Ethnic divisions: African 80%, mixed 16%, European 4%
Religion: Protestant 67% (Anglican 40%, Pentecostal 8%, Methodist
7%, other 12%), Roman Catholic 4%; none 17%, unknown 3%, other 9%
(1980)
Language: English
Literacy: 99% (male 99%, female 99%) age 15 and over having ever
attended school (1970)
Labor force: 112,300; services and government 37%; commerce 22%;
manufacturing and construction 22%; transportation, storage,
communications, and financial institutions 9%; agriculture 8%; utilities
2% (1985 est.)
Organized labor: 32% of labor force
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: none
Type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Bridgetown
Administrative divisions: 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
be a new city of Bridgetown
Independence: 30 November 1966 (from UK)
Constitution: 30 November 1966
Legal system: English common law; no judicial review of
legislative acts
National holiday: Independence Day, 30 November (1966)
Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime
minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper
house or Senate and a lower house or House of Assembly
Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Judicature
Leaders:
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)
Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Labor Party (DLP), Erskine SANDIFORD;
Barbados Labor Party (BLP), Henry FORDE;
National Democratic Party (NDP), Richie HAYNES
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
House of Assembly--last held 22 January 1991 (next to be held by
January 1996);
results--DLP 49.8%;
seats--(28 total) DLP 18, BLP 10
Communists: negligible
Other political or pressure groups: Industrial and General Workers
Union, Sir Frank WALCOTT; People's Progressive Movement, Eric SEALY;
Workers' Party of Barbados, Dr. George BELLE
Member of: ACP, C, CARICOM, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB,
IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC,
ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAES, LORCS, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: 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 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
Flag: 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)
ECONOMY
Overview: A per capita income of $6,500 gives Barbados one of
the highest standards 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. An unemployment rate of 18% remains one of the most
serious economic problems facing the country.
GDP: $1.7 billion, per capita $6,500; real growth rate
3.6% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.2% (1989)
Unemployment: 18% (1990)
Budget: revenues $501 million; expenditures $484 million,
including capital expenditures of $113 million (FY91)
Exports: $165 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--sugar and molasses, chemicals, electrical components,
clothing, rum, machinery and transport equipment;
partners: CARICOM 30%, US 20%, UK 20%
Imports: $701 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
commodities--foodstuffs, consumer durables, raw materials,
machinery, crude oil, construction materials, chemicals;
partners--US 35%, CARICOM 13%, UK 12%, Japan 6%, Canada 8%,
Venezuela 4%
External debt: $550 million (June 1990 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate - 1.5% (1989); accounts
for 14 % of GDP
Electricity: 132,000 kW capacity; 494 million kWh produced, 1,880
kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly
for export
Agriculture: accounts for 10% of GDP; major cash crop is sugarcane;
other crops--vegetables and cotton; not self-sufficient in food
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $15
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $169 million
Airports: 1 with permanent-surface runways 2,440-3,659 m
Telecommunications: islandwide automatic telephone system with
89,000 telephones; tropospheric scatter link to Trinidad and Saint Lucia;
stations--3 AM, 2 FM, 2 (1 is pay) TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth
station
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Royal Barbados Defense Force, Coast Guard, Royal
Barbados Police Force
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 69,038; 48,455 fit for military
service, no conscription
Defense expenditures: $10 million, 0.7% of GDP (1989)
