordan 2, Kenya 1, Latvia 1, Malaysia 12, Monaco 15, Netherlands 24, New Zealand 1, Nigeria 2, Norway 229, Poland 13, Reunion 1, Russia 2, Saudi Arabia 12, Serbia & Montenegro 2, Singapore 11, Slovenia 1, South Korea 1, Spain 6, Sweden 9, Switzerland 4, Thailand 1, Trinidad & Tobago 2, Turkey 7, UAE 12, United Kingdom 55, United States 154, Uruguay 2) `\ 35 (2005) _D 63 (2004 est.) _E `! 29 `] 2 `G 3 `^ 14 `_ 9 `T 1 (2004 est.) _L `! 34 `^ 3 `_ 10 `T 21 (2004 est.) _\ 1 (2004 est.) 
]( _F Royal Bahamaian Defense Force (naval forces) (2004) _M 18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001) _N NA _O NA 
]) _H have not been able to agree on the alignment of a maritime boundary with the US; continues to monitor and interdict Haitian refugees fleeing economic privation and political instability _I transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for US and Europe; offshore financial center 