Compare Bahamas, The (2008) - Eritrea (2006)

Compare Bahamas, The (2008) z Eritrea (2006)

	Bahamas, The (2008)	Eritrea (2006)

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	6 regions (zobatat, singular - zoba); Anseba, Debub (Southern), Debubawi K'eyih Bahri (Southern Red Sea), Gash Barka, Ma'akel (Central), Semenawi Keyih Bahri (Northern Red Sea)
Age structure	0-14 years: 27% (male 41,268/female 41,186) 15-64 years: 66.5% (male 99,961/female 103,230) 65 years and over: 6.5% (male 8,176/female 11,834) (2007 est.)	0-14 years: 44% (male 1,059,458/female 1,046,955) 15-64 years: 52.5% (male 1,244,153/female 1,268,189) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 82,112/female 86,127) (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products	citrus, vegetables; poultry	sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sisal; livestock, goats; fish
Airports	62 (2007)	17 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 24 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 12 914 to 1,523 m: 7 (2007)	total: 4 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 38 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 22 (2007)	total: 13 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 2 (2006)
Area	total: 13,940 sq km land: 10,070 sq km water: 3,870 sq km	total: 121,320 sq km land: 121,320 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Connecticut	slightly larger than Pennsylvania
Background	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.	Eritrea was awarded to Ethiopia in 1952 as part of a federation. Ethiopia's annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a 30-year struggle for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean rebels defeating governmental forces; independence was overwhelmingly approved in a 1993 referendum. A two-and-a-half-year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices in December 2000. Eritrea currently hosts a UN peacekeeping operation that is monitoring a 25 km-wide Temporary Security Zone on the border with Ethiopia. An international commission, organized to resolve the border dispute, posted its findings in 2002 but final demarcation is on hold due to Ethiopian objections.
Birth rate	17.3 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	34.33 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Budget	revenues: $1.03 billion expenditures: $1.03 billion (FY04/05)	revenues: $248.8 million expenditures: $409.4 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)
Capital	name: Nassau geographic coordinates: 25 05 N, 77 21 W time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins second Sunday in March; ends first Sunday in November	name: Asmara (Asmera) geographic coordinates: 15 20 N, 38 53 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate	tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream	hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually, heaviest June to September); semiarid in western hills and lowlands
Coastline	3,542 km	2,234 km (mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea 1,083 km)
Constitution	10 July 1973	a transitional constitution, decreed on 19 May 1993, was replaced by a new constitution adopted on 23 May 1997, but not yet implemented
Country name	conventional long form: Commonwealth of The Bahamas conventional short form: The Bahamas	conventional long form: State of Eritrea conventional short form: Eritrea local long form: Hagere Ertra local short form: Ertra former: Eritrea Autonomous Region in Ethiopia
Death rate	9.13 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	9.6 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Debt - external	$342.6 million (2004 est.)	$311 million (2000 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Ned L. SIEGEL embassy: 42 Queen Street, Nassau mailing address: local or express mail address: P. O. Box N-8197, Nassau; US Department of State, 3370 Nassau Place, Washington, DC 20521-3370 telephone: [1] (242) 322-1181, 356-3229 (after hours) FAX: [1] (242) 356-0222	chief of mission: Ambassador Scott H. DELISI embassy: 179 Alaa Street, Asmara mailing address: P. O. Box 211, Asmara telephone: [291] (1) 120004 FAX: [291] (1) 127584
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Cornelius A. SMITH chancery: 2220 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 319-2660 FAX: [1] (202) 319-2668 consulate(s) general: Miami, New York	chief of mission: Ambassador GHIRMAI Ghebremariam chancery: 1708 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 319-1991 FAX: [1] (202) 319-1304 consulate(s) general: Oakland (California)
Disputes - international	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	Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by 2002 Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision, but despite international intervention, mutual animosities, accusations, and armed posturing have prevented demarcation; Ethiopia refuses to withdraw to the delimited boundary until claimed technical errors made by the EEBC that ignored "human geography" are addressed, including the award of Badme, the focus of the 1998-2000 war; Eritrea insists that the EEBC decision be implemented immediately without modifications; in 2005 Eritrea began severely restricting the operations of the UN Peacekeeping Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) monitoring the 25km-wide Temporary Security Zone in Eritrea since 2000; Sudan sustains over 110,000 Eritrean refugees and accuses Eritrea of supporting Sudanese rebel groups
