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Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)
Governor-General: Sir Clifford Husbands (1996)
Prime Minister: David Thompson (2008)
Land area: 166 sq mi (430 sq km); total area 166 sq mi (431 sq km)
Population (2009 est.): 284,589 (growth rate: 0.3%); birth rate: 12.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 12.3/1000; life expectancy: 73.9; density per sq km: 654
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Bridgetown, 98,900
Monetary unit: Barbados dollar
Language: English
Ethnicity/race: 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%
National Holiday: Independence Day, November 30
Literacy rate: 97% (1995 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $4.841 billion; per capita: $17,400. Real growth rate: 2.5%. Inflation: –0.5% (2003 est.). Unemployment: 10.7% (2003 est.). Arable land: 37.21%. Agriculture: sugarcane, vegetables, cotton. Labor force: 128,500 (2001 est.); services 75%, industry 15%, agriculture 10% (1996 est.). Industries: tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export. Natural resources: petroleum, fish, natural gas. Exports: $209 million (2004 est): sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and beverages, chemicals, electrical components. Imports: $1.476 billion (2004 est.): consumer goods, machinery, foodstuffs, construction materials, chemicals, fuel, electrical components. Major trading partners: U.S., UK, Trindad and Tobago, St. Lucia, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Japan (2004).
Member of Commonwealth of Nations
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 135,700 (2004); mobile cellular: 200,100 (2004).
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 6, shortwave 0 (2004).
Television broadcast stations: 1 (plus two cable channels) (2004). Internet hosts: 241 (2005).
Internet users: 150,000 (2005).
Transportation: Railways: 0 km.
Highways: total: 1,600 km; paved: 1,600 km (2003).
Ports and harbors: Bridgetown.
Airports: 1 (2005).
International disputes: in 2005, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago agreed to compulsory international arbitration that will result in a binding award challenging whether the northern limit of Trinidad and Tobago's and Venezuela's maritime boundary extends into Barbadian waters and the southern limit of Barbadian traditional fishing; 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 Caribbean Sea
Geography
An island in the Atlantic about 300 mi (483 km) north of Venezuela, Barbados is only 21 mi long (34 km) and 14 mi across (23 km) at its widest point. It is circled by fine beaches and narrow coastal plains. The highest point is Mount Hillaby (1,105 ft; 337 m) in the north-central area.
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