1987 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1987 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Branches
bicameral legislature (Parliament—]6-member appointed Senate, 43-member elected House of Assembly); executive (Prime Minister and Cabinet); judiciary
Capital
Nassau
Communists
none known
Elections
House of Assembly (June 1982); next election constitutionally due in five years Political parties and leaders: Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), Sir Lynden O. Pindling; Free National Movement (FNM), Kendal Isaacs
Government leaders
Sir Lynden Oscar PINDLING, Prime Minister (since 1969); Sir Gerald C. CASH, Governor General (since 1979)
Legal system
based on English common law
Member of
CARICOM, CDB, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAO, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAS, PAHO, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
National holiday
Independence Day, 10 July
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 Leonard Archer
Suffrage
universal over age 18
Type
independent commonwealth recognizing Elizabeth I] as Chief of State
Voting strength
73,309 registered voters (July 1977); (1982 election) House of Assembly—PLP 32 seats, FNM 1] seats, others 0 seats
Economy
Agriculture
food importer; produces vegetables, tomatoes, pineapples, bananas, citrus fruits; pigs, sheep
Aid
US economic commitments, including Ex-Im (1970-80), from US, $42 million; ODA and OOF economic commitments (1970-84), $168 million
Budget
(June 1986 est.) revenues, $422.4 million; expenditures, $414.9 million
Electric power
850,000 kW capacity; 885 million kWh produced, 3,770 kWh per capita (1986)
Exports
$296 million (f.0.b., 1985); pharmaceuticals, cement, rum, crawfish
Fiscal year
calendar year
GDP
$2.1 billion, $8,950 per capita; real growth rate 2% (1986 est.); inflation rate 4.0% (1985)
Imports
$891 million (f.0.b., 1985); foodstuffs, manufactured goods, mineral fuels
Major industries
banking, tourism, cement, oil refining and transshipment, lumber, salt production, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral weld, and steel pipe
Major trade partners
exports—US 90%, UK 10%; imports—Iran 30%, Nigeria 20%, US 10%, EC 10%, Gabon 10% (1981)
Monetary conversion rate
1.175 Bahamian dollars=US$1 (November 1986)
Natural resources
salt, aragonite, timber
Communications
Airfields
59 total, 56 usable; 29 with permanent-surface runways; 8 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 23 with runways 1,220-2,489 m
Civil air
9 major transport aircraft
Highways
2,400 km total; 1,350 km paved, 1,050 km gravel
Ports
2 major (Freeport, Nassau), 9 minor
Railroads
none
Telecommunications
highly developed, including 84,000 telephones (37.9 per 100 popl.) in totally automatic system; tropospheric scatter and cable links with Florida; 8 AM, 2 FM, and 1 TV stations; 3 coaxial submarine cables; satellite ground station under construction
Military and Security
Branches
Roya! Bahamas Defense Force (a coast guard element only), Royal Bahamas Police Force
Military budget
for fiscal year ending 31 December 1985 $12.7 million, about 3% of the total budget