Location of Barbados. Source: VardionWikipedia

Barbados. Source The CIA World Factbook.

Barbados is a small island nation in the eastern Caribbean. It is of of the "Windwards Islands" of part of the island group refered to as the Lesser Antillies and part of the region known as the Caribbean or the West Indies.

Its major environmental issues include pollution of coastal waters from waste disposal by ships; soil erosion; illegal solid waste disposal threatens contamination of aquifers.

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

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

Geographic Coordinates: 13 10 N, 59 32 W

Area: 431 square km (all land)
- arable land: 37.21%
- permanent crops: 2.33%
- other: 60.46% (2005)

Coastline: 97 km

Maritime Claims: 12 nautical miles of territorial claim and a exclusive economic zone extending 200 nautical miles.

Natural Hazards: infrequent hurricanes; periodic landslides

Terrain: Barbados is relatively flat with land rising from the coast gently to central highland region. Its highest point is Mount Hillaby (336 meters)

Climate: Barbados has a tropical climate with a rainy season from June to October.

Government

Government Type:  Barbados is a parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm.

Capital: The capitol of Barbados is Bridgetown

Independence Date: 30 November 1966 (from the United Kingdom)

Legal System: English common law; no judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction with reservations.

International Environmental Agreements

Barbados is party to international agreements on Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

People and Society

Population: 284,589 (July 2009 est.)

Age Structure:
Median age: 35.8 years
0-14 years: 19.2% (male 27,383/female 27,352)
15-64 years: 71.3% (male 99,829/female 103,049)
65 years and over: 9.5% (male 10,464/female 16,512) (2009 est.)

Population Growth Rate: 0.383% (2009 est.) 

Birthrate: 12.48 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death Rate: 8.58 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net Migration Rate: -0.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth: 73.94 years (2009 est.) 

Total Fertility Rate: 1.68 children born/woman (2009 est.)

Languages: English

Literacy: 99.7% (2002 est.)

Water

Total Renewable Water Resources: 0.1 cu km (2003)

Freshwater Withdrawal: total: 0.09 cu km/yr (domestic 33%, industrial 44%, agricultural 22%). Per capita: 333 cubic meters/year (2000)

Agriculture

Agricultural products: Sugarcane, vegetables, cotton.

Irrigated Land: 50 sq km (2003)

Resources

Natural Resources: Petroleum, fish, natural gas.

Conflict

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 counterVenezuela'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.

Economy

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 will likely face declining revenues 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 of about 80% will likely widen as the THOMPSON administration engages in a more expansionary fiscal policy.

GDP: (Purchasing Power Parity):
$5.466 billion (2008 est.)
$5.386 billion (2007)
$5.214 billion (2006)

GDP: (Official Exchange Rate): $3.777 billion (2008 est.)

GDP- per capita (PPP):
$19,300 (2008 est.)
$19,100 (2007 est.)
$18,500 (2006 est.)

GDP- composition by sector:
agriculture: 6%
industry: 16%
services: 78% (2000 est.)

Industries: tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export

Further Reading

1.  The CIA World Factbook