Country Profile: The Bahamas

Geography

Islands southeast of Florida, northeast of Cuba.

Independence and Government

Acquired from Britain on July 10, 1973. A member of the Commonwealth, its full title Commonwealth of The Bahamas. Britain's Queen Elizabeth is its formal chief of state.

Economy

Figures unless otherwise stated are from the CIA Factbook.

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

Estimated per capita GDP (2009 U.S. dollars)

2009: $29,800
2008: $31,100
2007: $31,800

GDP annual growth rate estimated:
2009: -4%
2008: -1.5%
2007: 2.8%

Unemployment rate

2006: 7.6%

Population

Living in an urban area: 84% (2008)

July 2009: 307,552
July 2008: 307,451
July 2005: 301,790

Density estimated for 2005: 30 per square kilometer.

Migration

2009: 0
2008: More people leaving than arriving. A net loss of 2.14 per 1,000 population

Health

Infant mortality (deaths before the age of one year per 1,000 live births)

2009: 14.84 (ranks 128th)

Average life expectancy at birth

2009: 69.92 years
2008: 65.72 years
2005: 65.54 in 2005

Living with HIV/AIDS, ages 15 to 49: 3 percent (2003). Five times that of the United States.

Ethnicity

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

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

The Bahamas