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Compare Bahamas, The (2002) - Southern Ocean (2006)
Compare Bahamas, The (2002) z Southern Ocean (2006)
| Bahamas, The (2002) | Southern Ocean (2006) | |
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| 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: 29% (male 43,964; female 43,250)
15-64 years: 64.7% (male 95,508; female 98,859) 65 years and over: 6.3% (male 7,948; female 11,000) (2002 est.) |
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| Agriculture - products | citrus, vegetables; poultry | - |
| Airports | 67 (2001) | - |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 30
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 12 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
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| Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 34 35
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 3 23 (2002) |
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| Area | total: 13,940 sq km
land: 10,070 sq km water: 3,870 sq km |
total: 20.327 million sq km
note: includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Connecticut | slightly more than twice the size of the US |
| Background | 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. | A large body of recent oceanographic research has shown that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), an ocean current that flows from west to east around Antarctica, plays a crucial role in global ocean circulation. The region where the cold waters of the ACC meet and mingle with the warmer waters of the north defines a distinct border - the Antarctic Convergence - which fluctuates with the seasons, but which encompasses a discrete body of water and a unique ecologic region. The Convergence concentrates nutrients, which promotes marine plant life, and which in turn allows for a greater abundance of animal life. In the spring of 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization decided to delimit the waters within the Convergence as a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - by combining the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit and which approximates the extent of the Antarctic Convergence. As such, the Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean). It should be noted that inclusion of the Southern Ocean does not imply recognition of this feature as one of the world's primary oceans by the US Government. |
| Birth rate | 18.69 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | - |
| Budget | revenues: $918.5 million
expenditures: $956.5 million, including capital expenditures of $106.7 million (FY99/00) |
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| Capital | Nassau | - |
| Climate | tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream | sea temperatures vary from about 10 degrees Celsius to -2 degrees Celsius; cyclonic storms travel eastward around the continent and frequently are intense because of the temperature contrast between ice and open ocean; the ocean area from about latitude 40 south to the Antarctic Circle has the strongest average winds found anywhere on Earth; in winter the ocean freezes outward to 65 degrees south latitude in the Pacific sector and 55 degrees south latitude in the Atlantic sector, lowering surface temperatures well below 0 degrees Celsius; at some coastal points intense persistent drainage winds from the interior keep the shoreline ice-free throughout the winter |
| Coastline | 3,542 km | 17,968 km |
| Constitution | 10 July 1973 | - |
| Country name | conventional long form: Commonwealth of The Bahamas
conventional short form: The Bahamas |
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| Currency | Bahamian dollar (BSD) | - |
| Death rate | 7.49 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | - |
| Debt - external | $381.9 million (2000) | - |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador J. Richard BLANKENSHIP
embassy: 42 Queen Street, Nassau mailing address: local or express mail address: P. O. Box N-8197, Nassau; stateside address: American Embassy Nassau, P. O. Box 599009, Miami, FL 33159-9009; pouch address: Nassau, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-3370 telephone: [1] (242) 322-1181, 328-2206 FAX: [1] (242) 356-0222 |
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| 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 |
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| Disputes - international | none | Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctica entry), but Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and UK assert claims (some overlapping), including the continental shelf in the Southern Ocean; several states have expressed an interest in extending those continental shelf claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to include undersea ridges; the US and most other states do not recognize the land or maritime claims of other states and have made no claims themselves (the US and Russia have reserved the right to do so); no formal claims exist in the waters in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west |
| Economic aid - recipient | $9.8 million (1995) | - |
| Economy - overview | 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 almost half of the archipelago's labor force. Steady growth in tourism receipts and a boom in construction of new hotels, resorts, and residences have led to solid GDP growth in recent years. 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 the majority of tourist visitors. | Fisheries in 2003-04 landed 136,262 metric tons, of which 87% (118,166 tons) was krill and 8% (11,182 tons) Patagonian toothfish, compared to 142,555 tons in 2002-03 of which 83% (117,728 tons) was krill and 12% (16,479 tons) Patagonian toothfish (estimated fishing from the area covered by the Convention of the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which extends slightly beyond the Southern Ocean area). International agreements were adopted in late 1999 to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, which in the 2000-01 season landed, by one estimate, 8,376 metric tons of Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish. In the 2004-05 Antarctic summer 28,202 tourists, most of them seaborne (approximately 97%), visited the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, compared to 14,762 in 1999-2000. |
