Barbados

total:

0.09 cu km/yr (33%/44%/22%)

per capita:

333 cu m/yr (2000)

• pollution of coastal waters from waste disposal by ships;
• soil erosion;
• illegal solid waste disposal threatens contamination of aquifers

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, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

at birth:

1.01 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.63 male(s)/female

total population:

0.94 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

noun:

Barbadian(s) or Bajan (colloquial)

adjective:

Barbadian or Bajan (colloquial)

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Barbados

name:

Bridgetown

geographic coordinates:

13 06 N, 59 37 W

time difference:

UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• English common law;
• no judicial review of legislative acts;
• accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

chief of state:

Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Sir Clifford Straughn HUSBANDS (since 1 June 1996)

head of government:

Prime Minister David THOMPSON (since 16 January 2008)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister

elections:

• 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

• Supreme Court of Judicature consists of a High Court and a Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the Service Commissions for the Judicial and Legal Services);
• Caribbean Court of Justice or CCJ is the highest court of appeal;
• based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

• Barbados Labor Party or BLP [Mia MOTTLEY];
• Democratic Labor Party or DLP [David THOMPSON];
• People's Empowerment Party or PEP [David COMISSIONG]

• Barbados Secondary Teachers' Union or BSTU [Patrick FROST];
• Barbados Union of Teachers or BUT [Herbert GITTENS];
• Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados or CTUSAB, (includes the BWU, NUPW, BUT, and BSTU) [Leroy TROTMAN];
• Barbados Workers Union or BWU [Leroy TROTMAN];
• Clement Payne Labor Union [David COMISSIONG];
• National Union of Public Workers [Joseph GODDARD]

chief of mission:

Ambassador John BEALE

chancery:

2144 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 939-9200

FAX:

[1] (202) 332-7467

consulate(s) general:

Miami, New York

consulate(s):

Los Angeles

chief of mission:

Ambassador Mary M. OURISMAN

embassy:

U.S. Embassy, Wildey Business Park, Wildey, St. Michael BB 14006

mailing address:

P. O. Box 302, Bridgetown BB 11000; CMR 1014, APO AA 34055

telephone:

[1] (246) 227-4399

FAX:

[1] (246) 431-0179

• three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), gold, and blue with the head of a black trident centered on the gold band;
• the band colors represent the blue of the sea and sky and the gold of the beaches;
• the trident head represents independence and a break with the past (the colonial coat of arms contained a complete trident)

agriculture:

10%

industry:

15%

services:

75% (1996 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

fixed-line teledensity of roughly 50 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density approaching 150 per 100 persons

domestic:

island-wide automatic telephone system

international:

• country code - 1-246;
• landing point for the East Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS) submarine cable with links to 13 other islands in the eastern Caribbean extending from the British Virgin Islands to Trinidad;
• satellite earth stations - 1 (Intelsat -Atlantic Ocean);
• tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and Saint Lucia (2008)

total:

1,600 km

country comparison to the world: 176

paved:

1,600 km (2004)

males age 16-49:

75,265

females age 16-49:

75,389 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

58,596

females age 16-49:

58,866 (2009 est.)

male:

2,015

female:

2,007 (2009 est.)

• 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 (2007)

• Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago abide by the April 2006 Permanent Court of Arbitration decision delimiting a maritime boundary and limiting catches of flying fish in Trinidad and Tobago's exclusive economic zone;
• joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea