View Intelligence Dossier Back to 1990 CSV Excel Print All Years

Communications

Airports [time series]

1 with permanent-surface runways 2,440-3,659 m

Civil air [time series]

2 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

1,570 km total; 1,475 km paved, 95 km gravel and earth

Merchant marine [time series]

2 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,200 GRT/7,338 DWT

Ports [time series]

Bridgetown

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

islandwide automatic telephone system with 89,000 telephones; tropospheric scatter link to Trinidad and St. Lucia; stations--3 AM, 2 FM, 2 (1 is pay) TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Royal Barbados Defense Force, Royal Barbados Police Force, Coast Guard

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

0.6% of GDP (1986)

Military manpower [time series]

males 15-49, 67,677; 47,566 fit for military service, no conscription

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for 10% of GDP; major cash crop is sugarcane; other crops--vegetables and cotton; not self-sufficient in food

Aid [time series]

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-84), $14 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $144 million

Budget [time series]

revenues $476 million; expenditures $543 million, including capital expenditures of $94 million (FY86)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

Barbadian dollars (plural--dollars); 1 Barbadian dollar (Bds$) = 100 cents

Electricity [time series]

132,000 kW capacity; 460 million kWh produced, 1,780 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates [time series]

Barbadian dollars (Bds$) per US$1--2.0113 (fixed rate)

Exports [time series]

$173 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--sugar and molasses, electrical components, clothing, rum, machinery and transport equipment; partners: US 30%, CARICOM, UK, Puerto Rico, Canada

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$635 million (December 1989 est.)

Fiscal year [time series]

1 April-31 March

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

$1.3 billion, per capita $5,250 (1988 est.); real growth rate 3.7% (1989 est.)

Imports [time series]

$582 million (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--foodstuffs, consumer durables, raw materials, crude oil; partners--US 34%, CARICOM, Japan, UK, Canada

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate - 5.4% (1987 est.)

Industries [time series]

tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

4.7% (1988)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

A per capita income of $5,250 gives Barbados the highest standard of living of all the small island states of the eastern Caribbean. Historically, the economy was based on the cultivation of sugarcane and related activities. In recent years, however, the economy has diversified into manufacturing and tourism. The tourist industry is now a major employer of the labor force and a primary source of foreign exchange. A high unemployment rate of about 19% in 1988 remains one of the most serious economic problems facing the country.

Unemployment rate (Unemployment) [time series]

18.6% (1988)

Geography

Climate [time series]

tropical; rainy season (June to October)

Coastline [time series]

97 km

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly less than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

subject to hurricanes (especially June to October)

Extended economic zone [time series]

200 nm;

Land boundaries [time series]

none

Land use [time series]

77% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 9% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 14% other

Natural resources [time series]

crude oil, fishing, natural gas

Note [time series]

easternmost Caribbean island

Terrain [time series]

relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region

Maritime claims (Territorial sea) [time series]

12 nm

Area (Total area) [time series]

430 km2; land area: 430 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

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--there may a new city of Bridgetown

Capital [time series]

Bridgetown

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

negligible

Constitution [time series]

30 November 1966

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

Ambassador Sir William DOUGLAS; Chancery at 2144 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 939-9200 through 9202; there is a Barbadian Consulate General in New York and a Consulate in Los Angeles; US--Ambassador-nominee G. Philip HUGHES; Embassy at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building, Broad Street, Bridgetown (mailing address is P. O. Box 302, Bridgetown or FPO Miami 34054); telephone (809) 436-4950 through 4957

Executive branch [time series]

British monarch, governor general, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet

Flag [time series]

three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, 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)

Independence [time series]

30 November 1966 (from UK)

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court of Judicature Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Hugh SPRINGER (since 24 February 1984); Head of Government--Prime Minister Lloyd Erskine SANDIFORD (since 2 June 1987)

Legal system [time series]

English common law; no judicial review of legislative acts

Legislative branch [time series]

bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Assembly

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

none

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

ACP, CARICOM, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ISO, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO

National holiday [time series]

Independence Day, 30 November (1966)

Political parties (Other political or pressure groups) [time series]

Industrial and General Workers Union, Bobby Clarke; People's Progressive Movement, Eric Sealy; Workers' Party of Barbados, Dr. George Belle

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

Democratic Labor Party (DLP), Erskine Sandiford; Barbados Labor Party (BLP), Henry Forde; National Democratic Party (NDP), Richie Haynes

Suffrage [time series]

universal at age 18 House of Assembly--last held 28 May 1986 (next to be held by May 1991); results--DLP 59.4%, BLP 40.6%; seats--(27 total) DLP 24, BLP 3; note--a split in the DLP in February 1989 resulted in the formation of the NDP, changing the status of seats to DLP 20, NDP 4, BLP 3

Government type (Type) [time series]

parliamentary democracy

People

Birth rate [time series]

18 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate [time series]

8 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

80% African, 16% mixed, 4% European

Infant mortality rate [time series]

16 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force [time series]

112,300; 37% services and government; 22% commerce, 22% manufacturing and construction; 9% transportation, storage, communications, and financial institutions; 8% agriculture; 2% utilities (1985 est.)

Languages (Language) [time series]

English

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

73 years male, 77 years female (1990)

Literacy [time series]

99%

Nationality [time series]

noun--Barbadian(s); adjective--Barbadian

Net migration rate [time series]

- 5 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Organized labor [time series]

32% of labor force

Population [time series]

262,688 (July 1990), growth rate 0.6% (1990)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

70% Anglican, 9% Methodist, 4% Roman Catholic, 17% other, including Moravian

Total fertility rate [time series]

2.1 children born/woman (1990)