Background: The island was uninhabited when first settled by the British in 1627. African 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
Land: 430 km²
Water: 0 km²
Comparative: 2.5 times the size of Washington DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 97 km

Maritime claims
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate: tropical; rainy season (June to October)

Terrain: relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region

Elevation
Extremes highest point: Mount Hillaby 336 m

Natural resources: petroleum fish natural gas

Land use
Permanent crops: 2.33%
Other: 69.77% (2011)

Irrigated land: 54.35 km² (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 0.08 km³ (2011)

Natural hazards: infrequent hurricanes; periodic landslides

Geography
Note: easternmost Caribbean island

Population: 289,680 (July 2014 est.)
Rank: 181
Growth rate: 0.33% (2014 est.)
Growth rate rank: 169
Below poverty line: NA%

Nationality
Adjective: Barbadian or Bajan (colloquial)

Ethnic groups: black 92.4% white 2.7% mixed 3.1% East Indian 1.3% other 0.2% unspecified 0.2% (2010 est.)

Languages: English (official) Bajan (English-based creole language widely spoken in informal settings)

Religions: Protestant 66.3% (includes Anglican 23.9% other Pentecostal 19.5% Adventist 5.9% Methodist 4.2% Wesleyan 3.4% Nazarene 3.2% Church of God 2.4% Baptist 1.8% Moravian 1.2% other Protestant .8%) Roman Catholic 3.8% other Christian 5.4% (includes Jehovah's Witness 2.0% other 3.4%) Rastafarian 1% other 1.5% none 20.6% unspecified 1.2% (2010 est.)

Age structure
15-24 years: 13.6% (male 19,705/female 19,754)
25-54 years: 45% (male 64,821/female 65,394)
55-64 years: 12.5% (male 16,837/female 19,286)
65 years and over: 10.5% (male 12,068/female 18,390) (2014 est.)

Dependency ratios
Youth dependency ratio: 26.8 %
Elderly dependency ratio: 15.8 %
Potential support ratio: 6.3 (2014 est.)

Median age
Male: 36.5 years
Female: 38.7 years (2014 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.33% (2014 est.)
Rank: 169

Birth rate: 11.97 births/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 166

Death rate: 8.41 deaths/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 82

Net migration rate: -0.3 migrant(s)/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 125

Urbanization
Rate of urbanization: 1.35% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: BRIDGETOWN (capital) 122,000 (2011)

Environment
Current issues: pollution of coastal waters from waste disposal by ships; soil erosion; illegal solid waste disposal threatens contamination of aquifers
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
0-14 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.65 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Rank: 132
Male: 12.58 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 9.26 deaths/1000 live births (2014 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Rank: 102
Male: 72.64 years
Female: 77.37 years (2014 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.68 children born/woman (2014 est.)
Rank: 174

Drinking water source:

Physicians density: 1.81 physicians/1000 population (2005)

Hospital bed density: 6.6 beds/1000 population (2010)

Sanitation facility access:

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.9% (2012 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 49
People living with hivaids: 1500 (2012 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 140
Deaths: NA (2009 est.)

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 34.7% (2008)
Rank: 14

Education expenditures: 5.6% of GDP (2012)
Rank: 54

Literacy
Total population: 99.7%
Male: 99.7%
Female: 99.7% (2002 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Male: 14 years
Female: 17 years (2011)

Country name
Conventional short form: Barbados

Government type: parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm

Capital
Geographic coordinates: 13 06 N 59 37 W
Time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time)

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: adopted 22 November 1966 effective 30 November 1966; amended several times last in 2003 (2011)

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

Executive branch
Head of government: Prime Minister Freundel STUART (since 23 October 2010)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister
Elections: the monarchy 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: 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)
Elections: House of Assembly - last held on 21 February 2013 (next to be called in 2018)
Election results: House of Assembly - percent of vote by party - DLP 51.3% BLP 48.3% other 0.4%; seats by party - DLP 16 BLP 14

Judicial branch: note - Barbados a member of the Caribbean Court of Justice replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (in London) as the final court of appeal
Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the governor-general on the recommendation of the prime minister and opposition leader of Parliament; other justices appointed by the governor-general on the recommendation of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission a 5-member independent body consisting of the Supreme Court chief justice the commission head and governor-general appointees recommended by the prime minister; justices serve until mandatory retirement at age 65
Subordinate courts: Magistrates' Courts

Political parties and leaders:

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

Diplomatic representation
In the us chancery: 2,144 Wyoming Avenue NW Washington DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 939-9,200
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 332-7,467
In the us consulate general: Miami New York
In the us consulate: Los Angeles
From the us embassy: U.S. Embassy Wildey Business Park Wildey St. Michael BB 14,006
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 302 Bridgetown BB 11,000; (Department Name) Unit 3,120 DPO AA 34,055
From the us telephone: [1] (246) 227-4,000
From the us FAX: [1] (246) 431-0179

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

National anthem
Lyrics and music: Irving BURGIE/C. Van Roland EDWARDS

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. Barbados' public debt-to-GDP ratio rose from 56% in 2008 to 90.5% in 2013. Growth prospects are limited because of a weak tourism outlook and planned austerity measures.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 162

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 203

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 60

Gross national saving:
Rank: 140

Gdp composition by end use
Government consumption: 15.4%
Investment in fixed capital: 14.3%
Investment in inventories: 1.9%
Exports of goods and services: 40.5%
Imports of goods and services: -53.8%: (2013 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Industry: 13.9%
Services: 83% (2013 est.)

