BAHAMAS
Location:
The Bahamas is an archipelago of about 700 islands, east of Florida and northwest of
Cuba, extending from northwest to southeast for about 1,300 kilometres. Its total area is
13,940 square kilometres.
Population:
273,055 (July, 1994 estimate)
Languages:
English, Creole (among Haitian immigrants)
Government:
In 1969, a new Constitution was negotiated with the United Kingdom under which the
former colony became the Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands. In 1973, the
Bahamas became an independent nation as Commonwealth of the Bahamas.
Legal System:
The Bahamian legal system is based on English common law.
Telecommunications:
The Bahamian telecommunication system is highly developed. It has
tropospheric scatter and submarine cable links to Florida, three coaxial
submarine cables and one Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station.
Economy:
The Bahamas is a stable, developing nation whose economy is based primarily on
tourism and offshore banking. Tourism alone provides about 40% of GDP and directly
or indirectly employs about 50,000 people (40% of the local work force). The economy
has slackened in recent years, as the annual increase in the number of tourists slowed.
Nonetheless, per capita GDP is still one of the highest in the region.
Industries:
The main industries in the Bahamas are tourism, banking, cement, oil refining and
transshipment, salt production, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals and spiral welded steel
pipe.
Currency:
1 Bahamian dollar (B$) = 100 cents
Exchange Rates:
Bahamian dollars (B$) per US$1 - 1.00 (fixed rate)
Related sites:
Bahamas Offshore Financial Service Providers
Bahamas Online
Commonwealth Of The Bahamas
To the Offshore World home page.