sed for smuggling
illegal migrants into the US.

Geography
Bahamas, The

Location:

Caribbean, chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast
of Florida, northeast of Cuba

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:

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 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: 0.58%
permanent crops: 0.29%
other: 99.13% (2005)

Irrigated land:

10 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

NA

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, 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:

307,451
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, higher death rates, lower
population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 26.4% (male 40,608/female 40,506)
15-64 years: 66.9% (male 101,150/female 104,457)
65 years and over: 6.7% (male 8,472/female 12,258) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 28.4 years
male: 27.6 years
female: 29.2 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.57% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

17.06 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

9.22 deaths/1,000 population (200