Bahamas, The (2008) | Russia (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 | 48 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast), 21 republics (respublik, singular - respublika), 9 autonomous okrugs (avtonomnykh okrugov, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 7 krays (krayev, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (singular - gorod), and 1 autonomous oblast (avtonomnaya oblast')
oblasts: Amur (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', Belgorod, Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Chita, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kamchatka (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Kemerovo, Kirov, Kostroma, Kurgan, Kursk, Leningrad, Lipetsk, Magadan, Moscow, Murmansk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Orel, Penza, Pskov, Rostov, Ryazan', Sakhalin (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samara, Saratov, Smolensk, Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), Tambov, Tomsk, Tula, Tver', Tyumen', Ul'yanovsk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, Yaroslavl' republics: Adygeya (Maykop), Altay (Gorno-Altaysk), Bashkortostan (Ufa), Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude), Chechnya (Groznyy), Chuvashiya (Cheboksary), Dagestan (Makhachkala), Ingushetiya (Magas), Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik), Kalmykiya (Elista), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk), Kareliya (Petrozavodsk), Khakasiya (Abakan), Komi (Syktyvkar), Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola), Mordoviya (Saransk), North Ossetia (Vladikavkaz), Sakha [Yakutiya] (Yakutsk), Tatarstan (Kazan'), Tyva (Kyzyl), Udmurtiya (Izhevsk) autonomous okrugs: Aga Buryat (Aginskoye), Chukotka (Anadyr'), Evenk (Tura), Khanty-Mansi, Koryak (Palana), Nenets (Nar'yan-Mar), Taymyr [Dolgano-Nenets] (Dudinka), Ust'-Orda Buryat (Ust'-Ordynskiy), Yamalo-Nenets (Salekhard) krays: Altay (Barnaul), Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Permskiy, Primorskiy (Vladivostok), Stavropol' federal cities: Moscow (Moskva), Saint Petersburg (Sankt-Peterburg) autonomous oblast: Yevrey [Jewish] (Birobidzhan) note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses) |
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: 14.2% (male 10,441,151/female 9,921,102)
15-64 years: 71.3% (male 49,271,698/female 52,679,463) 65 years and over: 14.4% (male 6,500,814/female 14,079,312) (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | citrus, vegetables; poultry | grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits; beef, milk |
Airports | 62 (2007) | 1,623 (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: 616
over 3,047 m: 51 2,438 to 3,047 m: 198 1,524 to 2,437 m: 130 914 to 1,523 m: 100 under 914 m: 137 (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: 1,007
over 3,047 m: 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 16 1,524 to 2,437 m: 75 914 to 1,523 m: 127 under 914 m: 780 (2006) |
Area | total: 13,940 sq km
land: 10,070 sq km water: 3,870 sq km |
total: 17,075,200 sq km
land: 16,995,800 sq km water: 79,400 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Connecticut | approximately 1.8 times the size of the US |
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. | Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy, was able to emerge from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th centuries) and to gradually conquer and absorb surrounding principalities. In the early 17th century, a new Romanov Dynasty continued this policy of expansion across Siberia to the Pacific. Under PETER I (ruled 1682-1725), hegemony was extended to the Baltic Sea and the country was renamed the Russian Empire. During the 19th century, more territorial acquisitions were made in Europe and Asia. Repeated devastating defeats of the Russian army in World War I led to widespread rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire and to the overthrow in 1917 of the imperial household. The Communists under Vladimir LENIN seized power soon after and formed the USSR. The brutal rule of Iosif STALIN (1928-53) strengthened communist rule and Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives. The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into Russia and 14 other independent republics. Since then, Russia has struggled in its efforts to build a democratic political system and market economy to replace the strict social, political, and economic controls of the Communist period. While some progress has been made on the economic front, recent years have seen a recentralization of power under Vladimir PUTIN and the erosion of nascent democratic institutions. A determined guerrilla conflict still plagues Russia in Chechnya and threatens to destabilize the North Caucasus region. |
Birth rate | 17.3 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 9.95 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $1.03 billion
expenditures: $1.03 billion (FY04/05) |
revenues: $176.7 billion
expenditures: $125.6 billion; 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: Moscow
geographic coordinates: 55 45 N, 37 35 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October note: Russia is divided into eleven time zones |
Climate | tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream | ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast |
Coastline | 3,542 km | 37,653 km |
Constitution | 10 July 1973 | adopted 12 December 1993 |
Country name | conventional long form: Commonwealth of The Bahamas
