Background: 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.

Geographic coordinates: 13 10 N 59 32 W

Map reference: Central America and the Caribbean

Area
Total: 431 km²
Land: 431 km²
Water: 0 km²
Comparative: 2.5 times the size of Washington DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 97 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate: tropical; rainy season (June to October)

Terrain: relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region

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

Natural resources: petroleum fish natural gas

Land use
Arable land: 37.21%
Permanent crops: 2.33%
Other: 60.46% (2001)

Irrigated land: 10 km² (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: infrequent hurricanes; periodic landslides

Geography
Note: easternmost Caribbean island

Population: 278,289 (July 2004 est.)
Growth rate: 0.36% (2004 est.)
Below poverty line: NA

Nationality
Noun: Barbadian or Bajan (colloquial)
Adjective: Barbadian or Bajan (colloquial)

Ethnic groups: black 90% white 4% Asian and mixed 6%

Languages: English

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

Age structure
0-14 years: 21% (male 29,294; female 29,020)
15-64 years: 70.3% (male 95,675; female 99,864)
65 years and over: 8.8% (male 9,370; female 15,066) (2004 est.)

Median age
Total: 33.7 years
Male: 32.6 years
Female: 34.9 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.36% (2004 est.)

Birth rate: 12.98 births/1000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate: 9.08 deaths/1000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.31 migrant(s)/1000 population (2004 est.)

Environment
Current issues: pollution of coastal waters from waste disposal by ships; soil erosion; illegal solid waste disposal threatens contamination of aquifers
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.01 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.01 male/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male/female
65 years and over: 0.62 male/female
Total population: 0.93 male/female (2004 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 12.61 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 14.26 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 10.94 deaths/1000 live births (2004 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 71.64 years
Male: 69.51 years
Female: 73.81 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.65 children born/woman (2004 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 1.5% (2003 est.)
People living with hivaids: 2,500 (2003 est.)
Deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
Total population: 97.4%
Male: 98%
Female: 96.8% (1995 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form: Barbados

Government type: parliamentary democracy; independent sovereign state within the Commonwealth

Capital: Bridgetown

Administrative divisions: 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

Independence: 30 November 1966 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day 30 November (1966)

Constitution: 30 November 1966

Legal system: English common law; no judicial review of legislative acts

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Clifford Straughn HUSBANDS (since 1 June 1996)
Head of government: Prime Minister Owen Seymour ARTHUR (since 6 September 1994); Deputy Prime Minister Mia MOTTLEY (since 26 May 2003)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister
Elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; the prime minister recommends the deputy prime minister

Legislative branch
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

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

Political parties and leaders: Barbados Labor Party or BLP [Owen ARTHUR]; Democratic Labor Party or DLP [Clyde Mascoll]

International organization participation: ACP C Caricom CDB FAO G-77 IADB IBRD ICAO ICCt ICFTU ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC ISO ITU LAES MIGA NAM OAS OPANAL UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Michael Ian KING
In the us chancery: 2,144 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 339-9,200
In the us fax: [1] (202) 332-7,467
In the us consulates general: Miami and New York
In the us consulates: Los Angeles
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Mary E. KRAMER
From the us embassy: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building, Broad Street, Bridgetown; (courier) ALICO Building-Cheapside, Bridgetown
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 302, Bridgetown; CMR 1014, APO AA 34,055
From the us telephone: [1] (246) 436-4,950
From the us fax: [1] (246) 429-5,246, 429-3,379

Flag description: three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side) gold and blue with the head of a black trident centered on the gold band; the trident head represents independence and a break with the past (the colonial coat of arms contained a complete trident)

Economy overview: 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 should be positive in 2004 the precise level largely dependent on economic conditions in the US and Europe.

Real gdp growth rate: 2.2% (2003 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $15,700 (2003 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 6%
Industry: 16%
Services: 78% (2000 est.)

Agriculture products: sugarcane vegetables cotton

Industries: tourism sugar light manufacturing component assembly for export

Industrial production growth rate: -3.2% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 128,500 (2001 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 10%
By occupation industry: 15%
By occupation services: 75% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate: 10.7% (2003 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: NA
Highest 10: NA

Budget
Revenues: $847 million (including grants)
Expenditures: $886 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2000 est.)

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices: -0.5% (2003 est.)

Exports: $206 million (2002)
Commodities: sugar and molasses rum other foods and beverages chemicals electrical components
Partners: US 18.7% Trinidad and Tobago 14.5% UK 14% Jamaica 7.8% Saint Lucia 6.2% Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 4.7% (2003)

Imports: $1.039 billion (2002)
Commodities: consumer goods machinery foodstuffs construction materials chemicals fuel electrical components
Partners: US 37.7% Trinidad and Tobago 19.6% UK 6.2% Japan 4.4% (2003)

Debt external: $668 million (2003)

Exchange rates: Barbadian dollars per US dollar - 2 (2003) 2 (2002) 2 (2001) 2 (2000) 2 (1999)

Electricity
Production: 780 million kWh (2001)
Consumption: 725.4 million kWh (2001)
Exports: 0 kWh (2001)
Imports: 0 kWh (2001)

Natural gas
Production: 29.17 million m³ (2001 est.)
Consumption: 29.17 million m³ (2001 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Imports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Proven reserves: 70.79 million m³ (1 January 2002)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 134,000 (2003)
Mobile cellular: 140,000 (2003)

Telephone system
General assessment: NA
Domestic: island-wide automatic telephone system
International: country code - 1-246; satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and Saint Lucia

Internet
Country code: .bb
Hosts: 204 (2003)
Users: 100,000 (2003)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: NA
Percent of gdp: NA

Airports: 1 (2003 est.)
With paved runways total: 1
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1 (2004 est.)

Merchant marine
Total: 42 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 427,465 GRT/668,195 DWT
By type: bulk 11, cargo 20, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 3, petroleum tanker 6, roll on/roll off 1
Foreign owned: Australia 1, Bahamas 1, Bangladesh 1, Canada 5, Greece 7, Hong Kong 7, Italy 2, Lebanon 1, Norway 9, United Kingdom 10
Registered in other countries: 3 (2004 est.)

Disputes international: Barbados intends to take its claim before UNCLOS arbitration that the northern limit of Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with Venezuela extends into its waters; joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation a criterion under UNCLOS which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea

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