Compare Arctic Ocean (2001) - Bahamas, The (2005)

Compare Arctic Ocean (2001) z Bahamas, The (2005)

	Arctic Ocean (2001)	Bahamas, The (2005)

Administrative divisions	-	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
Age structure	-	0-14 years: 27.9% (male 42,142/female 42,096) 15-64 years: 65.9% (male 97,865/female 101,047) 65 years and over: 6.2% (male 7,616/female 11,024) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	-	citrus, vegetables; poultry
Airports	-	63 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	-	total: 29 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 14 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 34 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.)
Area	total: 14.056 million sq km note: includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies	total: 13,940 sq km land: 10,070 sq km water: 3,870 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US	slightly smaller than Connecticut
Background	The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the recently delimited Southern Ocean). The Northwest Passage (US and Canada) and Northern Sea Route (Norway and Russia) are two important seasonal waterways. A sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes circumscribes the Arctic Ocean.	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.
Birth rate	-	17.87 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	-	revenues: $1 billion expenditures: $1 billion, including capital expenditures of $106.7 million (FY03/04)
Capital	-	Nassau
Climate	polar climate characterized by persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow	tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream
Coastline	45,389 km	3,542 km
Constitution	-	10 July 1973
Country name	-	conventional long form: Commonwealth of The Bahamas conventional short form: The Bahamas
Death rate	-	8.97 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	-	$308.5 million (2002)
Diplomatic representation from the US	-	chief of mission: Ambassador John D. ROOD embassy: 42 Queen Street, Nassau mailing address: local or express mail address: P. O. Box N-8197, Nassau; Department of State, 3370 Nassau Place, Washington, DC 20521-3370 telephone: [1] (242) 322-1181, 328-2206 (after hours) FAX: [1] (242) 356-0222
Diplomatic representation in the US	-	chief of mission: Ambassador Joshua SEARS chancery: 2220 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 319-2660 FAX: [1] (202) 319-2668 consulate(s) general: Miami and New York
Disputes - international	some maritime disputes (see littoral states)	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
Economic aid - recipient	-	$9.8 million (1995)
Economy - overview	Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.	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.
Electricity - consumption	-	1.596 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports	-	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports	-	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - production	-	1.716 billion kWh (2002)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Fram Basin -4,665 m highest point: sea level 0 m	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Alvernia, on Cat Island 63 m
Environment - current issues	endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage; thinning polar icepack	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
Ethnic groups	-	black 85%, white 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3%
Exchange rates	-	Bahamian dollars per US dollar - 1 (2004), 1 (2003), 1 (2002), 1 (2001), 1 (2000)
Executive branch	-	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Dame Ivy DUMONT (since NA May 2002) head of government: Prime Minister Perry CHRISTIE (since 3 May 2002) and Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia PRATT (since 7 May 2002) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the prime minister's recommendation elections: 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
Exports	-	transhipments of 29,000 bbl/day (2003)
Exports - commodities	-	mineral products and salt, animal products, rum, chemicals; fruit and vegetables
Exports - partners	-	US 40.2%, Poland 13.3%, Spain 11.6%, Germany 5.9%, France 4.3% (2004)
Fiscal year	-	1 July - 30 June
Flag description	-	three equal horizontal bands of aquamarine (top), gold, and aquamarine, with a black equilateral triangle based on the hoist side
GDP - composition by sector	-	agriculture: 3% industry: 7% services: 90% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $17,700 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-	3% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates	90 00 N, 0 00 E	24 15 N, 76 00 W
Geography - note	major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia; floating research stations operated by the US and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean; snow cover lasts about 10 months	strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba; extensive island chain of which 30 are inhabited
Heliports	-	1 (2004 est.)
Highways	-	total: 2,693 km paved: 1,546 km unpaved: 1,147 km (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	-	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: 27% (2000)
Illicit drugs	-	transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for US and Europe; offshore financial center
Imports	-	NA
Imports - commodities	-	machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and live animals
Imports - partners	-	US 22.4%, South Korea 18.9%, Brazil 9.2%, Japan 7.9%, Italy 7.8%, Venezuela 6.6% (2004)
Independence	-	10 July 1973 (from UK)
Industrial production growth rate	-	NA
Industries	-	tourism, banking, cement, oil transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral-welded steel pipe
Infant mortality rate	-	total: 25.21 deaths/1,000 live births male: 31.02 deaths/1,000 live births female: 19.28 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-	1.2% (year ending September 2004)
International organization participation	-	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)
Irrigated land	-	NA
Judicial branch	-	Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; magistrates courts
Labor force	-	156,000 (1999)
Labor force - by occupation	-	agriculture 5%, industry 5%, tourism 50%, other services 40% (1999 est.)
Land boundaries	-	0 km
Land use	-	arable land: 0.8% permanent crops: 0.4% other: 98.8% (2001)
Languages	-	English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)
Legal system	-	based on English common law
Legislative branch	-	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 elections: last held 1 May 2002 (next to be held by May 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - PLP 50.8%, FNM 41.1%, independents 5.2%; seats by party - PLP 29, FNM 7, independents 4
Life expectancy at birth	-	total population: 65.54 years male: 62.11 years female: 69.04 years (2005 est.)
Literacy	-	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 95.6% male: 94.7% female: 96.5% (2003 est.)
Location	body of water between Europe, Asia, and North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle	Caribbean, chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida, northeast of Cuba
Map references	Arctic Region	Central America and the Caribbean
Maritime claims	-	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine	-	total: 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 foreign-owned: 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) registered in other countries: 35 (2005)
Military branches	-	Royal Bahamaian Defense Force (naval forces) (2004)
Military expenditures - dollar figure	-	NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	-	NA
National holiday	-	Independence Day, 10 July (1973)
Nationality	-	noun: Bahamian(s) adjective: Bahamian
Natural hazards	ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually ice locked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May	hurricanes and other tropical storms cause extensive flood and wind damage
Natural resources	sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales)	salt, aragonite, timber, arable land
Net migration rate	-	-2.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Political parties and leaders	-	Free National Movement or FNM [Tommy TURNQUEST]; Progressive Liberal Party or PLP [Perry CHRISTIE]
Political pressure groups and leaders	-	NA
Population	-	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.)
Population below poverty line	-	NA
Population growth rate	-	0.67% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US)	Freeport, Nassau, South Riding Point
Radio broadcast stations	-	AM 3, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2004)
Religions	-	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)
Sex ratio	-	at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Suffrage	-	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	-	general assessment: modern facilities domestic: totally automatic system; highly developed international: country code - 1-242; tropospheric scatter and submarine cable to Florida; 3 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (1997)
Telephones - main lines in use	-	131,700 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	121,800 (2002)
Television broadcast stations	-	2 (2004)
Terrain	central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that averages about 3 meters in thickness, although pressure ridges may be three times that size; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight-line movement from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge)	long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills
Total fertility rate	-	2.2 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	-	10.2% (2004 est.)

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