illegal drugs, particularly shipments
to the US, and its territory is used for smuggling illegal migrants
into the US.

Bahamas, The Geography

Location: Caribbean, chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean,
southeast of Florida

Geographic coordinates: 24 15 N, 76 00 W

Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

Area: total: 13,940 sq km

land: 10,070 sq km

water: 3,870 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Connecticut

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 3,542 km

Maritime claims: continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of
exploitation

exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream

Terrain: long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m

highest point: Mount Alvernia, on Cat Island 63 m

Natural resources: salt, aragonite, timber, arable land

Land use: arable land: 1%

permanent crops: 0%

permanent pastures: 0%

forests and woodland: 32%

other: 67% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Natural hazards: hurricanes and other tropical storms that cause
extensive flood and wind damage

Environment - current issues: coral reef decay; solid waste disposal

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba;
extensive island chain

Bahamas, The People

Population: 297,852

note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower
life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2001 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 29.43% (male 44,179; female 43,486)

15-64 years: 64.46% (male 94,329; female 97,674)

65 years and over: 6.11% (male 7,618; female 10,566) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.93% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 19.1 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 7.14 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -2.65 mi