conventional short form: The Bahamas |
conventional long form: Russian Federation
conventional short form: Russia local long form: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya local short form: Rossiya former: Russian Empire, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic |
Death rate | 9.13 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 14.65 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | $342.6 million (2004 est.) | $215.3 billion (2005 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 William J. BURNS
embassy: Bolshoy Deviatinskiy Pereulok No. 8, 121099 Moscow mailing address: PSC-77, APO AE 09721 telephone: [7] (495) 728-5000 FAX: [7] (495) 728-5090 consulate(s) general: Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg |
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 Yuriy Viktorovich USHAKOV
chancery: 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 298-5700, 5701, 5704, 5708 FAX: [1] (202) 298-5735 consulate(s) general: Houston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle |
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 | in 2005, China and Russia ratified the treaty to divide up the islands in the Amur, Ussuri, and Argun Rivers, representing the final portion of their centuries-long border disputes; the sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the "Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kurils," occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, and claimed by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities; Russia and Georgia agree on delimiting all but small, strategic segments of the land boundary and the maritime boundary; OSCE observers monitor volatile areas such as the Pankisi Gorge in the Akhmeti region and the Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia; Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia signed equidistance boundaries in the Caspian seabed but the littoral states have no consensus on dividing the water column; Russia and Norway dispute their maritime limits in the Barents Sea and Russia's fishing rights beyond Svalbard's territorial limits within the Svalbard Treaty zone; various groups in Finland advocate restoration of Karelia (Kareliya) and other areas ceded to the Soviet Union following the Second World War but the Finnish Government asserts no territorial demands; in May 2005, Russia recalled its signatures to the 1996 border agreements with Estonia (1996) and Latvia (1997), when the two Baltic states announced issuance of unilateral declarations referencing Soviet occupation and ensuing territorial losses; Russia demands better treatment of ethnic Russians in Estonia and Latvia; Estonian citizen groups continue to press for realignment of the boundary based on the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty that would bring the now divided ethnic Setu people and parts of the Narva region within Estonia; Lithuania and Russia committed to demarcating their boundary in 2006 in accordance with the land and maritime treaty ratified by Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania operates a simplified transit regime for Russian nationals traveling from the Kaliningrad coastal exclave into Russia, while still conforming, as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, to strict Schengen border rules; delimitation of land boundary with Ukraine is complete, but states have renewed discussions on demarcation; the dispute over the maritime boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov remains unresolved despite a December 2003 framework agreement and on-going expert-level discussions; discussions toward economic and political union with Belarus advance slowly; Kazakhstan and Russia boundary delimitation ratified November 2005 and demarcation is underway; Russian Duma has not yet ratified 1990 Maritime Boundary Agreement with the US in the Bering Sea |
Economic aid - recipient | $4.78 million (2004) | in FY01 from US, $979 million (including $750 million in non-proliferation subsidies); in 2001 from EU, $200 million (2000 est.) |
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. | Russia ended 2005 with its seventh straight year of growth, averaging 6.4% annually since the financial crisis of 1998. Although high oil prices and a relatively cheap ruble are important drivers of this economic rebound, since 2000 investment and consumer-driven demand have played a noticeably increasing role. Real fixed capital investments have averaged gains greater than 10% over the last five years, and real personal incomes have realized average increases over 12%. During this time, poverty has declined steadily and the middle class has continued to expand. Russia has also improved its international financial position since the 1998 financial crisis, with its foreign debt declining from 90% of GDP to around 31%. Strong oil export earnings have allowed Russia to increase its foreign reserves from only $12 billion to some $180 billion at yearend 2005. These achievements, along with a renewed government effort to advance structural reforms, have raised business and investor confidence in Russia's economic prospects. Nevertheless, serious problems persist. Economic growth slowed to 5.9% for 2005 while inflation remains high. Oil, natural gas, metals, and timber account for more than 80% of exports, leaving the country vulnerable to swings in world prices. Russia's manufacturing base is dilapidated and must be replaced or modernized if the country is to achieve broad-based economic growth. Other problems include a weak banking system, a poor business climate that discourages both domestic and foreign investors, corruption, and widespread lack of trust in institutions. In addition, a string of investigations launched against a major Russian oil company, culminating with the arrest of its CEO in the fall of 2003 and the acquisition of the company by a state owned firm, have raised concerns by some observers that President PUTIN is granting more influence to forces within his government that desire to reassert state control over the economy. State control has increased in the past year with a number of large acquisitions. Most fundamentally, Russia has made little progress in building the rule of law, the bedrock of a modern market economy. