The island was uninhabited when first settled by the British in 1627. Slaves worked the sugar plantations established on the island until 1834 when slavery was abolished. The economy remained heavily dependent on sugar, rum, and molasses production through most of the 20th century. The gradual introduction of social and political reforms in the 1940s and 1950s led to complete independence from the UK in 1966. In the 1990s, tourism and manufacturing surpassed the sugar industry in economic importance.

Caribbean, island in the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela

13 10 N, 59 32 W

total: 431 sq km
land: 431 sq km
water: 0 sq km

0 km

97 km

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

tropical; rainy season (June to October)

relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Hillaby 336 m

petroleum, fish, natural gas

arable land: 37.21%
permanent crops: 2.33%
other: 60.46% (2005)

50 sq km (2003)

infrequent hurricanes; periodic landslides

pollution of coastal waters from waste disposal by ships; soil erosion; illegal solid waste disposal threatens contamination of aquifers

easternmost Caribbean island

279,912 (July 2006 est.)

0-14 years: 20.1% (male 28,160/female 28,039)
15-64 years: 71.1% (male 97,755/female 101,223)
65 years and over: 8.8% (male 9,508/female 15,227) (2006 est.)

total: 34.6 years
male: 33.4 years
female: 35.6 years (2006 est.)

0.37% (2006 est.)

12.71 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

8.67 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

-0.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

at birth: 1.01 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

total: 11.77 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 13.38 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 10.15 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

total population: 72.79 years
male: 70.79 years
female: 74.82 years (2006 est.)

1.65 children born/woman (2006 est.)

1.5% (2003 est.)

2,500 (2003 est.)

less than 200 (2003 est.)

noun: Barbadian(s) or Bajan (colloquial)
adjective: Barbadian or Bajan (colloquial)

black 90%, white 4%, Asian and mixed 6%

Protestant 67% (Anglican 40%, Pentecostal 8%, Methodist 7%, other 12%), Roman Catholic 4%, none 17%, other 12%

English

definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 99.7%
male: 99.7%
female: 99.7% (2002 est.)

conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Barbados

parliamentary democracy; independent sovereign state within the Commonwealth

Bridgetown

11 parishes; Christ Church, Saint Andrew, Saint George, Saint James, Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Lucy, Saint Michael, Saint Peter, Saint Philip, Saint Thomas; note - the city of Bridgetown may be given parish status

30 November 1966 (from UK)

Independence Day, 30 November (1966)

30 November 1966

English common law; no judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

18 years of age; universal

bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (21-member body appointed by the governor general) and the House of Assembly (30 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Assembly - last held 21 May 2003 (next to be held by May 2008)
election results: House of Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - BLP 23, DLP 7

Supreme Court of Judicature (judges are appointed by the Service Commissions for the Judicial and Legal Services)

Historically, the Barbadian economy had been dependent on sugarcane cultivation and related activities, but production in recent years has diversified into light industry and tourism. Offshore finance and information services are important foreign exchange earners. The government continues its efforts to reduce unemployment, to encourage direct foreign investment, and to privatize remaining state-owned enterprises. The economy contracted in 2002-03 mainly due to a decline in tourism. Growth was positive in 2005, as economic conditions in the US and Europe moderately improved.

$4.841 billion (2005 est.)

$2.977 billion (2005 est.)

2.5% (2005 est.)

$17,400 (2005 est.)

agriculture: 6%
industry: 16%
services: 78% (2000 est.)

128,500 (2001 est.)

agriculture: 10%
industry: 15%
services: 75% (1996 est.)

10.7% (2003 est.)

-0.5% (2003 est.)

revenues: $847 million (including grants)
expenditures: $886 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

sugarcane, vegetables, cotton

tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export

-3.2% (2000 est.)

819 million kWh (2003)

761.7 million kWh (2003)

1,000 bbl/day (2003)

10,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

1.254 million bbl (1 January 2002)

29.17 million cu m (2003 est.)

29.17 million cu m (2003 est.)

141.6 million cu m (1 January 2002)

$209 million (2004 est.)

sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and beverages, chemicals, electrical components

US 20.6%, UK 14.5%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.9%, Saint Lucia 6.9%, Jamaica 6.6%, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 5.1% (2004)

$1.476 billion (2004 est.)

consumer goods, machinery, foodstuffs, construction materials, chemicals, fuel, electrical components

US 35.2%, Trinidad and Tobago 20%, UK 5.6%, Japan 4.3% (2004)

$668 million (2003)

$9.1 million (1995)

Barbadian dollar (BBD)

1 April - 31 March

135,700 (2004)

200,100 (2004)

general assessment: NA
domestic: island-wide automatic telephone system
international: country code - 1-246; satellite earth stations - 1 (Intelsat -Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and Saint Lucia

AM 2, FM 6, shortwave 0 (2004)

1 (plus two cable channels) (2004)

.bb

241 (2005)

150,000 (2005)

1 (2005)

total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2005)

total: 1,600 km
paved: 1,600 km (2003)

total: 57 ships (1000 GRT or over) 450,391 GRT/703,307 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 12, cargo 32, chemical tanker 6, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 2, specialized tanker 1
foreign-owned: 55 (The Bahamas 1, Canada 8, Greece 11, Lebanon 2, Monaco 1, Norway 24, UAE 1, UK 7)
registered in other countries: 1 (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1) (2005)

Bridgetown

Royal Barbados Defense Force: Troops Command and Coast Guard (2005)

the Royal Barbados Defense Force includes a land-based Troop Command and a small Coast Guard; the primary role of the land element is to defend the island against external aggression; the Command consists of a single, part-time battalion with a small regular cadre that is deployed throughout the island; it increasingly supports the police in patrolling the coastline to prevent smuggling and other illicit activities (2005)

in 2005, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago agreed to compulsory international arbitration that will result in a binding award challenging whether the northern limit of Trinidad and Tobago's and Venezuela's maritime boundary extends into Barbadian waters and the southern limit of Barbadian traditional fishing; joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea

one of many Caribbean transshipment points for narcotics bound for Europe and the US; offshore financial center