_#_Elections:
House of Assembly—last held 19 June 1987 (next to be held by June 1992); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(49 total) PLP 32, FNM 17
_#_Communists: none known
_#_Other political or pressure groups: Vanguard Nationalist and Socialist Party (VNSP), a small leftist party headed by Lionel CAREY; Trade Union Congress (TUC), headed by Arlington MILLER
_#_Member of: ACP, C, CCC, CARICOM, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB,
IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU,
LORCS, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Margaret E. McDONALD; Chancery at Suite 865, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037; telephone (202) 944-3390; there are Bahamian Consulates General in Miami and New York;
US—Ambassador Chic HECHT; Embassy at Mosmar Building, Queen Street, Nassau (mailing address is P. O. Box N-8197, Nassau); telephone (809) 322-1181 or 328-2206
_#_Flag: three equal horizontal bands of aquamarine (top), gold, and aquamarine with a black equilateral triangle based on the hoist side
_*Economy #_Overview: The Bahamas is a stable, middle-income developing nation whose economy is based primarily on tourism and offshore banking. Tourism alone provides about 50% of GDP and directly or indirectly employs about 50,000 people or 40% of the local work force. The economy has slackened in recent years, as the annual increase in the number of tourists slowed. Nonetheless, the per capita GDP of $9,800 is one of the highest in the region.
_#_GDP: $2.4 billion, per capita $9,800; real growth rate 2.0% (1989 est.)