Economic aid - recipient	$4.78 million (2004)	$77 million (1999)
Economy - overview	The Bahamas is one of the wealthiest Caribbean countries 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 tourist arrivals have been on the decline since 2006. Financial services constitute the second-most important sector of the Bahamian economy and, when combined with business services, account for about 36% 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 combined 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. Tourism, in turn, depends on growth in the US, the source of more than 80% of the visitors.	Since independence from Ethiopia in 1993, Eritrea has faced the economic problems of a small, desperately poor country. Like the economies of many African nations, the economy is largely based on subsistence agriculture, with 80% of the population involved in farming and herding. The Ethiopian-Eritrea war in 1998-2000 severely hurt Eritrea's economy. GDP growth fell to zero in 1999 and to -12.1% in 2000. The May 2000 Ethiopian offensive into northern Eritrea caused some $600 million in property damage and loss, including losses of $225 million in livestock and 55,000 homes. The attack prevented planting of crops in Eritrea's most productive region, causing food production to drop by 62%. Even during the war, Eritrea developed its transportation infrastructure, asphalting new roads, improving its ports, and repairing war-damaged roads and bridges. Since the war ended, the government has maintained a firm grip on the economy, expanding the use of the military and party-owned businesses to complete Eritrea's development agenda. Erratic rainfall and the delayed demobilization of agriculturalists from the military kept cereal production well below normal, holding down growth in 2002-05. Eritrea's economic future depends upon its ability to master social problems such as illiteracy, unemployment, and low skills, as well as the willingness to open its economy to private enterprise so that the diaspora's money and expertise can foster economic growth.
Electricity - consumption	1.762 billion kWh (2005)	251.9 million kWh (2003)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2005)	0 kWh (2003)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2005)	0 kWh (2003)
Electricity - production	1.894 billion kWh (2005)	270.9 million kWh (2003)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Alvernia, on Cat Island 63 m	lowest point: near Kulul within the Denakil depression -75 m highest point: Soira 3,018 m
Environment - current issues	coral reef decay; solid waste disposal	deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare
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	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups	black 85%, white 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3%	Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%, other 3%
Exchange rates	Bahamian dollars per US dollar - 1 (2007), 1 (2006), 1 (2005), 1 (2004), 1 (2003)	nakfa (ERN) per US dollar - 14.5 (2005), 13.788 (2004), 13.878 (2003), 13.958 (2002), 11.31 (2001)
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Arthur D. HANNA (since 1 February 2006) head of government: Prime Minister Hubert A. INGRAHAM (since 4 May 2007) 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: President ISAIAS Afworki (since 8 June 1993); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government and is head of the State Council and National Assembly head of government: President ISAIAS Afworki (since 8 June 1993); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government and is head of the State Council and National Assembly cabinet: State Council is the collective executive authority; members appointed by the president elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 8 June 1993 (next election date uncertain as the National Assembly did not hold a presidential election in December 2001 as anticipated) election results: ISAIAS Afworki elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - ISAIAS Afworki 95%
Exports	transshipments of 41,290 bbl/day (2004)	NA bbl/day
Exports - commodities	mineral products and salt, animal products, rum, chemicals, fruit and vegetables	livestock, sorghum, textiles, food, small manufactures (2000)
Exports - partners	Spain 22.3%, US 19.8%, Poland 13.5%, Germany 13%, UK 5.7%, Guatemala 4.9% (2006)	Italy 39.3%, US 14.9%, Belarus 7.3%, Germany 5.8%, UK 4.9% (2005)
Fiscal year	1 July - 30 June	calendar year
Flag description	three equal horizontal bands of aquamarine (top), gold, and aquamarine, with a black equilateral triangle based on the hoist side	red isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) dividing the flag into two right triangles; the upper triangle is green, the lower one is blue; a gold wreath encircling a gold olive branch is centered on the hoist side of the red triangle
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 3% industry: 7% services: 90% (2001 est.)	agriculture: 10.2% industry: 25.4% services: 64.3% (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	2.8% (2007 est.)	2% (2005 est.)