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.762 billion kWh (2005) | 811.5 billion kWh (2004) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | 24 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | 14 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 1.894 billion kWh (2005) | 931 billion kWh (2004) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Alvernia, on Cat Island 63 m |
lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
highest point: Gora El'brus 5,633 m |
Environment - current issues | coral reef decay; solid waste disposal | air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major cities; industrial, municipal, and agricultural pollution of inland waterways and seacoasts; deforestation; soil erosion; soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals; scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination; groundwater contamination from toxic waste; urban solid waste management; abandoned stocks of obsolete pesticides |
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: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulfur 94 |
Ethnic groups | black 85%, white 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3% | Russian 79.8%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 2%, Bashkir 1.2%, Chuvash 1.1%, other or unspecified 12.1% (2002 census) |
Exchange rates | Bahamian dollars per US dollar - 1 (2007), 1 (2006), 1 (2005), 1 (2004), 1 (2003) | Russian rubles per US dollar - 28.284 (2005), 28.814 (2004), 30.692 (2003), 31.349 (2002), 29.169 (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 Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (acting president 31 December 1999-6 May 2000, president since 7 May 2000)
head of government: Premier Mikhail Yefimovich FRADKOV (since 5 March 2004); First Deputy Premier Dmitriy Anatolyevich MEDVEDEV (since 14 November 2005), Deputy Premiers Aleksandr Dmitriyevich ZHUKOV (since 9 March 2004) and Sergey Borisovich IVANOV (since 14 November 2005) cabinet: Ministries of the Government or "Government" composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers, and selected other individuals; all are appointed by the president note: there is also a Presidential Administration (PA) that provides staff and policy support to the president, drafts presidential decrees, and coordinates policy among government agencies; a Security Council also reports directly to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 14 March 2004 (next to be held March 2008); note - no vice president; if the president dies in office, cannot exercise his powers because of ill health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier serves as acting president until a new presidential election is held, which must be within three months; premier appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma election results: Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN reelected president; percent of vote - Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN 71.2%, Nikolay KHARITONOV 13.7%, other (no candidate above 5%) 15.1% |
Exports | transshipments of 41,290 bbl/day (2004) | 5.15 million bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | mineral products and salt, animal products, rum, chemicals, fruit and vegetables | petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures |
Exports - partners | Spain 22.3%, US 19.8%, Poland 13.5%, Germany 13%, UK 5.7%, Guatemala 4.9% (2006) | Netherlands 10.3%, Germany 8.3%, Italy 7.9%, China 5.5%, Ukraine 5.2%, Turkey 4.5%, Switzerland 4.4% (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 | three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 3%
industry: 7% services: 90% (2001 est.) |
agriculture: 5.4%
industry: 37.1% services: 57.5% (2005 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.8% (2007 est.) | 6.4% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 24 15 N, 76 00 W | 60 00 N, 100 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba; extensive island chain of which 30 are inhabited | largest country in the world in terms of area but unfavorably located in relation to major sea lanes of the world; despite its size, much of the country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry) for agriculture; Mount El'brus is Europe's tallest peak |
Heliports | 1 (2007) | 52 (2006) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: 27% (2000) |
lowest 10%: 1.7%
highest 10%: 38.7% (1998) |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for US and Europe; offshore financial center | limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy and producer of methamphetamine, mostly for domestic consumption; government has active illicit crop eradication program; used as transshipment point for Asian opiates, cannabis, and Latin American cocaine bound for growing domestic markets, to a lesser extent Western and Central Europe, and occasionally to the US; major source of heroin precursor chemicals; corruption and organized crime are key concerns; heroin increasingly popular in domestic market |
