Bahamas <div style="float: right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em"> <table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="border: 1px solid #9866FF; background-color: #f3f3ff" width="200"> <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; border-bottom: 1px solid #C9AFFF; background-color: #ddddff">Flag</td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; padding: 2px">Image:bf-flag.png</td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; border-bottom: 1px solid #C9AFFF; border-top: 1px solid #C9AFFF; background-color: #ddddff">Quick Facts</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Capital'''</td><td>Nassau</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Government'''</td><td>constitutional parliamentary democracy </td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Currency'''</td><td>Bahamian dollar (BSD)</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Area'''</td><td>''total:'' 13,940 sq km ''water:'' 3,870 sq km ''land:'' 10,070 sq km</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Population'''</td><td>300,529 </td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Language'''</td><td>English, Creole (among Haitian immigrants)</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Religion'''</td><td>Baptist 32%, Anglican 20%, Roman Catholic 19%, Methodist 6%, Church of God 6%, other Protestant 12%, none or unknown 3%, other 2%</td></tr> </table> </div>  The '''Bahamas''' are an extensive chain of Caribbean Islands|Caribbean islands in the North Atlantic islands|North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida, USA and to the northeast of Cuba. Some 30 of the islands are inhabited and the country is a major tourist attraction. Image:bf-map.png|frame|Map of the Bahamas ==Regions== ; '''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 ==Cities== *Nassau - Capital *Freeport *Matthew Town *Alice Town Bimini ==Other destinations== ==Understand== ===Climate=== Tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream. Hurricanes and other tropical storms cause extensive flood and wind damage. ===Terrain=== Long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills. The highest point is Mount Alvernia (63 m), on Cat Island. ===History=== 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 geography, 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. ==Get in== ===By plane=== Residents of the United States can use a United States official Birth Certificate to enter the Bahamas without a passport. United States Customs is located in the airport, so leave extra time to clear customs when leaving the country. They used to require visitors to pay a $15 per person departure tax in cash, but now it's included in the cost of the ticket. ===By train not ===By car not ===By bus=== ===By boat=== ==Get around== The buses on the Bahamas are great for tourists because they cost $1 to travel on, and go anywhere you would want to go. With the exception of the Airport, as it is illegal for them to go to there. However you can (pretty much have to unless you ''love'' walking) use a cab for about $50. When traveling around, at 5PM all shops, restaurants, and buses shut down. The only way to travel is either walking, or once again, take a $50 cab. ==Talk== ; '''Languages''' : English, Haitian Creole (among Haitian immigrants) ==Buy== ==Eat== Eating can be done for anywhere from $5-$25 a plate. You can usually find a KFC or McDonalds if you look hard enough, but as it is a high tourism country, you can find nice restaurants of any kind of food. The food there is mostly done in the style of the British, though you can easily find the normal island flair, especially during the Fish Fry during June, where you can usually get a meal for about $8. Tipping, as in England, is automatically added to the check. ==Drink== Soda ------------------ This is a tourist town. Soda is pretty pricy, and you will only find it on a soda tap if you are in a good restaurant, otherwise you will usually get it in a can. The cheapest way to get this would be to go to a local "Food Mart." Beer ------------------ Kalik is the national brewery of the Bahamas and is always served at "all-inclusive" resorts. Kalik is a decent brand, especially given the dearth of options available. Imported beer is incredibly expensive in the Bahamas, as it is not produced there. Expect to pay about $6.00 a can there, and bottles are almost impossible to find. Don't even expect to find a decent selection. Hard Liquors ------------------ This is not much of a step up from beer. You have to go out of your way to even FIND wiskey, and when you do, it's expensive, and they only have Jack Daniels. I couldn't even find Brandy, and vodka averaged $15 a bottle... for the cheap stuff. Rum ------------------ This is by far the best choice of drinks in the Bahamas, it's cheap as you can get ($2-$10 a bottle), tastes great, and it's made fresh by 3 different companys, the largest being the Bacardi Rum factory, which you can take tours of and get free drinks if you go on a 2 HR bus ride. ==Sleep== ==Learn== ==Work== ==Stay safe== ==Stay healthy== ==Respect== ==Contact== ==External links== {{msg:stub}} ---- ''The rest of this article is an Wikitravel:CIA World Factbook 2002 import|import from the CIA World Factbook 2002. It's a starting point for creating a '''real''' Wikitravel country article according to our Wikitravel:country article