]! ^! 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 ^% `! 431 sq km `" 431 sq km `# 0 sq km ^& 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC ^' 0 km ^( 97 km ^) `$ 12 nm `I 200 nm ^* tropical; rainy season (June to October) ^+ relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region ^, `% Atlantic Ocean 0 m `& Mount Hillaby 336 m ^- petroleum, fish, natural gas ^. `' 37.21% `( 2.33% `) 60.46% (2001) ^/ 10 sq km (1998 est.) ^0 infrequent hurricanes; periodic landslides ^1 pollution of coastal waters from waste disposal by ships; soil erosion; illegal solid waste disposal threatens contamination of aquifers _J `K Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution `L none of the selected agreements ^2 easternmost Caribbean island 
]# ^3 279,254 (July 2005 est.) ^4 `* 20.6% (male 28,813/female 28,634) `+ 70.6% (male 96,590/female 100,622) `, 8.8% (male 9,432/female 15,163) (2005 est.) ^5 `! 34.15 years `- 32.99 years `. 35.28 years (2005 est.) ^6 0.33% (2005 est.) ^7 12.83 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^8 9.17 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^9 -0.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^: `/ 1.01 male(s)/female `0 1.01 male(s)/female `+ 0.96 male(s)/female `, 0.62 male(s)/female `1 0.93 male(s)/female (2005 est.) ^; `! 12.5 deaths/1,000 live births `- 14.14 deaths/1,000 live births `. 10.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) ^< `1 72.59 years `- 70.6 years `. 74.6 years (2005 est.) ^= 1.65 children born/woman (2005 est.) ^> 1.5% (2003 est.) ^? 2,500 (2003 est.) ^@ less than 200 (2003 est.) ^A `2 Barbadian(s) or Bajan (colloquial) `3 Barbadian or Bajan (colloquial) ^B black 90%, white 4%, Asian and mixed 6% ^C Protestant 67% (Anglican 40%, Pentecostal 8%, Methodist 7%, other 12%), Roman Catholic 4%, none 17%, other 12% ^D English ^E `M age 15 and over has ever attended school `1 99.7% `- 99.7% `. 99.7% (2002 est.) 
]$ ^F `4 none `5 Barbados ^H parliamentary democracy; independent sovereign state within the Commonwealth ^I Bridgetown ^J 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 ^K 30 November 1966 (from UK) ^L Independence Day, 30 November (1966) ^M 30 November 1966 ^N English common law; no judicial review of legislative acts ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `6 Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Clifford Straughn HUSBANDS (since 1 June 1996) `7 Prime Minister Owen Seymour ARTHUR (since 7 September 1994); Deputy Prime Minister Mia MOTTLEY (since 26 May 2003) `8 Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister `9 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 ^Q 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) `9 House of Assembly - last held 21 May 2003 (next to be held by May 2008) `: House of Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - BLP 23, DLP 7 ^R Supreme Court of Judicature (judges are appointed by the Service Commissions for the Judicial and Legal Services) ^S Barbados Labor Party or BLP [Owen ARTHUR]; Democratic Labor Party or DLP [Clyde Mascoll] ^T Barbados Workers Union [Leroy TROTMAN]; Clement Payne Labor Union [David COMMISSIONG]; People's Progressive Movement [Eric SEALY]; Worker's Party of Barbados [Dr. George BELLE] ^U ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO ^V `N Ambassador Michael Ian KING `O 2144 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 `P [1] (202) 939-9200 `Q [1] (202) 332-7467 `R Miami and New York `g Los Angeles ^W `N Ambassador Mary E. KRAMER `Z Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building, Broad Street, Bridgetown; (courier) ALICO Building-Cheapside, Bridgetown `[ P. O. Box 302, Bridgetown; CMR 1014, APO AA 34055 `P [1] (246) 436-4950 `Q [1] (246) 429-5246, 429-3379 ^X three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), gold, and blue with the head of a black trident centered on the gold band; the trident head represents independence and a break with the past (the colonial coat of arms contained a complete trident) 
]% ^Y 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 probably was positive in 2004, as economic conditions in the US and Europe moderately improved. ^Z $4.569 billion (2004 est.) ^[ 2.3% (2004 est.) ^\ purchasing power parity - $16,400 (2004 est.) ^] `; 6% `< 16% `= 78% (2000 est.) ^^ 128,500 (2001 est.) ^_ agriculture 10%, industry 15%, services 75% (1996 est.) ^` 10.7% (2003 est.) ^a NA _! `> NA `? NA _" -0.5% (2003 est.) _# `@ $847 million (including grants) `A $886 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2000 est.) _$ sugarcane, vegetables, cotton _% tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export _& -3.2% (2000 est.) _' 800 million kWh (2002) _( 744 million kWh (2002) _) 0 kWh (2002) _* 0 kWh (2002) _+ 1,271 bbl/day (2001 est.) _, 10,900 bbl/day (2001 est.) _- NA _. NA _R 1.254 million bbl (1 January 2002) _S 29.17 million cu m (2001 est.) _T 29.17 million cu m (2001 est.) _U 0 cu m (2001 est.) _V 0 cu m (2001 est.) _W 70.79 million cu m (1 January 2002) _/ $206 million (2002) _0 sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and beverages, chemicals, electrical components _1 US 20.6%, UK 14.5%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.9%, Saint Lucia 6.9%, Jamaica 6.6%, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 5.1% (2004) _2 $1.039 billion (2002) _3 consumer goods, machinery, foodstuffs, construction materials, chemicals, fuel, electrical components _4 US 35.2%, Trinidad and Tobago 20%, UK 5.6%, Japan 4.3% (2004) _5 $668 million (2003) _6 $9.1 million (1995) _7 Barbadian dollar (BBD) _8 Barbadian dollars per US dollar - 2 (2004), 2 (2003), 2 (2002), 2 (2001), 2 (2000) _9 1 April - 31 March 
]& _: 134,000 (2003) _; 140,000 (2003) _< `B NA `C island-wide automatic telephone system `D country code - 1-246; satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and Saint Lucia _= AM 2, FM 6, shortwave 0 (2004) _> 1 (plus two cable channels) (2004) _? .bb _@ 204 (2003) _A 100,000 (2003) 
]' _B `! 1,600 km `E 1,578 km `F 22 km (2002) _C Bridgetown _K `! 58 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 427,465 GRT/668,195 DWT by type: bulk carrier 14, cargo 31, chemical tanker 6, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 2, specialized tanker 1 `S 53 (Bahamas 1, Bangladesh 1, Canada 12, Greece 11, Lebanon 2, Netherlands 1, Norway 17, UAE 1, United Kingdom 7) `\ 1 (2005) _D 1 (2004 est.) _E `! 1 `] 1 (2004 est.) 
]( _F Royal Barbados Defense Force: Troops Command and Coast Guard (2005) _M 18 years of age for voluntary military service; volunteers at earlier age with parental consent; no conscription (2001) _] males age 18-49: 71,330 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 51,298 (2005 est.) _N NA _O NA _G 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 (2005) 
]) _H 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 UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea _I one of many Caribbean transshipment points for narcotics bound for Europe and the US; offshore financial center 