| GEOGRAPHY |
| Country name: |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Barbados |
| Capital: |
Bridgetown |
| Location: |
Caribbean, island in the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela |
| Geographic
Coordinates: |
13 10 N, 59 32 W |
| Area: |
total: 431 sq km
land: 431 sq km
water: 0 sq km |
| Area
Comparative: |
2.5 times the size of Washington, DC |
| Land
Boundaries: |
0 km |
| Coastline: |
97 km |
| Maritime
Claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
| Climate: |
tropical; rainy season (June to October) |
| Terrain: |
relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region |
| Elavation
Extremes: |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Hillaby 336 m |
| Natural
Resources: |
petroleum, fish, natural gas |
| GOVERNEMENT |
| Governement
Type: |
parliamentary democracy; independent sovereign state within the Commonwealth |
| Administratives
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 city of Bridgetown may be given parish status |
| Independence |
30 November 1966 (from UK) |
| National
Holiday: |
Independence Day, 30 November (1966) |
| Constitution: |
30 November 1966 |
| Legal
System; |
English common law; no judicial review of legislative acts |
| Suffrage |
18 years of age; universal |
| Executive
Branch: |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Clifford Straughn HUSBANDS (since 1 June 1996)
head of government: Prime Minister Owen Seymour ARTHUR (since 6 September 1994); Deputy Prime Minister Mia MOTTLEY (since 26 May 2003)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; the prime minister recommends the deputy prime minister |
| Legislative
Branch: |
bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (21-member body appointed by the governor general) and the House of Assembly (30 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Assembly - last held 21 May 2003 (next to be held by May 2008)
election results: House of Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - BLP 23, DLP 7 |
| Judicial
Branch: |
Supreme Court of Judicature (judges are appointed by the Service Commissions for the Judicial and Legal Services) |
| Political
parties and Leaders: |
Barbados Labor Party or BLP [Owen ARTHUR]; Democratic Labor Party or DLP [Clyde Mascoll] |
| PEOPLE |
| Population: |
278,289 (July 2004 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 21% (male 29,294; female 29,020)
15-64 years: 70.3% (male 95,675; female 99,864)
65 years and over: 8.8% (male 9,370; female 15,066) (2004 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 33.7 years
male: 32.6 years
female: 34.9 years (2004 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Barbadian(s) or Bajan (colloquial)
adjective: Barbadian or Bajan (colloquial) |
| Ethnic groups: |
black 90%, white 4%, Asian and mixed 6% |
| Religions: |
Protestant 67% (Anglican 40%, Pentecostal 8%, Methodist 7%, other 12%), Roman Catholic 4%, none 17%, other 12% |
| Languages: |
English |
| COMUNICATIONS |
| Telephones - main
lines in use: |
134,000 (2003) |
| Telephones - mobile
cellular: |
140,000 (2003) |
| Telephone system: |
general assessment: NA
domestic: island-wide automatic telephone system
international: country code - 1-246; satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and Saint Lucia |
| Radio broadcast
stations: |
AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998) |
| Television broadcast
stations: |
1 (plus two cable channels) (1997) |
| Internet country
code: |
.bb |
| Internet hosts: |
204 (2003) |
| Internet users: |
100,000 (2003) |
| TRANSPORT |
| Railways: |
|
| Highways: |
total: 1,793 km
paved: 1,719 km
unpaved: 74 km (1999) |
| Waterways: |
|
| Pipelines: |
|
| Ports and harbors: |
Bridgetown, Speightstown (Port Charles Marina) |
| Merchant marine: |
total: 42 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 427,465 GRT/668,195 DWT
by type: bulk 11, cargo 20, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 3, petroleum tanker 6, roll on/roll off 1
foreign-owned: Australia 1, Bahamas 1, Bangladesh 1, Canada 5, Greece 7, Hong Kong 7, Italy 2, Lebanon 1, Norway 9, United Kingdom 10
registered in other countries: 3 (2004 est.) |
| Airports: |
1 (2003 est.) |
| Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
|
| Heliports: |
|
