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

Area
Rank: 202
Comparative: 2.5 times the size of Washington DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 97 km

Climate: tropical; rainy season (June to October)

Terrain: relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region

Natural resources: petroleum fish natural gas

Irrigated land: 50 km² (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 0.1 km³ (2003)

Natural hazards: infrequent hurricanes; periodic landslides

Geography
Note: easternmost Caribbean island

Population: 287,733 (July 2012 est.)
Rank: 180
Growth rate: 0.354% (2012 est.)
Growth rate rank: 162
Below poverty line: NA%

Ethnic groups: black 93% white 3.2% mixed 2.6% East Indian 1% other 0.2% (2000 census)

Languages: English

Religions: Protestant 63.4% (Anglican 28.3% Pentecostal 18.7% Methodist 5.1% other 11.3%) Roman Catholic 4.2% other Christian 7% other 4.8% none or unspecified 20.6% (2008 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.354% (2012 est.)
Rank: 162

Birth rate: 12.23 births/1000 population (2012 est.)
Rank: 163

Death rate: 8.39 deaths/1000 population (July 2012 est.)
Rank: 85

Net migration rate: -0.3 migrant(s)/1000 population (2012 est.)
Rank: 130

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

Infant mortality rate
Rank: 133

Life expectancy at birth
Rank: 103

Total fertility rate: 1.68 children born/woman (2012 est.)
Rank: 172

Physicians density: 1.811 physicians/1000 population (2005)

Hospital bed density: 7.6 beds/1000 population (2008)

Sanitation facility access:

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 1.4% (2009 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 37
People living with hivaids: 2,100 (2009 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 134
Deaths: fewer than 100 (2009 est.)
Deaths rank: 148

Education expenditures: 6.7% of GDP (2009)
Rank: 19

Government type: parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm

Administrative divisions: 11 parishes and 1 city*; Bridgetown* Christ Church Saint Andrew Saint George Saint James Saint John Saint Joseph Saint Lucy Saint Michael Saint Peter Saint Philip Saint Thomas

Independence: 30 November 1966 (from the UK)

National holiday: Independence Day 30 November (1966)

Constitution: 30 November 1966

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

International law organization participation: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (21 seats; members appointed by the governor general - 12 on the advice of the Prime Minister 2 on the advice of the opposition leader and 7 at his discretion) and the House of Assembly (30 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Judicature consists of a High Court and a Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the Service Commissions for the Judicial and Legal Services); Caribbean Court of Justice or CCJ is the highest court of appeal; based in Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago

Political parties and leaders: Barbados Labor Party or BLP [Owen ARTHUR]; Democratic Labor Party or DLP [Freundel STUART]; People's Empowerment Party or PEP [David COMISSIONG]

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

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 band colors represent the blue of the sea and sky and the gold of the beaches; the trident head represents independence and a break with the past (the colonial coat of arms contained a complete trident)

National symbols: Neptune's trident

Economy overview: Barbados is the wealthiest and most developed country in the Eastern Caribbean and enjoys one of the highest per capita incomes in Latin America. Historically the Barbadian economy was dependent on sugarcane cultivation and related activities. However in recent years the economy has diversified into light industry and tourism with about four-fifths of GDP and of exports being attributed to services. Offshore finance and information services are important foreign exchange earners and thrive from having the same time zone as eastern US financial centers and a relatively highly educated workforce. Barbados' tourism financial services and construction industries have been hard hit since the onset of the global economic crisis in 2008 which caused the economy to contract 4% in 2009 and grow below 1% annually since 2010. Barbados' public debt-to-GDP ratio rose to fr

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 158

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 171

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 55

Agriculture products: sugarcane vegetables cotton

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force: 145,000 (2011 est.)
Rank: 177

Unemployment rate: 10.8% (2010 est.)
Rank: 121

Population below poverty line: NA%

Budget
Surplus or deficit: -4.4% of GDP (2012 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 142

Taxes and other revenues: 28.7% of GDP (2012 est.)
Rank: 107

Public debt: 79.2% of GDP (2011 est.)
Rank: 23

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices: 9.4% (2011 est.)
Rank: 159

Central bank discount rate: 7% (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 43

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 8.7% (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 109

Stock of narrow money: $1.797 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 126

Stock of broad money: $5.239 billion (31 December 2010 est.)
Rank: 124

Stock of domestic credit: $5.06 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 115

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 83

Current account balance: -$358.5 million (2011 est.)
Rank: 90

Exports: $476.7 million (2011 est.)
Rank: 173
Commodities: manufactures sugar and molasses rum other foods and beverages chemicals electrical components
Partners: Trinidad and Tobago 18.9% France 10.7% US 9.7% St. Lucia 8.8% St. Vincent and the Grenadines 5.4% Venezuela 4.9% Antigua and Barbuda 4.5% St. Kitts and Nevis 4.2% (2011)

Imports: $1.606 billion (2011 est.)
Rank: 169
Commodities: consumer goods machinery foodstuffs construction materials chemicals fuel electrical components
Partners: Russia 26.6% Trinidad and Tobago 24.8% US 18.6% China 6.1% (2011)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $812.6 million (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 139

Debt external: $668 million (2003 est.)
Rank: 123

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 1.037 billion kWh (2010 est.)
Production rank: 148
Consumption: 955 million kWh (2009 est.)
Consumption rank: 152
Exports: 0 kWh (2010 est.)
Exports rank: 160
Imports: 0 kWh (2010 est.)
Imports rank: 158
Installed generating capacity: 239,100 kW (2009 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 154
Generation sources fossil fuels: 100% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 5
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 45
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 157
Generation sources other renewable sources: 0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 107

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 1000 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 97
Crude oil exports: 0 bbl/day (2009 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 78
Crude oil imports: 0 bbl/day (2009 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 156
Crude oil proven reserves: 2.26 million bbl (1 January 2012 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 99

Refined petroleum
Products production: 0 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Products production rank: 122
Products consumption: 8,339 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Products consumption rank: 159
Products exports: 0 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Products exports rank: 151
Products imports: 7,686 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Products imports rank: 138

Natural gas
Production: 29.17 million m³ (2010 est.)
Production rank: 88
Consumption: 29.17 million m³ (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 113
Exports: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Exports rank: 156
Imports: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Imports rank: 157
Proven reserves: 113.3 million m³ (1 January 2012 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 103

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 1.57 million Mt (2010 est.)
From consumption of energy rank: 153

Telephones
Main lines in use: 140,700 (2011)
Main lines in use rank: 137
Mobile cellular: 347,900 (2011)
Mobile cellular rank: 171

Broadcast media: government-owned Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) operates the lone terrestrial TV station; CBC also operates a multi-channel cable TV subscription service; roughly a dozen radio stations consisting of a CBC-operated network operating alongside privately-owned radio stations (2007)

Internet
Country code: .bb
Hosts: 1524 (2012)
Hosts rank: 167
Users: 188,000 (2008)
Users rank: 143

Military expenditures: 0.8% of GDP (2009)
Rank: 144

Military service age and obligation: 17 years of age for voluntary military service (younger volunteers require parental consent); no conscription (2009)

Airports: 1 (2012)
Rank: 218

Pipelines: gas 33 km; oil 62 km; refined products 4 km

Roadways
Rank: 176

Merchant marine
Rank: 49

Ports and terminals: Bridgetown

Disputes international: Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago abide by the April 2006 Permanent Court of Arbitration decision delimiting a maritime boundary and limiting catches of flying fish in Trinidad and Tobago's exclusive economic zone; 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 which permits Venezuela to extend its Economic Exclusion Zone/continental shelf over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea

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