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capital:
nassau 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 independence: 10 july 1973 (from uk) national holiday: independence day. 10 july (1973) constitution: 10 july 1973 legal system: based on english common law suffrage: 18 years of age; universal 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 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 judicial branch: supreme court; court of appeal; magistrates courts political parties and leaders: free national movement or fnm [tommy turnquest]; progressive liberal party or plp [perry christie] political pressure groups and leaders: na 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) 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 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 flag description: 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. 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. gdp (purchasing power parity): $5.685 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $5.924 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 3% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $18.800 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 3% industry: 7% services: 90% (2001 est.) labor force: 156.000 (1999) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 5%. industry 5%. tourism 50%. other services 40% (1999 est.) unemployment rate: 10.2% (2004 est.) population below poverty line: na household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: na highest 10%: 27% (2000) inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.2% (year ending september 2004) (year ending september 2004) budget: revenues: $1 billion expenditures: $1 billion. including capital expenditures of $106.7 million (fy03/04) agriculture - products: citrus. vegetables; poultry industries: tourism. banking. cement. oil transshipment. salt. rum. aragonite. pharmaceuticals. spiral-welded steel pipe industrial production growth rate: na electricity - production: 1.81 billion kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) electricity - consumption: 1.683 billion kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 0 kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 0 kwh (2003) oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2003) oil - consumption: 23.000 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: transhipments of 29.000 bbl/day (2003) oil - imports: na (2001) exports: $1.507 billion (2004 est.) exports - partners: us 40.3%. poland 13.3%. spain 11.7%. germany 5.9%. france 4.3% (2004) imports: $5.806 billion (2004 est.) imports - partners: us 22.4%. south korea 18.9%. brazil 9.2%. japan 7.9%. italy 7.8%. venezuela 6.6% (2004) debt - external: $308.5 million (2002) economic aid - recipient: $9.8 million (1995) currency (code): bahamian dollar (bsd) currency code: bsd exchange rates: bahamian dollars per us dollar - na (2005). 1 (2004). 1 (2003). 1 (2002). 1 (2001) fiscal year: 1 july - 30 june telephones - main lines in use: 131.700 (2003) telephones - mobile cellular: 121.800 (2002) 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 - 2 (2005) radio broadcast stations: am 3. fm 5. shortwave 0 (2004) radios: 215.000 (1997) television broadcast stations: 2 (2004) televisions: 67.000 (1997) internet country code: .bs internet hosts: 302 (2003) internet service providers (isps): 19 (2000) internet users: 84.000 (2003) airports: 63 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 30 over 3.047 m: 2 2.438 to 3.047 m: 3 1.524 to 2.437 m: 14 914 to 1.523 m: 10 under 914 m: 1 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 34 1.524 to 2.437 m: 3 914 to 1.523 m: 9 under 914 m: 22 (2005 est.) heliports: 1 (2005 est.) roadways: total: 2.693 km paved: 1.546 km unpaved: 1.147 km (1999) 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) ports and terminals: freeport. nassau. south riding point military branches: royal bahamaian defense force (naval forces) (2004) military service age and obligation: 18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001) military expenditures - dollar figure: na military expenditures - percent of gdp: na 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 illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for us and europe; offshore financial center
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