Lucaya Estate - Regional Information

"Albacore Drive", Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island
$1.8 Million

Regional Information

Population Profile

Population	July 1998 estimate: 279,883 people
Languages	English
Major Religions	Baptist 32%, Anglican 20%, Roman Catholic 19%, Methodist 6%, Church of God 6%, other Protestant 12%, none or unknown 3%, other 2%
Ethnic groups	Black 85%, white 15%
Growth rate	1.39% (1998 est.)
Birth rate	21.03 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate	5.44 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Fertility rate	2.33 children born/woman (1998 est.)
Male life expectancy	67 (1996)
Female life expectancy	77 (1996)
Infant mortality rate	23.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1996)
Economic Overview	The Bahamas is a stable, developing nation with an economy heavily dependent on tourism and offshore banking. Tourism alone accounts for more than 50% of GDP and directly or indirectly employs 40% of the archipelago's labor force. Moderate growth in tourism receipts and a boom in construction of new hotels, resorts, and residences led to an increase of the country's GDP by an estimated 3.5% in 1997. Manufacturing and agriculture together contribute less than 10% of GDP and show little growth despite government incentives aimed at those sectors. Overall growth prospects in the short run will depend heavily on the fortunes of the tourism sector and continued income growth in the US, which accounts for the majority of tourist visitors.
Labor force	136,900 (1993)
Unemployment rate	15.0% (1995)
Inflation Rate	1.5% (1994)
Gross domestic product (total value of goods and services produced annually)	$4.4 billion (1994 est.)
Budget	$725.0 million (1996 est.)
Debt	$407.8 million (1996)
Exports	$224.3 million (1996 est.), primarily pharmaceuticals, cement, rum, crawfish, refined petroleum products
Imports	$1.1 billion (1996 est.), primarily foodstuffs, manufactured goods, crude oil, vehicles, electronics
Defense spending	2.7% of GDP (1994 est.)
Highways	2,400 km (1995)
Geography	The Bahamas are an island chain (specifically a coral archipelago) in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida, with a land area slightly smaller than that of Connecticut. The Bahamas various islands (over 700 total) have a total surface of 13,940 sq km
Government	The Bahamas are a Commonwealth. There are 21 administrative divisions: Acklins and Crooked Islands, Bimini, Cat Island, Exuma, Freeport, Fresh Creek, Governor's Harbour, Green Turtle Cay, Harbour Island, High Rock, Inagua, Kemps Bay, Long Island, Marsh Harbour, Mayaguana, New Providence, Nicholls Town and Berry Islands, Ragged Island, Rock Sound, Sandy Point, San Salvador and Rum Cay . Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II of the UK (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Orville TURNQUEST (since 2 January 1995) head of government: Prime Minister Hubert Alexander INGRAHAM (since 19 August 1992) and Deputy Prime Minister Frank WATSON (since December 1994) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the prime minister's recommendation elections: the queen is a hereditary monarch; governor general appointed by the queen; prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (16-member body appointed by the governor general upon the advice of the prime minister and the opposition leader for a five-year term) and the House of Assembly (40 seats; members elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 14 March 1997 (next to be held by March 2002) election results: percent of vote by party‹NA; seats by party‹FNM 35, PLP 5 International organization participation: ACP, C, Caricom, CCC, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

CAPITAL REALTY ANALYSTS
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Fax (760) 779-9815

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