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Barbados
Area: 430 sq km; 166 sq mi
Population: 274,000 (June 2006)
Capital City: Bridgetown
People: About 80% of Barbados's population are of African descent, 4% European descent, and 16% mixed. Barbados's population growth rate has been very low, less than 1% since the 1960s.
Languages: English
Religion(s): Protestant 67% (Anglican 40%, Pentecostal 8%, Methodist 7%, other (e.g. also small Jewish and Muslim communities) 12%), Roman Catholic 4%, other 12%, none 17%.
Currency: Barbadian Dollar (BBD) The exchange rate is tied to the US dollar. 1 US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$ = 1.998 BD\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$.(approx. 3.92 BD\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$ = £1.00)
Major Political Parties: Barbados Labour Party (BLP); Democratic Labour Party (DLP);People's Empowerment Party (PEP).
Government :Barbados is an independent state within the Commonwealth. It has a bicameral parliament consisting of a House of Assembly, with 30 members directly elected to serve a five-year term, and a Senate, with 21 members appointed by the Governor General (12 on the advice of the Prime Minister, 2 on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition, 7 by the Governor General alone). Executive power is vested in the Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, who is leader of the majority party in the elected Assembly. Universal suffrage was introduced in 1951. The three political parties are all moderate. The BLP is a party of the centre, but lies to the right of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in the political spectrum. The parties have no major ideological differences: electoral contests and political disputes often have personal overtones. The legal system is based on Common Law.
Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II represented by the Governor-General Sir Clifford Straughn Husbands GCMG, KA
Prime Minister: Rt. Hon Owen S Arthur MP
Foreign Minister: The Hon Dame Billie AMiller MP
Membership of international groupings/organisations: Barbados' memberships include: The Commonwealth, CARICOM, Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP), United Nations (UN), UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), UNESCO, Organisation of American States (OAS), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), IMF, WHO, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
GEOGRAPHYBarbados is the most easterly of the Caribbean islands. Most of the island is relatively flat, with low, gentle hills in the interior, except for the north-east, which rises up to 340 metres. The west coast has white sandy beaches and calm turquoise waters. The east side of the island faces the more turbulent Atlantic. Coral reefs surround most of the island.
HISTORYThe original inhabitants of Barbados were Arawak Indians, who were driven off the island around AD 1200 by invading Carib Indians from Venezuela. The Carib Indians in turn abandoned the island around 1500. Portuguese explorer Pedro a Campos in 1536 named the island Los Barbados (Bearded Ones), presumably after the long, hanging aerial roots of the island's fig trees, which resemble beards. English settlers established the island’s first European settlement in 1627. In the 1640s the colonists planted their fields with sugarcane and brought slaves to the island to work on the sugar plantations. The sugar industry continued to boom until the 19th century. Even after the abolition of slavery, large estates owned almost all the arable land and most black islanders had to stay working on the plantations, for lack of better opportunities. Barbadians emigrated to other countries in the Caribbean and to work on the Panama Canal. Barbados gained internal self-government in 1961 and became an independent nation on 30 November 1966. Since independence, Barbados has been a stable democracy.
POLITICSThe Barbados Labour Party (BLP) won a third term of office in elections held in May 2003, winning 23 of the 30 seats available. The opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) increased its representation in the Assembly from two to seven seats. The BLP polled 56% of the total vote, down from 64% in the (1999) elections. Prime Minister Arthur has announced his candidature for the next General Election to be held by August 2008, but widely expected to be called in 2007. If he wins this would make it his fourth term. Major political challenges facing Barbados today are - , encouraging agricultural diversification, attracting small industry, and promoting tourism. Prime Minister Arthur, who also serves as Minister of Finance, has given a high priority to economic development. The government has pursued a consensus-building strategy which is drawing a wide range of social groups into the decision-making process.
Prime Minister Arthur has announced the introduction of legislation to enable Barbados to become a Republic within the Commonwealth. The proposal, on which a referendum is to be held, on a date as yet unannounced, is that the Head of State would be a President with a purely ceremonial role.
