Religion: Baptist 32%, Anglican 20%, Roman Catholic 19%,
Methodist 6%, Church of God 6%, other Protestant 12%, none or unknown
3%, other 2% (1980)
Language: English; some Creole among Haitian immigrants
Literacy: 90% (male 90%, female 89%) age 15 and over but
definition of literacy not available (1963 est.)
Labor force: 132,600; government 30%, hotels and restaurants 25%,
business services 10%, agriculture 5% (1986)
Organized labor: 25% of labor force
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: The Commonwealth of The Bahamas
Type: commonwealth
Capital: Nassau
Administrative divisions: 21 districts; Abaco, Acklins Island,
Andros Island, Berry Islands, Biminis, Cat Island, Cay Lobos, Crooked
Island, Eleuthera, Exuma, Grand Bahama, Harbour Island, Inagua, Long Cay,
Long Island, Mayaguana, New Providence, Ragged Island, Rum Cay, San
Salvador, Spanish Wells
Independence: 10 July 1973 (from UK)
Constitution: 10 July 1973
Legal system: based on English common law
National holiday: Independence Day, 10 July (1973)
Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime
minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house
or Senate and a lower house or House of Assembly
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952),
represented by Acting Governor General Sir Henry TAYLOR (since 26 June
1988);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Sir Lynden Oscar PINDLING (since
16 January 1967)
Political parties and leaders:
Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), Sir Lynden O. PINDLING;
Free National Movement (FNM), Hubert Alexander INGRAHAM
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
House of Assembly--last held 19 June 1987 (next to be held
by June 1992);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(49 total) PLP 32, FNM 17
Communists: none known
Other political or pressure groups: Vanguard Nationalist and
Socialist Party (VNSP), a small leftist party headed by Lionel CAREY;
Trade Union Congress (TUC), headed by Arlington MILLER
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Margaret E. McDONALD;
Chancery at Suite 865, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037;
telephone (202) 944-3390; there are Bahamian Consulates General in Miami
and New York;
US--Ambassador Chic HECHT; Embassy at Mosmar Building,
Queen Street, Nassau (mailing address is P. O. Box N-8197, Nassau);
telephone (809) 322-1181 or 328-2206
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of aquamarine (top), gold, and
aquamarine with a black equilateral triangle based on the hoist side
ECONOMY
Overview: The Bahamas is a stable, middle-income developing nation
whose economy is based primarily on tourism and offshore banking. Tourism
alone provides about 50% of GDP and directly or indirectly employs about
50,000 people or 40% of the local work force. The economy has slackened
in recent years, as the annual increase in the number of tourists slowed.
Nonetheless, the per capita GDP of $9,800 is one of the highest in the
region.
GDP: $2.4 billion, per capita $9,800; real growth rate 2.0%
(1989 est.)
commodities--foodstuffs, manufactured goods, mineral fuels;
partners--US 35%, Nigeria 21%, Japan 13%, Angola 11%
External debt: $1.2 billion (December 1990)
Industrial production: growth rate NA%; accounts for 15% of GDP
Electricity: 368,000 kW capacity; 857 million kWh produced,
3,480 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: tourism, banking, cement, oil refining and
transshipment, salt production, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral
weld, steel pipe
Agriculture: accounts for less than 5% of GDP; dominated by
small-scale producers; principal products--citrus fruit, vegetables,
poultry; large net importer of food
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY85-88), $1.0
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $345 million
Currency: Bahamian dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Bahamian dollar
(B$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Bahamian dollar (B$) per US$1--1.00 (fixed rate)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: 2,400 km total; 1,350 km paved, 1,050 km gravel
Ports: Freeport, Nassau
Merchant marine: 636 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 14,266,066
GRT/23,585,465 DWT; includes 42 passenger, 16 short-sea passenger, 190
cargo, 41 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 23 container, 5 car carrier,
1 railroad carrier, 141 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 8
liquefied gas, 15 combination ore/oil, 33 chemical tanker, 1 specialized
tanker, 112 bulk, 8 combination bulk; note--a flag of convenience
registry
Civil air: 9 major transport aircraft
Airports: 59 total, 57 usable; 31 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 25 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: highly developed; 99,000 telephones in totally
automatic system; tropospheric scatter and submarine cable links to
