Compare Bahamas, The (2005) - British Virgin Islands (2004)

Compare Bahamas, The (2005) z British Virgin Islands (2004)

	Bahamas, The (2005)	British Virgin Islands (2004)

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	none (overseas territory of the UK)
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.)	0-14 years: 21.5% (male 2,402; female 2,361) 15-64 years: 73.5% (male 8,395; female 7,911) 65 years and over: 5% (male 594; female 524) (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products	citrus, vegetables; poultry	fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish
Airports	63 (2004 est.)	3 (2003 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.)	total: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 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.)	total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Area	total: 13,940 sq km land: 10,070 sq km water: 3,870 sq km	total: 153 sq km land: 153 sq km water: 0 sq km note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the island of Anegada
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Connecticut	about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC
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.	First settled by the Dutch in 1648, the islands were annexed in 1672 by the English. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency.
Birth rate	17.87 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)	14.96 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Budget	revenues: $1 billion expenditures: $1 billion, including capital expenditures of $106.7 million (FY03/04)	revenues: $121.5 million expenditures: $115.5 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1997)
Capital	Nassau	Road Town
Climate	tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream	subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds
Coastline	3,542 km	80 km
Constitution	10 July 1973	1 June 1977
Country name	conventional long form: Commonwealth of The Bahamas conventional short form: The Bahamas	conventional long form: none conventional short form: British Virgin Islands abbreviation: BVI
Currency	-	US dollar (USD)
Death rate	8.97 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)	4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Debt - external	$308.5 million (2002)	$36.1 million (1997)
Dependency status	-	overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing
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	none (overseas territory of the UK)
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	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Disputes - international	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	none
Economic aid - recipient	$9.8 million (1995)	NA
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 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.	The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998. Tourism suffered in 2002 because of the lackluster US economy. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, is expected to make the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the dollar as its currency since 1959.
Electricity - consumption	1.596 billion kWh (2002)	35.43 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2002)	0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2002)	0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - production	1.716 billion kWh (2002)	38.1 million kWh (2001)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Alvernia, on Cat Island 63 m	lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Sage 521 m
Environment - current issues	coral reef decay; solid waste disposal	limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments)
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%	black 83%, white, Indian, Asian and mixed
Exchange rates	Bahamian dollars per US dollar - 1 (2004), 1 (2003), 1 (2002), 1 (2001), 1 (2000)	the US dollar is used
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	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor Tom MACAN (since 14 October 2002) head of government: Chief Minister Orlando D. SMITH (since 17 June 2003) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the Legislative Council elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed chief minister by the governor
Exports	transhipments of 29,000 bbl/day (2003)	NA (2001)
Exports - commodities	mineral products and salt, animal products, rum, chemicals; fruit and vegetables	rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand
Exports - partners	US 40.2%, Poland 13.3%, Spain 11.6%, Germany 5.9%, France 4.3% (2004)	Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US
Fiscal year	1 July - 30 June	1 April - 31 March
Flag description	three equal horizontal bands of aquamarine (top), gold, and aquamarine, with a black equilateral triangle based on the hoist side	blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful)
GDP	-	purchasing power parity - $320 million (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 3% industry: 7% services: 90% (2001 est.)	agriculture: 1.8% industry: 6.2% services: 92% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $17,700 (2004 est.)	purchasing power parity - $16,000 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	3% (2004 est.)	1% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates	24 15 N, 76 00 W	18 30 N, 64 30 W
Geography - note	strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba; extensive island chain of which 30 are inhabited	strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
Heliports	1 (2004 est.)	-
Highways	total: 2,693 km paved: 1,546 km unpaved: 1,147 km (1999 est.)	total: 177 km paved: 177 km unpaved: 0 km (2000)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: 27% (2000)	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA
Illicit drugs	transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for US and Europe; offshore financial center	transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering
Imports	NA	NA (2001)
Imports - commodities	machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and live animals	building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery
Imports - partners	US 22.4%, South Korea 18.9%, Brazil 9.2%, Japan 7.9%, Italy 7.8%, Venezuela 6.6% (2004)	Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US
Independence	10 July 1973 (from UK)	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Industrial production growth rate	NA	NA
Industries	tourism, banking, cement, oil transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral-welded steel pipe	tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center
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.)	total: 18.05 deaths/1,000 live births male: 21.02 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.95 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	1.2% (year ending September 2004)	2.5% (2002)
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)	Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate), UPU
Irrigated land	NA	NA sq km
Judicial branch	Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; magistrates courts	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction
Labor force	156,000 (1999)	4,911 (1980)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture 5%, industry 5%, tourism 50%, other services 40% (1999 est.)	agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA
Land boundaries	0 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 0.8% permanent crops: 0.4% other: 98.8% (2001)	arable land: 20% permanent crops: 6.67% other: 73.33% (2001)
Languages	English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)	English (official)
Legal system	based on English common law	English 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	unicameral Legislative Council (13 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote, one member from each of 9 electoral districts, four at-large members; members serve four-year terms) elections: last held 16 May 2003 (next to be held NA 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NDP 8, VIP 5
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 65.54 years male: 62.11 years female: 69.04 years (2005 est.)	total population: 76.27 years male: 75.24 years female: 77.36 years (2004 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 95.6% male: 94.7% female: 96.5% (2003 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97.8% (1991 est.) male: NA female: NA
Location	Caribbean, chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida, northeast of Cuba	Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico
Map references	Central America and the Caribbean	Central America and the Caribbean
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing 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)	total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 83,825 GRT/155,909 DWT by type: cargo 1, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 1 foreign-owned: Norway 1 registered in other countries: 32 (2004 est.)
Military - note	-	defense is the responsibility of the UK
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)	Territory Day, 1 July
Nationality	noun: Bahamian(s) adjective: Bahamian	noun: British Virgin Islander(s) adjective: British Virgin Islander
Natural hazards	hurricanes and other tropical storms cause extensive flood and wind damage	hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October)
Natural resources	salt, aragonite, timber, arable land	NEGL
Net migration rate	-2.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)	10.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Political parties and leaders	Free National Movement or FNM [Tommy TURNQUEST]; Progressive Liberal Party or PLP [Perry CHRISTIE]	Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL]
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	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.)	22,187 (July 2004 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA	NA
Population growth rate	0.67% (2005 est.)	2.06% (2004 est.)
Ports and harbors	Freeport, Nassau, South Riding Point	Road Town
Radio broadcast stations	AM 3, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2004)	AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998)
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)	Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, none 2%, other 2% (1991)
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.)	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.13 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	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)	general assessment: worldwide telephone service domestic: NA international: country code - 1-284; submarine cable to Bermuda
Telephones - main lines in use	131,700 (2003)	11,700 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	121,800 (2002)	8,000 (2002)
Television broadcast stations	2 (2004)	1 (plus one cable company) (1997)
Terrain	long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills	coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly
Total fertility rate	2.2 children born/woman (2005 est.)	1.72 children born/woman (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate	10.2% (2004 est.)	3% (1995)

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