Geographic coordinates	24 15 N, 76 00 W	15 00 N, 39 00 E
Geography - note	strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba; extensive island chain of which 30 are inhabited	strategic geopolitical position along world's busiest shipping lanes; Eritrea retained the entire coastline of Ethiopia along the Red Sea upon de jure independence from Ethiopia on 24 May 1993
Heliports	1 (2007)	-
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	-
Imports	68,250 bbl/day (2004)	NA bbl/day
Imports - commodities	machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and live animals	machinery, petroleum products, food, manufactured goods (2000)
Imports - partners	US 24.7%, Brazil 15.7%, Japan 13.1%, South Korea 7.8%, Spain 6.2% (2006)	Germany 22.2%, Italy 20.3%, France 15.9%, US 12.8%, Ireland 8.2% (2005)
Independence	10 July 1973 (from UK)	24 May 1993 (from Ethiopia)
Industrial production growth rate	NA%	NA%
Industries	tourism, banking, cement, oil transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral-welded steel pipe	food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles, salt, cement, commercial ship repair
Infant mortality rate	total: 24.17 deaths/1,000 live births male: 29.58 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)	total: 46.3 deaths/1,000 live births male: 52.22 deaths/1,000 live births female: 40.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	2.4% (2007 est.)	15% (2005 est.)
International organization participation	ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITSO, ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)	ACP, AfDB, AU, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS (observer), IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO
Irrigated land	10 sq km (2003)	210 sq km (2003)
Judicial branch	Privy Council (London); Courts of Appeal; Supreme (lower) Court; magistrates courts	High Court - regional, subregional, and village courts; also have military and special courts
Labor force	181,900 (2006)	NA
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture 5%, industry 5%, tourism 50%, other services 40% (2005 est.)	agriculture: 80% industry and services: 20%
Land boundaries	0 km	total: 1,626 km border countries: Djibouti 109 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km
Land use	arable land: 0.58% permanent crops: 0.29% other: 99.13% (2005)	arable land: 4.78% permanent crops: 0.03% other: 95.19% (2005)
Languages	English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)	Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
Legal system	based on English common law	primary basis is the Ethiopian legal code of 1957, with revisions; new civil, commercial, and penal codes have not yet been promulgated; also relies on customary and post-independence-enacted laws and, for civil cases involving Muslims, Sharia law
Legislative branch	bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (16 seats; members appointed by the governor general upon the advice of the prime minister and the opposition leader to serve five-year terms) and the House of Assembly (41 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 2 May 2007 (next to be called by May 2012) election results: percent of vote by party - FNM 49.86%, PLP 47.02%; seats by party - FNM 23, PLP 18	unicameral National Assembly (150 seats; term limits not established) elections: in May 1997, following the adoption of the new constitution, 75 members of the PFDJ Central Committee (the old Central Committee of the EPLF), 60 members of the 527-member Constituent Assembly, that had been established in 1997 to discuss and ratify the new constitution, and 15 representatives of Eritreans living abroad were formed into a Transitional National Assembly to serve as the country's legislative body until countrywide elections to a National Assembly were held; although only 75 of 150 members of the Transitional National Assembly were elected, the constitution stipulates that once past the transition stage, all members of the National Assembly will be elected by secret ballot of all eligible voters; National Assembly elections scheduled for December 2001 were postponed indefinitely
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 65.66 years male: 62.37 years female: 69.02 years (2007 est.)	total population: 59.03 years male: 57.44 years female: 60.66 years (2006 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: 58.6% male: 69.9% female: 47.6% (2003 est.)
