oduction Barbados

Background:
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.

Geography Barbados

Location:
Caribbean, island in the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of
Venezuela

Geographic coordinates:
13 10 N, 59 32 W

Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean

Area:
total: 431 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 431 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

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Hillaby 336 m

Natural resources:
petroleum, fish, natural gas

Land use:
arable land: 37.21%
permanent crops: 2.33%
other: 60.46% (2001)

Irrigated land:
10 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
infrequent hurricanes; periodic landslides

Environment - current issues:
pollution of coastal waters from waste disposal by ships; soil
erosion; illegal solid waste disposal threatens contamination of
aquifers

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
easternmost Caribbean island

People Barbados

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.)

Population growth rate:
0.36% (2004 est.)

Birth rate:
12.98 births/1,000 population (2004 es