ment point for illegal drugs, particularly shipments to the US,
and its territory is used for smuggling illegal migrants into the US.
Geography Bahamas, The
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 water: 3,870 sq km land: 10,070 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Connecticut
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 3,542 km
Maritime claims: 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% other: 99% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: hurricanes and other tropical storms 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 of which 30 are inhabited
People Bahamas, The
Population: 300,529 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 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 29% (male 43,964; female 43,250) 15-64 years:
64.7% (male 95,508; female 98,859) 65 years and over: 6.3% (male 7,948;
female 11,000) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.86% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 18.69 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 7.49 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: -2.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02
male(s)/female 15-64 y
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