| Electricity - consumption | 1.432 billion kWh (2000) | - |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | - |
| Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2000) | - |
| Electricity - production | 1.54 billion kWh (2000) | - |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
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| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Alvernia, on Cat Island 63 m |
lowest point: -7,235 m at the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench
highest point: sea level 0 m |
| Environment - current issues | coral reef decay; solid waste disposal | increased solar ultraviolet radiation resulting from the Antarctic ozone hole in recent years, reducing marine primary productivity (phytoplankton) by as much as 15% and damaging the DNA of some fish; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in recent years, especially the landing of an estimated five to six times more Patagonian toothfish than the regulated fishery, which is likely to affect the sustainability of the stock; large amount of incidental mortality of seabirds resulting from long-line fishing for toothfish
note: the now-protected fur seal population is making a strong comeback after severe overexploitation in the 18th and 19th centuries |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
the Southern Ocean is subject to all international agreements regarding the world's oceans; in addition, it is subject to these agreements specific to the Antarctic region: International Whaling Commission (prohibits commercial whaling south of 40 degrees south [south of 60 degrees south between 50 degrees and 130 degrees west]); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (limits sealing); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (regulates fishing)
note: many nations (including the US) prohibit mineral resource exploration and exploitation south of the fluctuating Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) which is in the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and serves as the dividing line between the very cold polar surface waters to the south and the warmer waters to the north |
| Ethnic groups | black 85%, white 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3% | - |
| Exchange rates | Bahamian dollars per US dollar - 1.000 (fixed rate pegged to the dollar) | - |
| Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General 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 |
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| Exports | $535.8 million (2000) | - |
| Exports - commodities | fish and crawfish; rum, salt, chemicals; fruit and vegetables (1999) | - |
| Exports - partners | US 28.2%, France 16.5%, Germany 14.1%, UK 12.4% (2000) | - |
| 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 | purchasing power parity - $5 billion (2001 est.) | - |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 3%
industry: 7% services: 90% (1999 est.) |
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| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $16,800 (2000 est.) | - |
| GDP - real growth rate | 3.5% (2001) | - |
| Geographic coordinates | 24 15 N, 76 00 W | 60 00 S, 90 00 E (nominally), but the Southern Ocean has the unique distinction of being a large circumpolar body of water totally encircling the continent of Antarctica; this ring of water lies between 60 degrees south latitude and the coast of Antarctica and encompasses 360 degrees of longitude |
| Geography - note | strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba; extensive island chain of which 30 are inhabited | the major chokepoint is the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica; the Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) is the best natural definition of the northern extent of the Southern Ocean; it is a distinct region at the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that separates the very cold polar surface waters to the south from the warmer waters to the north; the Front and the Current extend entirely around Antarctica, reaching south of 60 degrees south near New Zealand and near 48 degrees south in the far South Atlantic coinciding with the path of the maximum westerly winds |
| Heliports | 1 (2002) | - |
| Highways | total: 2,693 km
paved: 1,546 km unpaved: 1,147 km (1997) |
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| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
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| Illicit drugs | transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for US and Europe; offshore financial center | - |
| Imports | $1.88 billion (2000) | - |
| Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and live animals (1999) | - |
| Imports - partners | US 31.6%, South Korea 18.2%, Italy 17.4%, Japan 5.8% (2000) | - |
| Independence | 10 July 1973 (from UK) | - |
| Industrial production growth rate | NA% | - |
| Industries | tourism, banking, cement, oil refining and transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral-welded steel pipe | - |
| Infant mortality rate | 17.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | - |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1.5% (2001 est.) | - |
| International organization participation | ACP, C, Caricom, CCC, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer) | - |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 19 (2000) | - |
| Irrigated land | NA sq km | - |
| Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; magistrates courts | - |
| Labor force | 156,000 (1999) | - |
