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.

Caribbean, island in the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela

13 10 N, 59 32 W

Central America and the Caribbean

2.5 times the size of Washington, DC

0 km

97 km

tropical; rainy season (June to October)

relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region

petroleum, fish, natural gas

50 sq km (2003)

0.1 cu km (2003)

infrequent hurricanes; periodic landslides

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

easternmost Caribbean island

285,653 (July 2010 est.)

0.374% (2010 est.)

12.43 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

8.39 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

-0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

1.68 children born/woman (2010 est.)

1.2% (2007 est.)

2,200 (2007 est.)

fewer than 100 (2007 est.)

black 90%, white 4%, Asian and mixed 6%

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.)

English

6.9% of GDP (2005)

parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm

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

30 November 1966 (from the UK)

Independence Day, 30 November (1966)

30 November 1966

English common law; no judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

18 years of age; universal

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)

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

Barbados Labor Party or BLP [Mia MOTTLEY]; Democratic Labor Party or DLP [David THOMPSON]; People's Empowerment Party or PEP [David COMISSIONG]

Barbados Secondary Teachers' Union or BSTU [Patrick FROST]; Barbados Union of Teachers or BUT [Herbert GITTENS]; Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados or CTUSAB, (includes the BWU, NUPW, BUT, and BSTU) [Leroy TROTMAN]; Barbados Workers Union or BWU [Leroy TROTMAN]; Clement Payne Labor Union [David COMISSIONG]; National Union of Public Workers [Joseph GODDARD]

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

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)

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 three-quarters of GDP and 80% of exports being attributed to services. Growth has rebounded since 2003, bolstered by increases in construction projects and tourism revenues, reflecting its success in the higher-end segment, but the sector faced declining revenues in 2009 with the global economic downturn. The country enjoys one of the highest per capita incomes in the region. 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. The government continues its efforts to reduce unemployment, to encourage direct foreign investment, and to privatize remaining state-owned enterprises. The public debt-to-GDP ratio rose to over 100% in 2009, largely because a sharp slowdown in tourism and financial services led to a wide budget deficit.

$5.278 billion (2009 est.)

$5.43 billion (2008 est.)

$5.392 billion (2007 est.)

$3.637 billion (2009 est.)

-2.8% (2009 est.)

0.7% (2008 est.)

3.3% (2007 est.)

$18,500 (2009 est.)

$19,200 (2008 est.)

$19,100 (2007 est.)

175,000 (2007 est.)

10.7% (2003 est.)

NA%

NA (2009)

5.5% (2007 est.)

10% (31 December 2008)

12% (31 December 2007)

10.03% (31 December 2008)

10.8% (31 December 2007)

$1.637 billion (31 December 2008)

$1.478 billion (31 December 2007)

$3.701 billion (31 December 2008)

$2.717 billion (31 December 2007)

$4.554 billion (31 December 2008)

$3.533 billion (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$5.599 billion (31 December 2007)

$4.954 billion (31 December 2006)

sugarcane, vegetables, cotton

tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export

-3.2% (2000 est.)

1.003 billion kWh (2007 est.)

939.9 million kWh (2007 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

1,100 bbl/day (2008 est.)

9,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)

1,750 bbl/day (2007 est.)

10,390 bbl/day (2007 est.)

2.17 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

29.17 million cu m (2008 est.)

29.17 million cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

141.6 million cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

-$254 million (2007 est.)

$385 million (2006)

manufactures, sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and beverages, chemicals, electrical components

Trinidad and Tobago 15.6%, Jamaica 13.9%, Brazil 9.9%, US 8.6%, UK 7.8%, Saint Lucia 7.2%, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 4.5% (2008)

$1.586 billion (2006)

consumer goods, machinery, foodstuffs, construction materials, chemicals, fuel, electrical components

US 26.9%, Trinidad and Tobago 25.4%, Russia 7%, Colombia 6.4%, Germany 4.1% (2008)

$620 million (2007)

$668 million (2003)

Barbadian dollars (BBD) per US dollar - NA (2007), 2 (2006), 2 (2005), 2 (2004), 2 (2003)

150,000 (2008)

406,000 (2008)

AM 2, FM 13, shortwave 0 (2009)

1 (plus 2 cable channels) (2004)

.bb

235 (2009)

188,000 (2008)

1 (2009)

Bridgetown

Royal Barbados Defense Force: Troops Command, Barbados Coast Guard (2009)

18 years of age for voluntary military service (younger requires parental consent); no conscription (2008)

0.8% of GDP (2009)

the Royal Barbados Defense Force includes a land-based Troop Command and a small Coast Guard; the primary role of the land element is to defend the island against external aggression; the Command consists of a single, part-time battalion with a small regular cadre that is deployed throughout the island; it increasingly supports the police in patrolling the coastline to prevent smuggling and other illicit activities (2007)

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 (UNCLOS), which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea

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