Imports | 68,250 bbl/day (2004) | 75,000 bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and live animals | machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines, meat, sugar, semifinished metal products |
Imports - partners | US 24.7%, Brazil 15.7%, Japan 13.1%, South Korea 7.8%, Spain 6.2% (2006) | Germany 13.6%, Ukraine 8%, China 7.4%, Japan 6%, Belarus 4.7%, US 4.7%, Italy 4.6%, South Korea 4.1% (2005) |
Independence | 10 July 1973 (from UK) | 24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 4% (2005 est.) |
Industries | tourism, banking, cement, oil transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral-welded steel pipe | complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil, gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling mills to high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; defense industries including radar, missile production, and advanced electronic components, shipbuilding; road and rail transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery, tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer durables, textiles, foodstuffs, handicrafts |
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: 15.13 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 17.43 deaths/1,000 live births female: 12.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.4% (2007 est.) | 12.7% (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) | APEC, Arctic Council, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BSEC, CBSS, CE, CERN (observer), CIS, EAPC, EBRD, G- 8, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OIC (observer), ONUB, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer), ZC |
Irrigated land | 10 sq km (2003) | 46,000 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Privy Council (London); Courts of Appeal; Supreme (lower) Court; magistrates courts | Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Supreme Arbitration Court; judges for all courts are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president |
Labor force | 181,900 (2006) | 74.22 million (2005 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 5%, industry 5%, tourism 50%, other services 40% (2005 est.) | agriculture: 10.3%
industry: 21.4% services: 68.3% (2004 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 20,096.5 km
border countries: Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China (southeast) 3,605 km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 294 km, Finland 1,340 km, Georgia 723 km, Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 19 km, Latvia 217 km, Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 280.5 km, Mongolia 3,485 km, Norway 196 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 232 km, Ukraine 1,576 km |
Land use | arable land: 0.58%
permanent crops: 0.29% other: 99.13% (2005) |
arable land: 7.17%
permanent crops: 0.11% other: 92.72% (2005) |
Languages | English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants) | Russian, many minority languages |
Legal system | based on English common law | based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
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 |
bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (178 seats; as of July 2000, members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 88 federal administrative units - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; members serve four-year terms) and the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats; currently elected by proportional representation from party lists winning at least 7% of the vote; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: State Duma - last held 7 December 2003 (next to be held in December 2007) election results: State Duma - percent of vote received by parties clearing the 5% threshold entitling them to a proportional share of the 225 party list seats - United Russia 37.1%, CPRF 12.7%, LDPR 11.6%, Motherland 9.1%; seats by party - United Russia 222, CPRF 53, LDPR 38, Motherland 37, People's Party 19, Yabloko 4, SPS 2, other 7, independents 65, repeat election required 3; composition as of 1 July 2006 - United Russia 309, CPRF 45, LDPR 35, Motherland 29, People's Party 12, independents 18, vacant 2 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 65.66 years
male: 62.37 years female: 69.02 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 67.08 years
male: 60.45 years female: 74.1 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: 99.6% male: 99.7% female: 99.5% (2003 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida, northeast of Cuba | Northern Asia (the area west of the Urals is considered part of Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Asia |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
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: 1,178 ships (1000 GRT or over) 5,080,341 GRT/6,287,784 DWT
by type: barge carrier 1, bulk carrier 46, cargo 743, chemical tanker 25, combination ore/oil 38, container 13, passenger 12, passenger/cargo 7, petroleum tanker 219, refrigerated cargo 54, roll on/roll off 15, specialized tanker 5 foreign-owned: 100 (Belgium 4, Canada 1, Cyprus 2, Estonia 1, Germany 2, Greece 1, Latvia 2, Malta 4, Norway 1, Switzerland 7, Turkey 63, Ukraine 11, US 1) registered in other countries: 465 (Antigua and Barbuda 6, Bahamas 6, Belize 36, Bulgaria 1, Cambodia 105, Comoros 4, Cyprus 53, Dominica 2, Finland 1, Georgia 28, North Korea 1, Liberia 77, Malta 70, Marshall Islands 1, Mongolia 13, Panama 7, Saint Kitts and Nevis 5, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 29, Sierra Leone 1, Tuvalu 2, Ukraine 1, Vanuatu 1, Venezuela 1, unknown 14) (2006) |
