Region: Caribbean

Capital: Nassau

Population: 307,451 (July 2008 est.)

Surface area: 13,940 sq km

Currency: Bahamian dollar (BSD)

GDP per capita: Purchasing power parity US $25,000 (2007 est.)

Background:
Lucayan Indians inhabited the islands when Christopher Columbus first set foot in the New World on San Salvador in 1492. British settlement of the islands began in 1647; the islands became a colony in 1783. Since attaining independence from the UK in 1973, The Bahamas have prospered through tourism and international banking and investment management.

Economy – Overview:
The Bahamas is one of the wealthiest Caribbean countries with an economy heavily dependent on tourism and offshore banking. Tourism together with tourism-driven construction and manufacturing accounts for approximately 60% of GDP and directly or indirectly employs half of the archipelago's labor force. Steady growth in tourism receipts and a boom in construction of new hotels, resorts, and residences had led to solid GDP growth in recent years, but tourist arrivals have been on the decline since 2006. Financial services constitute the second-most important sector of the Bahamian economy and, when combined with business services, account for about 36% of GDP. However, since December 2000, when the government enacted new regulations on the financial sector, many international businesses have left The Bahamas. Manufacturing and agriculture combined contribute approximately a tenth of GDP and show little growth, despite government incentives aimed at those sectors. Overall growth prospects in the short run rest heavily on the fortunes of the tourism sector. Tourism, in turn, depends on growth in the US, the source of more than 80% of the visitors.

Major Export Commodities: mineral products and salt, animal products, rum, chemicals; fruit and vegetables

Remittances: Not available

Human Development Index 2007/2008 ranking: 49 out of 177

Official Development Assistance and Major Development Partners: Not available

Total External Debt: US $342.6 million (2004 est.)                           

United Nations membership date: 18 September 1973

New York Mission:
Permanent Mission of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas to the United Nations
231 East 46th Street
New York, N.Y. 10017 USA
Telephone: 212-421-6925, 6926, 6929
Fax: 212-759-2135

Website: http://www.un.int/bahamas