| Barbados |
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| 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. |
| Geography and Environmental |
Capital: name: Bridgetown
geographic coordinates: 13 06 N, 59 37 W
time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Area Total: 431 sq km |
| Area Land: 431 sq km |
| Area Water: 0 sq km |
| Area Comparative: 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC |
| Coastline: 97 km |
| Climate: tropical; rainy season (June to October) |
| Terrain: relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region |
| Elevation Extremes Lowest Point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m |
| Elevation Extremes Highest Point: Mount Hillaby 336 m |
| Natural Resources: petroleum, fish, natural gas |
| Land Use Arable Land: 37.21% |
| Land Use Permanent Crops: 2.33% |
| Land Use Other: 60.46% (2005) |
| Irrigated Land: 50 sq km (2003) |
| Natural Hazards: infrequent hurricanes; periodic landslides |
| Environment Current Issues: pollution of coastal waters from waste disposal by ships; soil erosion; illegal solid waste disposal threatens contamination of aquifers |
| Geography Note: easternmost Caribbean island |
| Population |
| Population: 280,946 (July 2007 est.) |
| Age Structure 0 to 14 Years: 19.7% (male 27,659/female 27,573) |
| Age Structure 15 to 64 Years: 71.4% (male 98,633/female 102,020) |
| Age Structure 65 Years And Over: 8.9% (male 9,662/female 15,399) (2007 est.) |
| Median Age Total: 35 years |
| Median Age Male: 33.8 years |
| Median Age Female: 36 years (2007 est.) |
| Population Growth Rate: 0.369% (2007 est.) |
| Birth Rate: 12.61 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death Rate: 8.61 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex Ratio At Birth: 1.01 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Under 15 Years: 1.003 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 15 to 64 Years: 0.967 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 65 Years And Over: 0.627 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Total Population: 0.938 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant Mortality Rate Total: 11.55 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Male: 12.88 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Female: 10.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life Expectancy At BirthTotalPopulation: 73 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Male: 71.02 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Female: 75.01 years (2007 est.) |
| Total Fertility Rate: 1.65 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Adult Prevalence Rate: 1.5%; (2003 est.) |
| HIV AIDS People Living With HIV AIDS: 2,500 (2003 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.) |
| Religions: Protestant 67% (Anglican 40%, Pentecostal 8%, Methodist 7%, other 12%), Roman Catholic 4%, none 17%, other 12% |
| Languages: English |
| Literacy Definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school |
| Literacy Total Population: 99.7% |
| Literacy Male: 99.7% |
| Literacy Female: 99.7% (2002 est.) |
| 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 |
| Legal System: English common law; no judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
| 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 was positive in 2005-06, as economic conditions in the US and Europe moderately improved. |
| GDP Purchasing Power Parity: $5.108 billion (2006 est.) |
| GDP Real Growth Rate: 4% (2006 est.) |
| GDP Composition By Sector Agriculture: 6% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Industry: 16% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Services: 78% (2000 est.) |
| Labor Force: 128,500 (2001 est.) |
Labor Force By Occupation: agriculture: 10%
industry: 15%
services: 75% (1996 est.) |
| Unemployment Rate: 10.7% (2003 est.) |
Household Income Or Consumption By Percentage Share: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| Inflation Rate Consumer Prices: -0.5% (2003 est.) |
| Industries: tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export |
| Industrial Production Growth Rate: -3.2% (2000 est.) |
| Energy |
| Electricity Production: 896 million kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Production By Source Fossil Fuel: 100% |
| Electricity Production By Source Hydro: 0% |
| Electricity Production By Source Nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity Production By Source Other: 0% (2001) |
| Electricity Consumption: 833.3 million kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Exports: 0 kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Imports: 0 kWh (2004) |
| Oil Production: 1,000 bbl/day (2004) |
| Oil Consumption: 11,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil Proved Reserves: 1.254 million bbl (1 January 2002) |
| Natural Gas Production: 29.17 million cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Consumption: 29.17 million cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Imports: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Proved Reserves: 141.6 million cu m (1 January 2005 est.) |
| Exports: $209 million (2004 est.) |
| Exports Commodities: sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and beverages, chemicals, electrical components |
| Exports Partners: US 18.6%, Trinidad and Tobago 15%, UK 12.1%, Saint Lucia 8.4%, Jamaica 7.9%, Grenada 4.6%, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 4.6% (2005) |
| Imports: $1.476 billion (2004 est.) |
| Imports Commodities: consumer goods, machinery, foodstuffs, construction materials, chemicals, fuel, electrical components |
| Imports Partners: US 37.2%, Trinidad and Tobago 22.1%, UK 5.5%, Japan 5.2% (2005) |
| Debt External: $668 million (2003) |
| Economic Aid Recipient: $9.1 million (1995) |
| Communications |
| Telephones Main Lines In Use: 134,900 (2005) |
| TelephonesMobileCellular: 206,200 (2005) |
| Telephone System General Assessment: NA |
| Telephone System Domestic: island-wide automatic telephone system |
| Telephone System International: country code - 1-246; satellite earth stations - 1 (Intelsat -Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and Saint Lucia |
| Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 2, FM 6, shortwave 0 (2004) |
| Radios: 237,000 (1997) |
| Television Broadcast Stations: 1 (plus 2 cable channels) (2004) |
| Televisions: 76,000 (1997) |
| Internet Service Providers-ISPs: 19 (2000) |
| Internet Users: 160,000 (2005) |
| Transportation |
| Airports: 1 (2006) |
| Military Expenditures Percent Of GDP: 0.5% (2006 est.) |
| Disputes International: in April 2006, the Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a decision that delimited a maritime boundary with Trinidad and Tobago and compelled Barbados to enter a fishing agreement limiting Barbadian fishermen's catches of flying fish in Trinidad and Tobago's exclusive economic zone; in 2005, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago agreed to compulsory international arbitration under UNCLOS challenging whether the northern limit of Trinidad and Tobago's and Venezuela's maritime boundary extends into Barbadian waters; 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 (UNCLOS), which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea |
| IllicitDrugs: one of many Caribbean transshipment points for narcotics bound for Europe and the US; offshore financial center |