ECONOMYAfter eight years of steady growth in Barbados, the economy contracted by 2.8% in 2001 and by a further 1.8% in 2002. The downturn was mainly caused by a slump in the key tourist industry, with falling overall numbers in tourist arrivals and low hotel occupancy, made worse by 11 September 2001. The Government of Barbados launched a series of tourism initiatives to increase airlift capacity and earmarked a substantial amount of money for an advertising campaign aimed at the US and European markets. GDP rose by 2.0% in 2003, 4.8% in 2004, 3.8% in 2005 and 3.5% in 2006. The tourism sector, which depends to a high degree on the UK (provides approx. 38% of long stay visitors, performed strongly in 2004 with an 8.8% increase in long stay visitors and a 25% increase in cruise ship passengers but experienced a 3.8% decline in 2005 (0.8% fall in long-stay, 21.6% fall in cruise ship arrivals).
2006 saw a slight recovery in the tourism sector - output grew by 2.5% compared to the 2.2% decline in 2005. High fuel costs, shorter cruise ship itineraries and fewer cruise ship visits to Barbados remain of concern to industry operators. The performance of the manufacturing and agricultural sectors improved over 2004 - manufacturing output rose by 2.8% while sugar production rose by 11.3% to 3,880 tonnes with non-sugar agriculture declining by 1.5%. Barbados' average unemployment rate was 9.1% at September 2006, while inflation was running at 7.6% (compared to 5.1% at end-September 2005). The fiscal deficit for 2006 was 1.7% of GDP. Liquidity in the banking system continued to tighten throughout 2006.
Barbados was taken off the OECD's list of tax havens in January 2002.
Basic Economic FactsGDP: (at market prices) for 2005: (Economic Planning & Research Unit, Barbados Ministry of Economic Affairs & Development, August 2006*) - BD\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$6,122-2m or US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$3,061-1m.
GDP per capita at factor cost for 2005: (see * above) - BD\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$18,400 or US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$9,200-00 (an 8.8% increase over 2004)
Annual Growth: 3.5% (2006)
Inflation: 7.6% (September 2006 - Central Bank of Barbados, January 2007)
Unemployment: (September 2006 - Central bank of Barbados, January 2007) Major Industries: tourism, offshore financial services, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export
Major trading partners: Domestic Exports: CARICOM 53.6%, UK 16.6%, US 13.3%, other countries 16.5% (at October 2005 - Barbados Statistical Service, April 2007+)
Import: US 36.7%, CARICOM 25.6%, UK 5.6%, others 32.1%. (+)
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Barbados' Relations with neighbours Barbados has generally good relations with its CARICOM neighbours, especially with the Eastern Caribbean countries. It can be seen as a role model for small developing countries. Barbados is one of the three countries that have ratified the establishment of a Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). The CCJ, which has come into force with these three ratifications, but is not yet operational, will be a Court of First Instance for the Caribbean Single Market and Economy. It will also replace the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as highest Court of Appeal of Barbados.
There has, in the past, been tension between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago over a disputed maritime area. Arbitration hearings in the matter were heard in London in October 2005 and a ruling was given in April 2006 broadly in Barbados' favour. This has enabled the country to move ahead with plans for oil exploration within its own territorial waters.Both countries claimed victory but Barbados is sen to have come out on top.
Barbados' Relations with the International CommunityBarbados is an influential player in CARICOM, the Commonwealth and the ACP. This was emphasised in August 2002, when CARICOM Heads of Government gave Prime Minister Owen Arthur the task of setting up a regional stabilisation fund to mitigate the economic effects of external shocks to the region. Barbados is also a centre for regional organisations, being the location of UN House, the new Eastern Caribbean offices of six UN agencies. These include the Development Programme, Food and Agriculture Organisation, the International Telecommunications Union, the Children's Fund, the International Drug Control Programme and the Development Fund for Women. Prime Minister Owen Arthur holds the CARICOM Portfolio for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) which is now up and running with six CARICOM countries.
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