Location: Chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida, northeast of Cuba.
Area: total: 13,880 sq km, land: 10,010 sq km, water: 3,870 sq km.
Natural resources: Salt, aragonite, timber, arable land.
Population: 329,988.
Capital: Nassau.
Time Zone: UTC−5.
Languages: English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants).
Government type: Parliamentary democracy (Parliament) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm.
Legal system: Common law system based on the English model.
International organization participation: ACP, AOSIS, C, Caricom, CDB, CELAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, Petrocaribe, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer).
Economy: The Bahamas has the second highest per capita GDP in the English-speaking Caribbean with an economy heavily dependent on tourism and financial services. Tourism accounts for approximately 50% of GDP and directly or indirectly employs half of the archipelago’s labor force. Financial services constitute the second-most important sector of the Bahamian economy, accounting for about 15% of GDP. Manufacturing and agriculture combined contribute less than 7% of GDP and show little growth, despite government incentives aimed at those sectors.
Currency: Bahamian dollar (BSD).