Agriculture products: sugarcane vegetables cotton

Industries: tourism sugar light manufacturing component assembly for export

Industrial production growth rate: -0.7% (2013 est.)
Rank: 172

Labor force: 141,800 (2013 est.)
Rank: 179
By occupation industry: 15%
By occupation services: 75% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate: 11.6% (2012 est.)
Rank: 119

Population below poverty line: NA%

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

Budget
Expenditures: $1.45 billion (2013 est.)
Surplus or deficit: -7% of GDP (2013 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 186

Taxes and other revenues: 27% of GDP (2013 est.)
Rank: 110

Public debt: 85.6% of GDP (2012 est.)
Rank: 21

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices: 4.8% (2012 est.)
Rank: 72

Central bank discount rate: 7% (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 40

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 8.7% (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 105

Stock of narrow money: $1.711 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 131

Stock of broad money: $4.198 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 133

Stock of domestic credit: $4.874 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 113

Market value of publicly traded shares:

Current account balance: -$204.4 million (2012 est.)
Rank: 90

Exports: $1.039 billion (2012 est.)
Rank: 159
Commodities: manufactures sugar and molasses rum other foods and beverages chemicals electrical components
Partners: Trinidad and Tobago 20.8% US 11.9% St. Lucia 9.7% St. Vincent and the Grenadines 6% Jamaica 5.6% Antigua and Barbuda 4.9% St. Kitts and Nevis 4.6% UK 4.4% (2012)

Imports: $1.584 billion (2012 est.)
Rank: 169
Commodities: consumer goods machinery foodstuffs construction materials chemicals fuel electrical components
Partners: Trinidad and Tobago 35.9% US 26.9% China 5.6% (2012)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $839.7 million (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 145

Debt external: $668 million (2003 est.)
Rank: 124

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 1.002 billion kWh (2011 est.)
Production rank: 145
Consumption: 986 million kWh (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 151
Exports: 0 kWh (2012 est.)
Exports rank: 101
Imports: 0 kWh (2012 est.)
Imports rank: 117
Installed generating capacity: 239,000 kW (2010 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 158
Generation sources fossil fuels: 100% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 5
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 44
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 0% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 156
Generation sources other renewable sources: 0% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 154

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 1001 bbl/day (2012 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 108
Crude oil exports: 764.5 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 70
Crude oil imports: 0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 156
Crude oil proven reserves: 2.26 million bbl (1 January 2013 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 96

Refined petroleum
Products production: 31 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products production rank: 115
Products consumption: 8,339 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Products consumption rank: 157
Products exports: 0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products exports rank: 150
Products imports: 8,736 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products imports rank: 134

Natural gas
Production: 20 million m³ (2010 est.)
Production rank: 88
Consumption: 20 million m³ (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 111
Exports: 0 m³ (2011 est.)
Exports rank: 61
Imports: 0 m³ (2011 est.)
Imports rank: 156
Proven reserves: 113.3 million m³ (1 January 2013 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 106

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 1.442 million Mt (2011 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 144,000 (2012)
Main lines in use rank: 137
Mobile cellular: 347,000 (2012)
Mobile cellular rank: 172

Telephone system
Domestic: fixed-line teledensity of roughly 50 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density approaching 125 per 100 persons
International: country code - 1-246; landing point for the East Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS) submarine cable with links to 13 other islands in the eastern Caribbean extending from the British Virgin Islands to Trinidad; satellite earth stations - 1 (Intelsat - Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and Saint Lucia (2009)

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 service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service or earlier with parental consent; no conscription (2013)

Airports: 1 (2013)
Rank: 236
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1 (2013)

Pipelines: gas 33 km; oil 64 km; refined products 6 km (2013)

Roadways
Rank: 176
Paved: 1600 km (2011)

Merchant marine
Rank: 49
By type: bulk carrier 23 cargo 52 chemical tanker 13 container 6 passenger 1 passenger/cargo 1 petroleum tanker 8 refrigerated cargo 4 roll on/roll off 1
Foreign owned: 83 (Canada 11 Greece 14 Iran 5 Lebanon 2 Norway 38 Sweden 4 Syria 1 Turkey 1 UAE 1 UK 6) (2010)

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