# The World Factbook (1982)/The Bahamas
## THE BAHAMASTHE BAHAMAS

* (See reference map III)

### LANDLAND

111,396 km$^2$; 1% cultivated, 29% forested, 70% built on, wasteland, and other

### WATERWATER

Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 3 nm (fishing 200 nm)
Coastline: 3,542 km (New Providence Island, 76 km)

### PEOPLEPEOPLE

Population: 237,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.8%
Nationality: noun—Bahamian(s); adjective—Bahamian
Ethnic divisions: 80% Negro, 10% white, 10% mixed
Religion: Baptists 29%, Church of England 23%, Roman Catholic 23%, smaller groups of other Protestant, Greek Orthodox, and Jews
Language: English
Labor force: 101,000 (1979), 25% organized; 19% unemployment (1979)

### GOVERNMENTGOVERNMENT

Official name: The Commonwealth of The Bahamas
Type: independent commonwealth since July 1973, recognizing Elizabeth II as Chief of State
Capital: Nassau (New Providence Island)
Legal system: based on English law
National holiday: Independence Day, 10 July
Branches: bicameral legislature (appointed Senate, elected House); executive (Prime Minister and Cabinet); judiciary Government leaders: Prime Minister Lynden O. PINDLING; Governor General Gerald C. CASH
Suffrage: universal over age 18; registered voters (July 1977) 73,309
Elections: House of Assembly (19 July 1977); next election due constitutionally in five years
​Political parties and leaders: Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), predominantly black, Lynden O. Pindling; Bahamian Democratic Party (BDP), Henry Bostwick; Free National Movement (FNM), Cecil Wallace-Whitfield; Social Democratic Party (SDP), Norman Solomon Voting strength (1977 election): PLP (55%) 30 seats, BDP (27%) 6 seats, FNM (15%) 2 seats, others (3%) seats
Communists: none known
Member of: CDB, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAO, IDB, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ITU, UN, UPO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

### ECONOMYECONOMY

GNP: $1,083 million (1979), $4,650 per capita; real growth rate 3-4% (1980)
Agriculture: food importer, main crops—fish, fruits, vegetables Major industries: tourism, cement, oil refining, lumber, salt production, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral weld, and steel pipe
Electric power: 320,000 kW capacity (1981); 650 million kWh produced (1981), 3,307 kWh per capita
Exports (nonoil): $194 million (f.o.b., 1979); pharmaceuticals, cement, rum
Imports (nonoil): $364 million (f.o.b., 1979); foodstuffs, manufactured goods
Major trade partners: nonoil exports—US 41%, UK 12%, Canada 3%; nonoil imports—US 73%, UK 13%, Canada 2% (1973)
Aid: economic—bilateral commitments including Ex-Im (1970-80) from US, $34.3 million; from other Western countries (1970-79), $137.7 million; no military aid
Budget: (1979 actual) revenues, $208 million; expenditures, $216 million
Monetary conversion rate: 1 Bahamian dollar=US$1
Fiscal year: calendar year

### COMMUNICATIONSCOMMUNICATIONS

Railroads: none
Highways: 3,350 km total; 1,350 km paved, 2,000 km gravel
Ports: 2 major (Freeport, Nassau), 9 minor
Civil air: 8 major transport aircraft, including 1 leased in
Airfields: 55 total, 51 usable; 27 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 22 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: telecom facilities highly developed, including 62,000 telephones (28 per 100 popl.) in totally automatic system; tropospheric scatter link with Florida; 3 AM stations, 2 FM stations and 1 TV station; 3 coaxial submarine cables