style="font-size:15px;"> total:2,400 km
paved:
1,350 km
unpaved:
gravel 1,050 km
Ports:
Freeport, Nassau
Merchant marine:
879 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 20,424,439 GRT/33,330,160 DWT,
bulk 167, cargo 148, chemical tanker 43, combination bulk 8,
combination ore/oil 20, container 48, liquefied gas 18, oil tanker
177, passenger 54, refrigerated cargo 132, roll-on/roll-off cargo 41,
short-sea passenger 16, vehicle carrier 7
note:
a flag of convenience registry
Airports:
total:
60
usable:
55
with permanent-surface runways:
31
with runways over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440–3,659 m:
3
with runways 1,220–2,439 m:
26
Telecommunications:
highly developed; 99,000 telephones in totally automatic system;
tropospheric scatter and submarine cable links to Florida; broadcast
stations - 3 AM, 2 FM, 1 TV; 3 coaxial submarine cables; 1 Atlantic
Ocean INTELSAT earth station
@The Bahamas, Defense Forces
Branches:
Royal Bahamas Defense Force (Coast Guard only), Royal Bahamas Police
Force
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $65 million, 2.7% of GDP (1990)
@Bahrain, Geography
Location:
Middle East, in the central Persian Gulf, between Saudi Arabia and
Qatar
Map references:
Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
620 sq km
land area:
620 sq km
comparative area:
slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
161 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
24 nm
continental shelf:
not specified
territorial sea:
12 nm
International disputes:
territorial dispute with Qatar over the Hawar Islands; maritime
boundary with Qatar
Climate:
arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers
Terrain:
mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment
Natural resources:
oil, associated and nonassociated natural gas, fish
Land use:
arable land:
2%
permanent crops:
2%
meadows and pastures:
6%
forest and woodland:
0%
other:
90%
Irrigated land:
10 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues:
desertification resulting from the degradation of limited arable land,
periods of drought, and dust storms; coastal degradation (damage to
coastlines, coral reefs, and sea vegetation) resulting from oil spills
and other discharges from large tankers, oil refineries, and
distribution stations; no surface water resources; groundwater and sea
water are the only sources for all water needs
natural hazards:
periods of drought, dust storms
international agreements:
party to - Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection;
signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change
Note:
close to primary Middle Eastern petroleum sources; strategic location
in Persian Gulf through which much of Western world's petroleum must
transit to reach open ocean
@Bahrain, People
Population: 585,683 (July 1994 est.) Population growth rate: 2.96% (1994 est.) Birth rate: 26.59 births/1,000 population (1994 est.) Death rate: 3.83 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