Military branches | Royal Bahamian Defense Force: Land Force, Navy, Air Wing (2007) | Ground Forces (SV), Navy (VMF), Air Forces (VVS); Airborne Troops (VDV), Strategic Rocket Troops (RVSN), and Space Troops (KV) are independent "combat arms," not subordinate to any of the three branches |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.5% (2006) | NA |
National holiday | Independence Day, 10 July (1973) | Russia Day, 12 June (1990) |
Nationality | noun: Bahamian(s)
adjective: Bahamian |
noun: Russian(s)
adjective: Russian |
Natural hazards | hurricanes and other tropical storms cause extensive flood and wind damage | permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development; volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands; volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka Peninsula; spring floods and summer/autumn forest fires throughout Siberia and parts of European Russia |
Natural resources | salt, aragonite, timber, arable land | wide natural resource base including major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, and many strategic minerals, timber
note: formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder exploitation of natural resources |
Net migration rate | -2.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 1.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Pipelines | - | condensate 122 km; gas 156,285 km; oil 72,283 km; refined products 13,658 km (2006) |
Political parties and leaders | Free National Movement or FNM [Hubert INGRAHAM]; Progressive Liberal Party or PLP [Perry CHRISTIE] | A Just Russia or JR [Sergei MIRONOV] (formed from the merger of three small political parties: Motherland Party (Rodina), Pensioner's Party, and Party of Life); Communist Party of the Russian Federation or CPRF [Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV]; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia or LDPR [Vladimir Volfovich ZHIRINOVSKIY]; People's Party [Gennady RAIKOV]; Union of Right Forces or SPS [Nikita BELYKH]; United Russia or UR [Boris Vyacheslavovich GRYZLOV]; Yabloko Party [Grigoriy Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
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.) |
142,893,540 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 9.3% (2004) | 17.8% (2004 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.602% (2007 est.) | -0.37% (2006 est.) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 3, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2006) | AM 323, FM 1,500 est., shortwave 62 (2004) |
Railways | - | total: 87,157 km
broad gauge: 86,200 km 1.520-m gauge (40,300 km electrified) narrow gauge: 957 km 1.067-m gauge (on Sakhalin Island) note: an additional 30,000 km of non-common carrier lines serve industries (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) | Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslim 10-15%, other Christian 2% (2006 est.)
note: estimates are of practicing worshipers; Russia has large populations of non-practicing believers and non-believers, a legacy of over seven decades of Soviet rule |
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: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.46 male(s)/female total population: 0.86 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: the telephone system underwent significant changes in the 1990s; there are more than 1,000 companies licensed to offer communication services; access to digital lines has improved, particularly in urban centers; Internet and e-mail services are improving; Russia has made progress toward building the telecommunications infrastructure necessary for a market economy; however, a large demand for main line service remains unsatisfied
domestic: cross-country digital trunk lines run from Saint Petersburg to Khabarovsk, and from Moscow to Novorossiysk; the telephone systems in 60 regional capitals have modern digital infrastructures; cellular services, both analog and digital, are available in many areas; in rural areas, the telephone services are still outdated, inadequate, and low density international: country code - 7; Russia is connected internationally by three undersea fiber-optic cables; digital switches in several cities provide more than 50,000 lines for international calls; satellite earth stations provide access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Orbita systems |
Telephones - main lines in use | 133,100 (2005) | 40.1 million (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 227,800 (2005) | 120 million (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (2006) | 7,306 (1998) |
Terrain | long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills | broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions |
Total fertility rate | 2.15 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 1.28 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 7.6% (2006 est.) | 7.6% plus considerable underemployment (2005 est.) |
Waterways | - | 102,000 km (including 33,000 km with guaranteed depth)
note: 72,000 km system in European Russia links Baltic Sea, White Sea, Caspian Sea, Sea of Azov, and Black Sea (2005) |