1989 Edition

Administrative divisions

2 1 districts; Abaco, Acklins Island, Andros Island, Berry Islands, Biminis, Cat Island, Cay Lobos, Crooked Island, Eleuthera, Exuma, Grand Bahama, Harbour Island, Inagua, Long Cay, Long Island, Mayaguana, New Providence, Ragged Island, Rum Cay, San Salvador, Spanish Wells

Capital

Nassau

Climate

tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream

Coastline

3,542 km

Communists

none known

Comparative area

slightly larger than Connecticut

Constitution

10 July 1973

Continental shelf

200 meters or to depth of exploitation

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Margaret E. MCDONALD; Chancery at Suite 865, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037; telephone (202) 944-3390; there are Bahamian Consulates General in Miami and New York; US— Ambassador Chic HECHT; Embassy at Mosmar Building, Queen Street, Nassau (mailing address is P. O. Box N8197, Nassau); telephone (809) 322-1 181 or 328-2206

Elections

House of Assembly — last held 19 June 1987 (next to be held by June 1992); results — percent of vote by party NA; seats— (49 total) PLP 31, FNM 16, independents 2

Environment

subject to hurricanes and other tropical storms that cause extensive flood damage

Exclusive fishing zone

200 nm

Executive branch

British monarch, governor general, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet

Flag

three equal horizontal bands of aquamarine (top), gold, and aquamarine with a black equilateral triangle based on the hoist side

Independence

10 July 1973 (from UK)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Labor force

132,600; 30% government, 25% hotels and restaurants, 10% business services, 5% agriculture (1986)

Land boundaries

none

Land use

1% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; NEGL% meadows and pastures; 32% forest and woodland; 67% other

Language

English; some Creole among Haitian immigrants

Leaders

Chief of St ate— Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Acting Governor General Sir Henry TAYLOR (since 26 June 1988); Head of Government — Prime Minister Sir Lynden Oscar PINDLING (since 16 January 1967) Political parties and leaders: Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), Sir Lynden O. Pindling; Free National Movement (FNM), Cecil WallaceWhitfield

Legal system

based on English common law

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Assembly

Literacy

95% (1986)

Member of

ACP, CARICOM, CCC, CDB, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAO, IDB— Inter-American Development Bank, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAS, PAHO, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Independence Day, 10 July (1973)

Natural resources

salt, aragonite, timber

Note

strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba; extensive island chain

Organized labor

25% of labor force

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 Arlington Miller

Religion

Baptist 29%, Anglican 23%, Roman Catholic 22%, smaller groups of other Protestants, Greek Orthodox, and Jews

Suffrage

universal at age 18

Terrain

long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills

Territorial sea

3 nm

Total area

13,940 km2; land area: 10,070 km2

Type

commonwealth

Birth rate

1 7 births/ 1 ,000 population (1990)

Death rate

6 deaths/ 1 ,000 population (1990)

Ethnic divisions

85% black, 15% white

Infant mortality rate

21 deaths/ 1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth

68 years male, 75 years female (1990)

Nationality

noun — Bahamian(s); adjective— Bahamian

Net migration rate

0 migrants/ 1 ,000 population (1990)

Population

246,49 1 (July 1 990), growth rate 1.2% (1990)

Total fertility rate

1.9 children born/ woman (1990)

Long-form name

The Commonwealth of

Agriculture

accounts for 4% of GDP (including forestry); principal crops and animals— grains, fruit, potatoes, sugar beets, sawn wood, cattle, pigs poultry; 80-90% self-sufficient in food

accounts for less than 5% of GDP; dominated by small-scale producers; principal products — citrus fruit, vegetables, poultry; large net importer of food

Aid

donor — ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $1.7 billion

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-80), $42 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $344 million

Budget

revenues $34.2 billion; expenditures $39. 5 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1988)

revenues $555 million; expenditures $702 million, including capital expenditures of $138 million (1989 est.)

Currency

Austrian schilling (plural — schillings); 1 Austrian schilling (S) = 100 groschen

Bahamian dollar (plural — dollars); 1 Bahamian dollar (B$) = 100 cents

Electricity

17,562,000 kW capacity; 49,290 million kWh produced, 6,500 kWh per capita (1989)

368,000 kW capacity; 857 million kWh produced, 3,470 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates

Austrian schillings (S) per US$1— 11. 907 (January 1990), 13.231 (1989), 12.348(1988), 12.643(1987), 15.267(1986), 20.690(1985)

Bahamian dollar (B$) per US$1— 1.00 (fixed rate) Fiscal yean calendar year

Exports

$31.2 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities— machinery and equipment, iron and steel, lumber, textiles, paper products, chemicals; partners — FRG 35%, Italy 10%, Eastern Europe 9%, Switzerland 7%, US 4%, OPEC 3%

$733 million (f.o.b., 1987); commodities— Pharmaceuticals, cement, rum, crawfish; partners— US 90%, UK 10%

External debt

$12.4 billion (December 1987)

$1.5 billion (September 1988)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$103.2 billion, per capita $13,600; real growth rate 4.2% (1989 est.)