template|country article template. Please Wikitravel:plunge forward|plunge forward and integrate it into the article above.'' ---- ==Geography== ; '''Geographic coordinates''' : 24 15 N, 76 00 W ; '''Area''' : ''total:'' 13,940 sq km ''water:'' 3,870 sq km ''land:'' 10,070 sq km ; '''Area - comparative''' : slightly smaller than Connecticut ; '''Coastline''' : 3,542 km ; '''Maritime claims''' : ''exclusive economic zone:'' 200 NM ''territorial sea:'' 12 NM ; '''Natural resources''' : salt, aragonite, timber, arable land ; '''Land use''' : ''arable land:'' 0.6% ''permanent crops:'' 0.4% ''other:'' 99% (1998 est.) ; '''Environment - current issues''' : coral reef decay; solid waste disposal ==People== ; '''Population''' : 300,529 ''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 2002 est.) ; '''Age structure''' : ''0-14 years:'' 29% (male 43,964; female 43,250) ''15-64 years:'' 64.7% (male 95,508; female 98,859) ''65 years and over:'' 6.3% (male 7,948; female 11,000) (2002 est.) ; '''Population growth rate''' : 0.86% (2002 est.) ; '''Birth rate''' : 18.69 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) ; '''Death rate''' : 7.49 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) ; '''Net migration rate''' : -2.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) ; '''Sex ratio''' : ''at birth:'' 1.02 male(s)/female ''under 15 years:'' 1.02 male(s)/female ''15-64 years:'' 0.97 male(s)/female ''65 years and over:'' 0.72 male(s)/female ''total population:'' 0.96 male(s)/female (2002 est.) ; '''Infant mortality rate''' : 17.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) ; '''Life expectancy at birth''' : ''total population:'' 69.87 years ''female:'' 73.49 years (2002 est.) ''male:'' 66.32 years ; '''Total fertility rate''' : 2.28 children born/woman (2002 est.) ; '''HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate''' : 4.13% (1999 est.) ; '''Nationality''' : ''noun:'' Bahamian(s) ''adjective:'' Bahamian ; '''Ethnic groups''' : black 85%, white 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3% ; '''Religions''' : Baptist 32%, Anglican 20%, Roman Catholic 19%, Methodist 6%, Church of God 6%, other Protestant 12%, none or unknown 3%, other 2% ; '''Literacy''' : ''definition:'' age 15 and over can read and write ''total population:'' 98.2% ''male:'' 98.5% ''female:'' 98% (1995 est.) ==Government== ; '''Country name''' : ''conventional long form:'' Commonwealth of The Bahamas ''conventional short form:'' The Bahamas ; '''Government type''' : constitutional parliamentary democracy ; '''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 ; '''Flag description''' : three equal horizontal bands of aquamarine (top), gold, and aquamarine, with a black equilateral triangle based on the hoist side ==Economy== ; '''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 almost half of the archipelago's labor force. Steady growth in tourism receipts and a boom in construction of new hotels, resorts, and residences have led to solid GDP growth in recent years. 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 the majority of tourist visitors. ; '''Unemployment rate''' : 6.9% (2001 est.) ; '''Industries''' : tourism, banking, cement, oil refining and transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral-welded steel pipe ; '''Electricity - production''' : 1.54 billion kWh (2000) ; '''Electricity - production by source''' : ''fossil fuel:'' 100% ''hydro:'' 0% ''other:'' 0% (2000) ''nuclear:'' 0% ; '''Agriculture - products''' : citrus, vegetables; poultry ; '''Exports - commodities''' : fish and crawfish; rum, salt, chemicals; fruit and vegetables (1999) ; '''Imports - commodities''' : machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and live animals (1999) ; '''Currency''' : Bahamian dollar (BSD) ; '''Currency code''' : BSD ; '''Exchange rates''' : Bahamian dollars per US dollar - 1.000 (fixed rate pegged to the dollar) ; '''Fiscal year''' : 1 July - 30 June ==Communications== ; '''Telephones - main lines in use''' : 96,000 (1997) ; '''Telephones - mobile cellular''' : 6,152 (1997) ; '''Telephone system''' : ''general assessment:'' modern facilities ''domestic:'' totally automatic system; highly developed ''international:'' tropospheric scatter and submarine cable to Florida; 3 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (1997) ; '''Radio broadcast stations''' : AM 3, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998) ; '''Radios''' : 215,000 (1997) ; '''Television broadcast stations''' : 1 (1997) ; '''Televisions''' : 67,000 (1997) ; '''Internet Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD)''' : .bs ; '''Internet Service Providers (ISPs)''' : 19 (2000) ; '''Internet users''' : 16,900 (2002) ==Transportation== ; '''Highways''' : ''total:'' 2,693 km ''paved:'' 1,546 km ''unpaved:'' 1,147 km (1997) ; '''Airports''' : 67 (2001) ; '''Airports - with paved runways''' : ''total:'' 30 ''over 3,047 m:'' 2 ''2,438 to 3,047 m:'' 3 ''914 to 1,523 m:'' 11 ''under 914 m:'' 2 (2002) ''1,524 to 2,437 m:'' 12 ; '''Airports - with unpaved runways''' : ''total:'' 34 35 ''1,524 to 2,437 m:'' 3 ''914 to 1,523 m:'' 9 ''under 914 m:'' 3 23 (2002) ; '''Heliports''' : 1 (2002) ==Transnational Issues== ; '''Illicit drugs''' : transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for US and Europe; offshore financial center fr:Bahamas First page | Prev | Next | Last page |

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