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

total: 1,570 km paved: 1,475 km unpaved: gravel, earth 95 km

Merchant marine

2 oil tankers (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 44,466 GRT/76,219 DWT

Ports

Bridgetown

Telecommunications

island wide 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 70,751; fit for military service 49,330

Agriculture

accounts for 6% of GDP; major cash crop is sugarcane; other crops - vegetables, cotton; not self-sufficient in food

Budget

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

Currency

1 Barbadian dollar (Bds$) = 100 cents

Economic aid

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

Electricity

capacity: 152,100 kW production: 540 million kWh consumption per capita: 2,118 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

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

Exports

$158 million (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and beverages, chemicals, electrical components, clothing partners: US 13%, UK 13%, Trinidad and Tobago 9%, Windward Islands 7.8%

External debt

$652 million (1991 est.)

Fiscal year

1 April - 31 March

Imports

$465 million (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: machinery, foodstuffs, construction materials, chemicals, fuel, electrical components partners: US 33%, UK 11%, Trinidad and Tobago 11%, Japan 5%

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)

6.1% (1992)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $2.2 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$8,700 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

-3% (1992)

Overview

A per capita income of $8,700 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 sugar cane 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 1990-92 as Bridgetown's difficulty in financing its deficits caused it to exert control over domestic demands

Unemployment rate

23% (1992)

Area

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

Climate

tropical; rainy season (June to October)

Coastline

97 km

Environment

current issues: pollution of coastal waters from waste disposal by ships; soil erosion; illegal solid waste disposal threatens contamination of aquifers natural hazards: subject to hurricanes (especially June to October); periodic landslides international agreements: party to - Climate Change, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

NA sq km

Land boundaries

0 km

Land use

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

Location

Caribbean, 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 Valentine WEBSTER chancery: 2144 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 939-9200 through 9202 consulate(s) general: New York consulate(s): Los Angeles

Executive branch

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); Deputy Prime Minister Philip Marlowe GREAVES (since 2 June 1987) cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the governor general on advice of the prime minister

FAX

(809) 429-5246

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)

House of Assembly

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

Independence

30 November 1966 (from UK)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court of Judicature

Legal system

English common law; no judicial review of legislative acts

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament

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), Owen ARTHUR; National Democratic Party (NDP), Richie HAYNES

Senate

consists of a 21-member body appointed by the governor general

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

parliamentary democracy

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Jeanette W. HYDE embassy: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building, Broad Street, Bridgetown mailing address: P. O. Box 302, Bridgetown; FPO AA 34055 telephone: (809) 436-4950

Birth rate

15.63 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

8.4 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

African 80%, European 4%, other 16%

Infant mortality rate

3 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 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: 73.83 years male: 71.11 years female: 76.76 years (1994 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

-5.16 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

255,827 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

0.21% (1994 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

1.78 children born/woman (1994 est.)