$2.4 billion, per capita $9,875; real growth rate 2.0% (1988 est.)

Imports

$37.9 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities— petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, vehicles, chemicals, textiles and clothing, Pharmaceuticals; partners— FRG 44%, Italy 9%, Eastern Europe 6%, Switzerland 5%, US 4%, USSR 2%

$1.7 billion (c.i.f., 1987); commodities— foodstuffs, manufactured goods, mineral fuels; partners — Iran 30%, Nigeria 20%, US 10%, EC 10%, Gabon 10%

Industrial production

growth rate 5.8% (1989 est.)

growth rate NA%

Industries

foods, iron and steel, machines, textiles, chemicals, electrical, paper and pulp, tourism, mining

banking, tourism, cement, oil refining and transshipment, salt production, rum, aragonite, Pharmaceuticals, spiral weld, steel pipe

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

2.7% (1989)

4.1% (1988)

Overview

Austria boasts a prosperous and stable capitalist economy with a sizable proportion of nationalized industry and extensive welfare benefits. Thanks to an excellent raw material endowment, a technically skilled labor force, and strong links with West German industrial firms, Austria has successfully occupied specialized niches in European industry and services (tourism, banking) and produces almost enough food to feed itself with only 8% of the labor force in agriculture. Living standards are roughly comparable with the large industrial countries of Western Europe. Problems for the 1990s include an aging population and the struggle to keep welfare benefits within budget capabilities.

The Bahamas is a stable, middle-income developing nation whose economy is based primarily on tourism and offshore banking. Tourism alone provides about 50% of GDP and directly or indirectly employs about 50,000 people or 40% of the local work force. The economy has boomed in recent years, aided by a steady annual increase in the number of tourists. The per capita GDP of over $9,800 is one of the highest in the region.

Unemployment

4.8% (1989)

12% (1986)

Airports

55 total, 54 usable; 19 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 4 with runways 1, 220-2,439 m

59 total, 57 usable; 31 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 25 with runways 1,2202,439 m

Branches

Army, Flying Division

Royal Bahamas Defense Force (a coast guard element only), Royal Bahamas Police Force

Civil air

25 major transport aircraft

9 major transport aircraft

Defense expenditures

1.1% of GDP, or $1.1 billion (1989 est.) 200km NASSAU ;AS/'eu : *« Great Abaco <thera Cat Island P Horth Atlantic Ocean V North Atlantic Ocean Great Inagua

NA

Highways

95,412 km total; 34,612 are the primary network (including 1,012 km of autobahn, 10,400 km of federal, and 23,200 km of provincial roads); of this number, 21,812 km are paved and 12,800 km are unpaved; in addition, there are 60,800 km of communal roads (mostly gravel, crushed stone, earth)

2,400 km total; 1,350 km paved, 1,050 km gravel

Inland waterways

446 km

Merchant marine

29 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 209,311 GRT/366,401 DWT; includes 23 cargo, 1 container, 5 bulk

533 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1 1,684,123 GRT/ 19,574,532 DWT; includes 26 passenger, 15 short-sea passenger, 121 cargo, 40 rollon/roll-off cargo, 42 refrigerated cargo, 16 container, 6 car carrier, 123 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 6 liquefied gas, 1 9 combination ore/oil, 29 chemical tanker, 1 specialized tanker, 86 bulk, 3 combination bulk; note — a flag of convenience registry

Military manpower

males 15-49, 1,970,189; 1,656,228 fit for military service; 50,090 reach military age (19) annually

NA

Pipelines

554 km crude oil; 2,61 1 km natural gas; 171 km refined products

Ports

Vienna, Linz (river ports)

Freeport, Nassau

Railroads

6,028 km total; 5,388 km government owned and 640 km privately owned (1.435and 1.000-meter gauge); 5,403 km 1.435-meter standard gauge of which 3,051 km is electrified and 1,520 km is double tracked; 363 km 0.760-meter narrow gauge of which 91 km is electrified

Telecommunications

highly developed and efficient; 4,014,000 telephones; extensive TV and radiobroadcast systems; stations — 6 AM, 21 (544 repeaters) FM, 47 (867 repeaters) TV; satellite stations operating in INTELSAT 1 Atlantic Ocean earth station and 1 Indian Ocean earth station and EUTELSAT systems Defense Forces

highly developed; 99,000 telephones in totally automatic system; tropospheric scatter and submarine cable links to Florida; stations — 3 AM, 2 FM, 1 TV; 3 coaxial submarine cables;! Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station Defense Forces