Bahamas

The Commonwealth of The Bahamas is an archipelago, situated on the Atlantic Ocean. It is located at the southeast of Florida and the United States, north of Cuba, the island of Hispanola and the Caribbean, and northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The Bahamas is composed of seven hundred islands including Abaco, Great Inagua,

Andros Island, Eleuthera, Cat Island, Long Island, San Salvador Island, Acklins, Crooked Island, Exuma, and Mayaguana. Andros Island is the biggest island of the country.


Bahamas possesses of the highest number of churches per capita in the world. Nassau (25 05 N, 77 21 W) is the capital city.


HISTORY:- Lucayans, the seafaring people were the first to inhabit the land. Christopher Columbus reached in the southeastern Bahamian island of San Salvador in 1492. The British colonized the land in the 17th centuries. In 1670, the control over the land was shifted from King Charles II to Lord Proprietors of the Carolinas. At that time Bahamas had turned up to be a pirate’s territory. To restore order in the region, the islands were made the crown colony of the British in 1718. The British crown granted internal autonomy of the Bahamas in 1964. Formations of political parties, which were started in early 1950s, led to the general elections in 1968. In the election, the Progressive Liberal Party won by a significant majority and Lynden O. Pindling became the first Prime minister. In 1969, the Bahamas became the Commonwealth of the Bahamas Islands. Finally on 10th July, 1973, the islands of Bahamas gained full independence. 

 

GEOGRAPHY:- The Bahamas is located at 24 15 N, 76 00 W in the Caribbean. The Bahamas is consisted of a series of islands on the North Atlantic Ocean. The islands occupy total 10,070 sq km land area and 3,870 sq km water area. The total coastline is 3,542 km long. The lowest point is situated at Atlantic Ocean (0 m) and the highest point is Mount Alvernia (63 m), situated on Cat Island. The Bahamas is formed with long, flat, coral islands. Some places are hilly. Mouchoir Bank, Silver Bank, and Navidad Bank geographically connect the Bahamas, but are not really included in the commonwealth.

 

CLIMATE:- The climate of the Bahamas is mainly subtropical to tropical marine, which is moderated in winter by the warm waters of Gulf Stream. Hurricanes affect the natural peace frequently.

 

GOVERNMENT:- The Bahamas is a constitutional parliamentary democratic country and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The constitution was adopted on 10th July 1973. Legal and political systems are closed based on the English common law. The governmental duties are handled by the three branches of the government:

Executive branch comprises chief of state (the Queen), the Prime Minister (head of government), and the cabinet. The Queen is represented by the Governor General, who in turn appoints the cabinet ministers with the approval of the Prime minister.

Legislative branch comprises the bicameral Parliament- Senate (16 seats) and the House of Assembly (41 seats).

Judicial branch comprises the Privy Council in London, Courts of Appeal, the Supreme Court, and the Magistrates' Courts.

Free National Movement, Progressive Liberal Party, Bahamas Democratic Movement are the most notable political parties of the Bahamas. Suffrage is universal at 18.

Monarch  Queen Elizabeth II

Governor-General Arthur Dion Hanna

 Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham

 

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:- The Bahamas is divided into 21 districts, apart from the New Providence.

 

CULTURE:- Bahamian culture is a fusion of mainly African and European culture. The contemporary cultural aspects are largely influenced by the popular American culture. Many other influences like the Gullah culture of Carolina, Georgian culture of the United States can also be beholden. Junkanoo is popular music in the Bahamas along with the Rap and Hip-Hop music. Bahamian cuisine is predominantly influenced by the African cuisine. Bahamian Dialect also is very close to the African. Straw weaving, quilting, painting, coral and stone hand craft arts are very famous in the islands.

 

 

ECONOMY:- The Bahamas is considered among the wealthiest Caribbean nations and probably as the richest one. Tourism and offshore banking are the two pillars of Bahamian culture.

GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $5.696 billion; per capita $18,900.

Real growth rate: 3%.

Inflation: 1.2%.

Unemployment: 10.2%.

Arable land: 0.58%.

Agriculture: citrus, vegetables; poultry.

Labor force: 176,300 (2004); agriculture 5%, industry 5%, tourism 50%, other services 40% (2005 est.).

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

Natural resources: salt, aragonite, timber, arable land.

Exports: $469.3 million (2004 est.): mineral products and salt, animal products, rum, chemicals, fruit and vegetables.

Exports - partners: Spain 22.8%, US 20.2%, Poland 13.8%, Germany 11.2%, UK 5.8%, Guatemala 5% (2006)

Imports: $1.82 billion (2004 est.): machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and live animals.

Imports - partners: US 24.7%, Brazil 15.7%, Japan 13.1%, South Korea 7.8%, Spain 6.2% (2006)

Budget:  

Revenues: $1.03 billion

Expenditures: $1.03 billion (FY04/05)

Debt – external: $342.6 million (2004 est.)

Major trading partners: U.S., Poland, Spain, Germany, France, South Korea, Brazil, Japan, Italy, Venezuela (2004).

Monetary unit: Bahamian dollar

 

LANGUAGE:- English is the official language. Creole is also spoken by the Haitian immigrants.

 

CITIES:- the capital city Nassau is the largest city. It is located in the New Providence. Other large cities are Freeport, Grand Bahama.

 

POPULATION:- The estimated population is 307,451 with a growth rate of 0.5%.

Density per sq mi: 30

Literacy rate: 98.2% (1995 est.)

 

RACE:-

Black 85%

White 12%

Asian and Hispanic 3%

 

RELIGION:-

Baptist 35%

Anglican 15%

Roman Catholic 14%

Pentecostal 8%

Church of God 5%

Methodist 4%

Other Christian 15% (2000)

 

HEALTH:-

Birth rate: 17.06 births/ 1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 9.22 deaths/ 1,000 population (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 23.67 deaths/ 1,000 live births 

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 65.72 years

Total fertility rate: 2.13 children born/ woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)

Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2005): 1,404

 

UNICEF:- UNICEF is not active in the Bahamas archipelago.

 

TRANSPORTATION:-

Railways: 0 km.

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

Ports and harbors: Freeport, Nassau, South Riding Point.

Airports: 64 (2005).



 
COUNTRIES    US STATES    US CITIES    CLASSIFIEDS    EVENTS    YELLOW PAGES    MAJOR CITIES    CATEGORY SITES     AVOO SEARCH     WORLD NEWS    POLLS     YSpan