]! ^! 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. 
]" ^" 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 `N 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 ^. `' 0.58% `( 0.29% `) 99.13% (2005) ^/ 10 sq km (2003) ^0 hurricanes and other tropical storms cause extensive flood and wind damage ^1 coral reef decay; solid waste disposal _P `P Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands `Q none of the selected agreements ^2 strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba; extensive island chain of which 30 are inhabited 
]# ^3 305,655 `* 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.) ^4 `+ 27% (male 41,268/female 41,186) `, 66.5% (male 99,961/female 103,230) `- 6.5% (male 8,176/female 11,834) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 28.1 years `. 27.3 years `/ 28.9 years (2007 est.) ^6 0.602% (2007 est.) ^7 17.3 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 9.13 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 -2.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.02 male(s)/female `1 1.002 male(s)/female `, 0.968 male(s)/female `- 0.691 male(s)/female `2 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 24.17 deaths/1,000 live births `. 29.58 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 18.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 65.66 years `. 62.37 years `/ 69.02 years (2007 est.) ^= 2.15 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> 3% (2003 est.) ^? 5,600 (2003 est.) ^@ less than 200 (2003 est.) ^A `3 Bahamian(s) `4 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 `5 age 15 and over can read and write `2 95.6% `. 94.7% `/ 96.5% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `6 Commonwealth of The Bahamas `7 The Bahamas ^H constitutional parliamentary democracy ^I `8 Nassau `9 25 05 N, 77 21 W `: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) `p +1hr, begins second Sunday in March; ends first Sunday in November ^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 `; Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Arthur D. HANNA (since 1 February 2006) `< Prime Minister Perry CHRISTIE (since 3 May 2002); Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia PRATT (since 7 May 2002) `= Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the prime minister's recommendation `> 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 `> last held 1 May 2002 (next to be called by May 2007) `? percent of vote by party - PLP 50.8%, FNM 41.1%, independents 5.2%, other 2.9%; seats by party - PLP 29, FNM 7, independents 4 ^R Privy Council (London); Courts of Appeal; Supreme (lower) Court; magistrates courts ^S Free National Movement or FNM [Hubert INGRAHAM]; 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, IOC, IOM, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer) ^V `R vacant `S 2220 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 `T [1] (202) 319-2660 `U [1] (202) 319-2668 `V Miami, New York ^W `R Ambassador John D. ROOD `_ 42 Queen Street, Nassau `` local or express mail address: P. O. Box N-8197, Nassau; US Department of State, 3370 Nassau Place, Washington, DC 20521-3370 `T [1] (242) 322-1181, 356-3229 (after hours) `U [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 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. ^Z $6.476 billion (2006 est.) ^[ $6.159 billion (2006 est.) ^\ 4% (2006 est.) ^] $21,300 (2006 est.) ^^ `@ 3% `A 7% `B 90% (2001 est.) ^_ 176,300 (2004) ^` agriculture 5%, industry 5%, tourism 50%, other services 40% (2005 est.) ^a 10.2% (2005 est.) _! 9.3% (2004) _" `C NA% `D 27% (2000) _# 1.2% (2004) _$ `E $1.03 billion `F $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 _( NA% _) 1.795 billion kWh (2004) _* 1.669 billion kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh (2004) _, 0 kWh (2004) _- 0 bbl/day (2004) _. 27,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ transshipments of 29,000 bbl/day (2003) _0 NA bbl/day _1 0 cu m (2004 est.) _2 0 cu m (2004 est.) _3 $451 million (2005 est.) _4 mineral products and salt, animal products, rum, chemicals, fruit and vegetables _5 Spain 31.8%, US 30%, Poland 9%, Germany 5.4% (2005) _6 $2.16 billion (2005 est.) _7 machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and live animals _8 US 21.2%, South Korea 19%, Brazil 17.8%, Spain 7.3%, Germany 5% (2005) _9 $342.6 million (2004 est.) _: $5 million (2004) _; Bahamian dollar (BSD) _< Bahamian dollars per US dollar - 1 (2006), 1 (2005), 1 (2004), 1 (2003), 1 (2002) _= 1 July - 30 June 
]& _> 139,900 (2004) _? 186,000 (2004) _@ `G modern facilities `H totally automatic system; highly developed `I country code - 1-242; tropospheric scatter and submarine cable to Florida; 3 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth station - 2 (2005) _A AM 3, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2006) _B 2 (2006) _C .bs _D 591 (2006) _E 93,000 (2005) 
]' _F 64 (2006) _G `! 29 `a 2 `J 3 `b 14 `c 9 `W 1 (2006) _R `! 35 `b 3 `c 10 `W 22 (2006) _] 1 (2006) _H `! 2,693 km `K 1,546 km `L 1,147 km (1999) _S `! 1,177 ships (1000 GRT or over) 37,743,270 GRT/50,918,747 DWT by type: barge carrier 1, bulk carrier 253, cargo 250, chemical tanker 64, container 79, liquefied gas 35, livestock carrier 2, passenger 115, passenger/cargo 34, petroleum tanker 175, refrigerated cargo 114, roll on/roll off 20, specialized tanker 5, vehicle carrier 30 `X 1,093 (Angola 5, Australia 2, Belgium 13, Canada 18, China 3, Cuba 1, Cyprus 13, Denmark 59, Estonia 1, Finland 8, France 37, Germany 22, Greece 232, Hong Kong 8, Iceland 1, India 1, Indonesia 4, Ireland 2, Israel 1, Italy 5, Japan 51, Jordan 2, Kenya 1, Latvia 1, Malaysia 12, Monaco 17, Montenegro 2, Netherlands 24, Nigeria 2, Norway 259, Philippines 1, Poland 15, Reunion 1, Russia 6, Saudi Arabia 12, Singapore 12, Slovenia 1, Spain 12, Sweden 6, Switzerland 2, Thailand 1, Turkey 8, UAE 16, UK 69, Uruguay 2, US 121, Venezuela 1) `d 4 (Barbados 1, Liberia 1, Panama 2) (2006) _I Freeport, Nassau, South Riding Point 
]( _J Royal Bahamian Defense Force: Marines, Air Wing (2006) _T 18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001) _K males age 18-49: 73,121 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 44,309 (2005 est.) _L males age 18-49: 2,804 (2005 est.) _U 0.6% (2006 est.) 
]) _N 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 _O transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for US and Europe; offshore financial center 