Bahamas

toc = = ~THE BAHAMAS~ = = =Geographical Information/ Political Information= The Bahamas is a neighboring country to Cuba, the U.S. (Florida), The Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico. From: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States To: Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas- Distance in miles: 1036 Distance in Kilometers: 1667 Direction to Destination: South

CLIMATE: CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS: TYPE OF GOVERNMENT: constitutional parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm HEAD OF STATE:Elizabeth II from 1973, represented by Governor General Ivy Dumont from 2001 HEAD OF GOVERNMENT: Perry Christie from 2002
 * Slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut.
 * There are nearly 700 islands, of which about 30 are inhabited.
 * Although not the largest, is by far the most populous and most densely populated island.
 * The Bahamas' capital city, Nassau, is located on New Providence Island in the center of the island group.
 * The Bahamas is in the North Atlantic Ocean on the eastern edge of the Caribbean, just 72 kilometers (45 miles) southeast of Florida.
 * the Bahamas has sunshine approximately 310 days per year, Generally year-round good weather.
 * Winter temperatures seldom fall much below 60F degrees and usually reach about 75F degrees in the day
 * In summer, temperatures usually fall to 78F degrees or less at night and seldom rise above 90F degrees during the day.
 * There are 2 seasons, Summer which is from May through September and winter which is from October through April.
 * Average temperatures range from 84 deg. F during the summer and 75 deg. F in the winter.
 * Summer days are hot and muggy, winter days are dry and cooler.
 * HOLIDAYS:-Emancipation Day, Discovery Day, Boxing Day, Labor Day, Fox Hill Day

=Economic Information= CURRENCY: The currency in The Bahamas is the same as the money in the U.S. (100 cents=1 dollar) UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 10.2% INDUSTRIES:tourism, banking, cement, oil transshipment, salt, rum, aragonite, pharmaceuticals, spiral-welded steel pipe GDP PER CAPITA: $28,600 GDP:$7.538 billion EXPORTS:Pharmaceuticals, cement, rum, craw fish, refined petroleum products. IMPORTS:Foodstuffs, manufactured goods, crude oil, vehicles, electronics. MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS:USA, Spain, Brazil, Venezuela, South Korea, Germany, France AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS: sugar cane, cucumbers, tomatoes, pineapples, papayas, mangoes, avocados, limes and other citrus fruit; commercial fishing (conches and crustaceans) RESOURCES:aragonite (extracted from seabed), chalk, salt

=Population Information= CURRENT POPULATION:327,400 POPULATION DENSITY:(per sq km) 24 AGE DISTRIBUTION:30.2 years NRI: 0.922%
 * It will take almost 76 years for my country to double its population.

LITERACY RATE:95.6% INFANT MORTALITY RATE:13.49 deaths/1,000 live births LIFE EXPECTANCY: 71.18 years The Physical Quality of Life Index-
 * (166-13.49(infant mortality))x0.625=95.32
 * (71.18(life expectancy)-42)x2.7=78.79
 * (95.6(literacy rate)+95.32(infant mortality calculation)+78.79(life expectancy calculation)/3=89.9

ETHNIC GROUPS:black 85%, white 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3% CHIEF RELIGIONS:Baptist 35.4%, Anglican 15.1%, Roman Catholic 13.5%, Pentecostal 8.1%, Church of God 4.8%, Methodist 4.2%, other Christian 15.2%, none or unspecified 2.9%, other 0.8% MAIN LANGUAGE:English =Human Rights Information= The Bahamas try their best to treat the people in their county as good as possible. Things like torture, cruel and degrading punishment are all not permitted. The Bahamas have the death penalty and in 2010 there were five deaths reported. Although the death penalty is considered a human rights issue, the Bahamas have a lot less people killed then places like the United States and Afghanistan. Being born outside of the Bahamas and having one parent being Bahamian does not give them citizenship, but otherwise they are considered citizens. Child abuse it is absolutely not acceptable. People who are seen abusing in the Bahamas will get in great trouble. The Bahamas prohibit forced labor, but some cases have been reported. In the Bahamas they have freedom of speech. The government works very closely to how the U.S. government works, as far as the rules and freedom of the people.

=Environmental Information/ Issues= Although The Bahamas is a very nice place to go relax, and visit, it does have environmental issues of its own. The beautiful beaches everyone takes advantage of, causes many environmental issues. For example, littering from the residence and visitors not only lowers the beauty of the beaches and body of waters but also harms the ocean water that surrounds the country. The Bahamas have special organizations to help clean up so this issue does not continue. Due to so many tourist the beaches get very dirty, fast. Another environmental issue that is happening in The Bahamas is coral reef decay. Coral reef decay causes the waves to not be able to break up. When these plants die, animals and the beach both suffer. Since the Bahamas is so hot and the weather is not very suitable for things to grow, The Bahamas is low on crops and other things that are unable to be grown there. A lot of the Bahamas imports is food. Even though The Bahamas is a paradise to many, the environmental issues are behind the scenes

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