The Bahamas

Wealth and National Well-Being

World Factbook: "The Bahamas is one of the wealthiest Caribbean countries with an economy heavily dependent on tourism and offshore banking."

Estimated per capita GDP (2010 U.S. dollars)

2010: $28,700

Work force in agriculture
2005: 5%

Infant mortality (deaths before the age of one year per 1,000 live births)
2011: 13.49 deaths
2009: 14.84 (ranks 128th)

Average life expectancy at birth
2011: 71.18
2009: 69.92 years
2008: 65.72 years
2005: 65.54 in 2005

People

Population
July 2011: 313,312

birth rate
2011: 16.1 births per 1,000 population per year

Living in an urban area
2010: 84%

Density estimated for 2005: 30 per square kilometer.

Net migration rate
2011: net migration per 1,000 population is zero.

Ethnicity
Blacks 85 percent, Asian and Hispanic 3 percent. Others 12 percent.

Religions
2000 census: 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%

Geography

Islands southeast of Florida, northeast of Cuba.

Government

chief of state: Queen Elizabeth ii, represented by a Governor General,

Bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (16 seats; members appointed by the governor general upon the advice of the prime minister and the opposition leader to serve five-year terms) and the House of Assembly (41 seats; members elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms).

Capital: Nassau

Recent History

Independence from Britain on July 10, 1973. Became a member of the Commonwealth, its full title Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

SOURCES:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/