Barbados

Airports

total: 1 usable: 1 with permanent-surface runways: 1 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 0

Highways

1,570 km total; 1,475 km paved, 95 km gravel and earth

Merchant marine

3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 48,710 GRT79,263 DWT; includes 1 cargo, 2 oil tanker

Ports

Bridgetown

Telecommunications

islandwide automatic telephone system with 89,000 telephones; tropospheric scatter link to Trinidad and Saint Lucia; broadcast stations - 3 AM, 2 FM, 2 (1 is pay) TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Affiliation

(possession of France)

Branches

Royal Barbados Defense Force, including the Ground Forces and Coast Guard, Royal Barbados Police Force

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $10 million, 0.7% of GDP (1989)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 70,254; fit for military service 49,096 (1993 est.); no conscription

Agriculture

accounts for 8% of GDP; major cash crop is sugarcane; other crops - vegetables, cotton; not self-sufficient in food

Budget

revenues $547 million; expenditures $620 million (FY92-93), including capital expenditures of $60 million

Currency

1 Barbadian dollar (Bds$) = 100 cents

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $15 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $171 million

Electricity

152,100 kW capacity; 540 million kWh produced, 2,118 kWh per capita (1992)

Exchange rates

Barbadian dollars (Bds$) per US$1 - 2.0113 (fixed rate)

Exports

$205.8 million (f.o.b., 1991) commodities: sugar and molasses, chemicals, electrical components, clothing, rum, machinery and transport equipment partners: CARICOM 31%, US 16%, UK 13%

External debt

$750 million (1991 est.)

Fiscal year

1 April - 31 March

Imports

$697 million (c.i.f., 1991) commodities: foodstuffs, consumer durables, raw materials, machinery, crude oil, construction materials, chemicals partners: US 34%, CARICOM 16%, UK 11%, Canada 6%

Industrial production

growth rate -1.3% (1991); accounts for 10% of GDP

Industries

tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export, petroleum

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

8.1% (1991)

National product

GDP - exchange rate conversion - $1.8 billion ( 1991)

National product per capita

$7,000 (1991)

National product real growth rate

-4% (1991)

Overview

A per capita income of $7,000 gives Barbados one of the highest standards of living of all the small island states of the eastern Caribbean. Historically, the economy was based on the cultivation of sugarcane and related activities. In recent years, however, the economy has diversified into manufacturing and tourism. The tourist industry is now a major employer of the labor force and a primary source of foreign exchange. The economy slowed in 1990-91, however, and Bridgetown's declining hard currency reserves and inability to finance its deficits have caused it to adopt an austere economic reform program.

Unemployment rate

23% (1992)

Area

total area: 430 km2 land area: 430 km2 comparative area: slightly less than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Climate

tropical; rainy season (June to October)

Coastline

97 km

Environment

subject to hurricanes (especially June to October)

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

NA km2

Land boundaries

0 km

Land use

arable land: 77% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 9% forest and woodland: 0% other: 14%

Location

in the extreme eastern Caribbean Sea, about 375 km northeast of Venezuela

Map references

Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

petroleum, fishing, natural gas

Note

easternmost Caribbean island

Terrain

relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region

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 new city of Bridgetown may be given parish status

Capital

Bridgetown

Constitution

30 November 1966

Digraph

BB

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Rudi WEBSTER chancery: 2144 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 939-9200 through 9202 consulate general: New York consulate: Los Angeles

Elections

House of Assembly: last held 22 January 1991 (next to be held by January 1996); results - DLP 49.8%; seats - (28 total) DLP 18, BLP 10

Executive branch

British monarch, governor general, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet

Flag

three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, 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)

Independence

30 November 1966 (from UK)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court of Judicature

Leaders

Chief of State: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Dame Nita BARROW (since 6 June 1990) Head of Government: Prime Minister Lloyd Erskine SANDIFORD (since 2 June 1987)

Legal system

English common law; no judicial review of legislative acts

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Assembly

Member of

ACP, C, CARICOM, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAES, LORCS, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Names

conventional long form: none conventional short form: Barbados

National holiday

Independence Day, 30 November (1966)

Other political or pressure groups

Barbados Workers Union, Leroy TROTMAN; People's Progressive Movement, Eric SEALY; Workers' Party of Barbados, Dr. George BELLE; Clement Payne Labor Union, David COMMISSIONG

Political parties and leaders

Democratic Labor Party (DLP), Erskine SANDIFORD; Barbados Labor Party (BLP), Henry FORDE; National Democratic Party (NDP), Richie HAYNES

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

parliamentary democracy

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador G. Philip HUGHES embassy: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building, Broad Street, Bridgetown mailing address: P. O. Box 302, Box B, FPO AA 34054 telephone: (809) 436-4950 through 4957 FAX: (809) 429-5246

Birth rate

15.78 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate

8.53 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Ethnic divisions

African 80%, mixed 16%, European 4%

Infant mortality rate

21.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Labor force

120,900 (1991) by occupation: services and government 37%, commerce 22%, manufacturing and construction 22%, transportation, storage, communications, and financial institutions 9%, agriculture 8%, utilities 2% (1985 est.)

Languages

English

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 73.49 years male: 70.75 years female: 76.46 years (1993 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over having ever attended school (1970) total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99%

Nationality

noun: Barbadian(s) adjective: Barbadian

Net migration rate

-5.49 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Population

255,338 (July 1993 est.)

Population growth rate

0.18% (1993 est.)

Religions

Protestant 67% (Anglican 40%, Pentecostal 8%, Methodist 7%, other 12%), Roman Catholic 4%, none 17%, unknown 3%, other 9% (1980)

Total fertility rate

1.77 children born/woman (1993 est.)