Bahamas

Bahamas Background

Arawak 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 , the country is a major transshipment point for illegal drugs, particularly shipments to the US, and its territory is used for smuggling illegal migrants into the US.

Bahamas Information

• Population: 299,697 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 dis
• Nationality: noun: Bahamian(s) adjective: Bahamian
• Location:: Caribbean, chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida, northeast of Cuba
• Religions:: Baptist 32%, Anglican 20%, Roman Catholic 19%, Methodist 6%, Church of God 6%, other Protestant 12%, none or unknown 3%, other 2%
• Ethnic Groups:: black 85%, white 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3%
• Land Boundaries:: 0 km
• Area: total: 13,940 sq km water: 3,870 sq km land: 10,070 sq km
• Coast Line: 3,542 km
• Climate: tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream
• Terrain: long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills
• Maritime Claims: territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
• Land Use: arable land: 0.8% permanent crops: 0.4% other: 98.8% (2001)
• Environmental Issues: coral reef decay; solid waste disposal
• Natural Resources: salt, aragonite, timber, arable land
• Highways: total: 2,693 km paved: 1,546 km unpaved: 1,147 km (1999 est.)
• Railways:
• Ports & Harbours: Freeport, Matthew Town, Nassau
• Airports: 63 (2003 est.)