Location	Caribbean, chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida, northeast of Cuba	Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan
Map references	Central America and the Caribbean	Africa
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm	territorial sea: 12 nm
Merchant marine	total: 1,213 ships (1000 GRT or over) 40,403,455 GRT/54,276,183 DWT by type: barge carrier 1, bulk carrier 225, cargo 240, chemical tanker 84, combination ore/oil 13, container 72, liquefied gas 49, livestock carrier 2, passenger 117, passenger/cargo 34, petroleum tanker 196, refrigerated cargo 118, roll on/roll off 18, specialized tanker 4, specialized tanker 1, vehicle carrier 39 foreign-owned: 1,134 (Angola 6, Australia 3, Belgium 15, Bermuda 12, Brazil 1, Canada 13, China 9, Croatia 1, Cuba 1, Cyprus 20, Denmark 66, Finland 8, France 43, Germany 40, Greece 214, Hong Kong 3, Iceland 1, Indonesia 3, Ireland 2, Italy 1, Japan 62, Jordan 2, Kenya 1, Malaysia 11, Monaco 11, Montenegro 2, Netherlands 24, Nigeria 2, Norway 232, Philippines 1, Poland 15, Russia 5, Saudi Arabia 15, Singapore 9, Slovenia 1, South Africa 1, Spain 11, Sweden 5, Switzerland 2, Taiwan 1, Thailand 1, Trinidad and Tobago 1, Turkey 5, UAE 20, UK 68, US 162, Uruguay 1, Venezuela 1) registered in other countries: 3 (Barbados 1, Panama 2) (2007)	total: 6 ships (1000 GRT or over) 19,506 GRT/23,649 DWT by type: cargo 3, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1 (2006)
Military branches	Royal Bahamian Defense Force: Land Force, Navy, Air Wing (2007)	Army, Navy, Air Force
Military expenditures - dollar figure	-	$220.1 million (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	0.5% (2006)	17.7% (2005 est.)
National holiday	Independence Day, 10 July (1973)	Independence Day, 24 May (1993)
Nationality	noun: Bahamian(s) adjective: Bahamian	noun: Eritrean(s) adjective: Eritrean
Natural hazards	hurricanes and other tropical storms cause extensive flood and wind damage	frequent droughts; locust swarms
Natural resources	salt, aragonite, timber, arable land	gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish
Net migration rate	-2.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Political parties and leaders	Free National Movement or FNM [Hubert INGRAHAM]; Progressive Liberal Party or PLP [Perry CHRISTIE]	People's Front for Democracy and Justice or PFDJ, the only party recognized by the government [ISAIAS Afworki]; note - a National Assembly committee drafted a law on political parties in January 2001, but the full National Assembly has not yet debated or voted on it
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	Eritrean Islamic Jihad or EIJ (also including Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement or EIJM (also known as the Abu Sihel Movement)); Eritrean Islamic Salvation or EIS (also known as the Arafa Movement); Eritrean Liberation Front or ELF [ABDULLAH Muhammed]; Eritrean National Alliance or ENA (a coalition including EIJ, EIS, ELF, and a number of ELF factions) [HERUY Tedla Biru]; Eritrean Public Forum or EPF [ARADOM Iyob]
Population	305,655 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 2007 est.)	4,786,994 (July 2006 est.)
Population below poverty line	9.3% (2004)	50% (2004 est.)
Population growth rate	0.602% (2007 est.)	2.47% (2006 est.)
Radio broadcast stations	AM 3, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2006)	AM 2, FM NA, shortwave 2 (2000)
Railways	-	total: 306 km narrow gauge: 306 km 0.950-m gauge (2005)
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)	Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.002 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.968 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.691 male(s)/female total population: 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.)	at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: modern facilities domestic: totally automatic system; highly developed; the Bahamas Domestic Submarine Network links 14 of the islands and is designed to satisfy increasing demand for voice and broadband internet services international: country code - 1-242; landing point for the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber-optic submarine cable that provides links to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth station - 2 (2007)	general assessment: inadequate domestic: inadequate; most telephones are in Asmara; government is seeking international tenders to improve the system (2002) international: country code - 291; note - international connections exist
Telephones - main lines in use	133,100 (2005)	37,700 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular	227,800 (2005)	40,400 (2005)
Television broadcast stations	2 (2006)	1 (2000)
Terrain	long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills	dominated by extension of Ethiopian north-south trending highlands, descending on the east to a coastal desert plain, on the northwest to hilly terrain and on the southwest to flat-to-rolling plains
Total fertility rate	2.15 children born/woman (2007 est.)	5.08 children born/woman (2006 est.)
Unemployment rate	7.6% (2006 est.)	NA%

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