Bahamas, The - Country information


		Bahamas, The	Population Government Economy Geography Communication Transportation

Population		Top of page

Inhabitants		Life expectancy
305,655		total population: 65.66 years male: 62.37 years female: 69.02 years (2007 est.)

Ethnic groups		Religions
black 85%, white 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3%		Baptist 35.4%, Anglican 15.1%, Roman Catholic 13.5%, Pentecostal 8.1%, Church of God 4.8%, Methodist 4.2%, other Christian 15.2%, none or unspecified 2.9%, other 0.8% (2000 census)

Languages		Literacy
English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)		definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 95.6% male: 94.7% female: 96.5% (2003 est.)

Government		Top of page

Government type		Capital
constitutional parliamentary democracy		Nassau

Independance		National day
10 July 1973 (from UK)		Independence Day, 10 July (1973)

Constitution		Legal system
10 July 1973		based on English common law

Economy		Top of page

GDP (purchasing power parity)		Growth rate
$6.159 billion (2006 est.)		4% (2006 est.)

GDP per inhabitant		Unemployment rate
$21,300 (2006 est.)		10.2% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line		Inflation rate
9.3% (2004)		1.2% (2004)

Exports		Imports
$451 million (2005 est.)		$2.16 billion (2005 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold		Currency
		Bahamian dollar (BSD)

Military expenditures
0.5% (2006)

Geography		Top of page

Location		Area
Caribbean, chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida, northeast of Cuba		13,940 sq km

Climate		Natural resources
tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream		salt, aragonite, timber, arable land

Le Monde en Fiches