Bahamas | Facts, History & News

Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)

Governor-General: Dame Marguerite Pindling (2014)

Prime Minister: Perry Christie (2012)

Land area: 3,888 sq mi (10,070 sq km); total area: 5,382 sq mi 13,940 sq km)

Population (2014 est.): 321,834 (growth rate: 0.87%); birth rate: 15.65/1000; infant mortality rate: 12.5/1000; life expectancy: 71.93

Capital and largest city (2011 est.): Nassau, 254,000

Monetary unit: Bahamian dollar

Languages: English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)

Ethnicity/race: black 90.6%, white 4.7%, black and white 2.1%, other 1.9%, unspecified 0.7% (2010 est.)

Religions: Protestant 69.9% (includes Baptist 34.9%, Anglican 13.7%, Pentecostal 8.9% Seventh Day Adventist 4.4%, Methodist 3.6%, Church of God 1.9%, Brethren 1.6%), Roman Catholic 12%, other Christian 13% (includes Jehovah's Witness 1.1%), other 0.6%, none 1.9%, unspecified 2.6% (2010 est.)

National Holiday: Independence Day, July 10

Literacy rate: 95.6% (2011 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2013 est.): $8.373 billion; per capita $32,000. Real growth rate: 1.9%. Inflation: 1% (2011 est.). Unemployment: 16.2%. Arable land: 0.65%. Agriculture: citrus, vegetables; poultry. Labor force: 196,900 (2011); agriculture 3%, industry 11%, tourism 49%, other services 37% (2011 est.). Industries: tourism, banking, cement, oil transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral-welded steel pipe. Natural resources: salt, aragonite, timber, arable land. Exports: $960 million (2013 est.): mineral products and salt, animal products, rum, chemicals, fruit and vegetables. Imports: $3.245 billion (2013 est.): machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and live animals. Major trading partners: U.S., South Korea, Dominican Republic, India, Singapore, Ecuador, Colombia, China, Canada, Switzerland (2012).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 137,00 (2012); mobile cellular: 254,000 (2012). Broadcast media: 2 TV stations operated by government-owned, commercially run Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas (BCB); multi-channel cable TV subscription service is available; about 15 radio stations operating with BCB operating a multi-channel radio broadcasting network alongside privately owned radio stations (2007). Internet hosts: 20,661 (2012). Internet users: 115,800 (2012).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 2,717 km; (2011). Ports and harbors: Freeport, Nassau, South Riding Point. Airports: 61 (2013).

International disputes: disagrees with the US on the alignment of the northern axis of a potential maritime boundary.

Major sources and definitions

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Bahamas | Facts, History & News