| Labor force - by occupation | tourism 40%, other services 50%, industry 5%, agriculture 5% (1995 est.) | - |
| Land boundaries | 0 km | - |
| Land use | arable land: 0.6%
permanent crops: 0.4% other: 99% (1998 est.) |
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| Languages | English, 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)
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 |
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| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 69.87 years
male: 66.32 years female: 73.49 years (2002 est.) |
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| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.2% male: 98.5% female: 98% (1995 est.) |
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| Location | Caribbean, chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida | body of water between 60 degrees south latitude and Antarctica |
| Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Antarctic Region |
| Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
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| Merchant marine | total: 1,076 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 31,309,187 GRT/45,859,485 DWT
ships by type: bulk 159, cargo 246, chemical tanker 41, combination bulk 13, combination ore/oil 22, container 80, liquefied gas 28, livestock carrier 2, multi-functional large-load carrier 8, passenger 88, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 178, railcar carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 120, roll on/roll off 49, short-sea passenger 16, specialized tanker 2, vehicle carrier 22 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Angola 1, Argentina 1, Australia 4, Belgium 18, Bermuda 1, Canada 5, Chile 1, China 3, Croatia 2, Cuba 3, Cyprus 2, Denmark 27, Ecuador 1, Estonia 2, Finland 9, France 15, Germany 26, Greece 173, Hong Kong 6, India 2, Indonesia 2, Ireland 1, Israel 3, Italy 9, Jamaica 1, Japan 32, Kenya 3, Malaysia 10, Malta 2, Monaco 67, Netherlands 32, New Zealand 2, Norway 237, Panama 2, Philippines 3, Poland 13, Reunion 1, Russia 6, Saudi Arabia 9, Singapore 13, Slovenia 1, South Korea 2, Spain 7, Sweden 12, Switzerland 8, Thailand 1, Trinidad and Tobago 2, Turkey 2, Ukraine 2, United Arab Emirates 10, United Kingdom 107, United States 159, Uruguay 1 (2002 est.) |
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| Military branches | Royal Bahamas Defense Force (Coast Guard only), Royal Bahamas Police Force | - |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $20 million (FY95/96) | - |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.7% (FY99) | - |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 10 July (1973) | - |
| Nationality | noun: Bahamian(s)
adjective: Bahamian |
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| Natural hazards | hurricanes and other tropical storms cause extensive flood and wind damage | huge icebergs with drafts up to several hundred meters; smaller bergs and iceberg fragments; sea ice (generally 0.5 to 1 meter thick) with sometimes dynamic short-term variations and with large annual and interannual variations; deep continental shelf floored by glacial deposits varying widely over short distances; high winds and large waves much of the year; ship icing, especially May-October; most of region is remote from sources of search and rescue |
| Natural resources | salt, aragonite, timber, arable land | probable large and possible giant oil and gas fields on the continental margin, manganese nodules, possible placer deposits, sand and gravel, fresh water as icebergs; squid, whales, and seals - none exploited; krill, fishes |
| Net migration rate | -2.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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 | 300,529
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 2002 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | NA% | - |
| Population growth rate | 0.86% (2002 est.) | - |
| Ports and harbors | Freeport, Matthew Town, Nassau | - |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 3, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998) | - |
| Radios | 215,000 (1997) | - |
| Railways | 0 km | - |
| Religions | Baptist 32%, Anglican 20%, Roman Catholic 19%, Methodist 6%, Church of God 6%, other Protestant 12%, none or unknown 3%, other 2% | - |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
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| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | - |
| Telephone system | general assessment: modern facilities
domestic: totally automatic system; highly developed international: tropospheric scatter and submarine cable to Florida; 3 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (1997) |
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| Telephones - main lines in use | 96,000 (1997) | - |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 6,152 (1997) | - |
| Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | - |
| Terrain | long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills | the Southern Ocean is deep, 4,000 to 5,000 meters over most of its extent with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths of 400 to 800 meters (the global mean is 133 meters); the Antarctic icepack grows from an average minimum of 2.6 million square kilometers in March to about 18.8 million square kilometers in September, better than a sixfold increase in area; the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (21,000 km in length) moves perpetually eastward; it is the world's largest ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second - 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers |
| Total fertility rate | 2.28 children born/woman (2002 est.) | - |
| Transportation - note | - | Drake Passage offers alternative to transit through the Panama Canal |
| Unemployment rate | 6.9% (2001 est.) | - |
| Waterways | none | - |
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