Barbados

noun:

Barbadian(s) or Bajan (colloquial)

adjective:

Barbadian or Bajan (colloquial)

total:

41 years (2023 est.)

male:

39.9 years

female:

42.1 years

at birth:

1.01 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.72 male(s)/female

total population:

0.93 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

total:

9.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

male:

11.3 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

8.2 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

78.8 years (2023 est.)

male:

76 years

female:

81.6 years

total:

9.94 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer:

3.66 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine:

1.36 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits:

4.75 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols:

0.17 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

total:

8.5% (2020 est.)

male:

15% (2020 est.)

female:

1.9% (2020 est.)

total:

30.6% (2021 est.)

male:

34.8%

female:

25.6%

• 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, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

urban population:

31.4% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization:

0.46% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

particulate matter emissions:

9.79 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions:

1.28 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions:

2.35 megatons (2020 est.)

municipal solid waste generated annually:

174,815 tons (2011 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually:

15,733 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled:

9% (2015 est.)

municipal:

20 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial:

10 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural:

5 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Barbados

etymology:

the name derives from the Portuguese "as barbadas," which means "the bearded ones" and can refer either to the long, hanging roots of the island's bearded fig trees or to the alleged beards of the native Carib inhabitants

name:

Bridgetown

geographic coordinates:

13 06 N, 59 37 W

time difference:

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

etymology:

named after a bridge constructed over the swampy area (known as the Careenage) around the Constitution River that flows through the center of Bridgetown

history:

• adopted 22 November 1966, effective 30 November 1966;
• Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2021 establishes Barbados as a republic and revokes the earlier Order in Council

amendments:

• proposed by Parliament;
• passage of amendments to constitutional sections such as citizenship, fundamental rights and freedoms, and the organization and authorities of the branches of government requires two-thirds majority vote by the membership of both houses of Parliament;
• passage of other amendments only requires a majority vote of both houses;
• amended several times, last in 2021

note: following the transition to a republic in November 2021, the Government of Barbados in February 2022 began the process of establishing a constitution commission to review a new draft constitution

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent only:

yes

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

chief of state:

President Sandra MASON (since 30 November 2021)

head of government:

Prime Minister Mia MOTTLEY (since 25 May 2018)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister

elections/appointments:

• president elected by an electoral college of both Houses of Parliament for a 4-year renewable term;
• election last held on 20 October 2021;
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of the majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the president;
• the prime minister recommends the deputy prime minister

election results:

Sandra MASON elected as first president on 20 October 2021

highest court(s):

Supreme Court (consists of the High Court with 8 justices) and the Court of Appeal (consists of the High Court chief justice and president of the court and 4 justices; note - in 2005, Barbados acceded to the Caribbean Court of Justice as the final court of appeal, replacing that of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (in London)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister and opposition leader of Parliament;
• other justices appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission, a 5-member independent body consisting of the Supreme Court chief justice, the commission head, and presidential appointees recommended by the prime minister;
• justices serve until mandatory retirement at age 65

subordinate courts:

Magistrates' Courts

• Alliance Party for Progress or APP [Joseph ATHERLEY]
• Barbados Labor Party or BLP [Mia MOTTLEY]
• Democratic Labor Party or DLP [Ronnie YEARWOOD]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Noel Anderson LYNCH (since 11 January 2019)

chancery:

2144 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 939-9200

FAX:

[1] (202) 332-7467

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://www.foreign.gov.bb/embassies-high-commissions-and-permanent-missions/

consulate(s) general:

Miami, New York

• three equal vertical bands of ultramarine blue (hoist side), gold, and ultramarine 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)

name:

"The National Anthem of Barbados"

lyrics/music:

Irving BURGIE/C. Van Roland EDWARDS

note: adopted 1966; the anthem is also known as "In Plenty and In Time of Need"

total World Heritage Sites:

1 (cultural)

selected World Heritage Site locales:

Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison

• largest Eastern Caribbean economy;
• dependent on US imports and currency strength;
• high Human Development Index;
• key tourism and financial sectors;
• declining but still very high public debt;
• cost-of-living and cost competitiveness vulnerabilities

agriculture:

10%

industry:

15%

services:

75% (1996 est.)

total:

30.6% (2021 est.)

male:

34.8%

female:

25.6%

lowest 10%:

NA

highest 10%:

NA

production:

0 metric tons (2020 est.)

consumption:

0 metric tons (2020 est.)

exports:

0 metric tons (2020 est.)

imports:

0 metric tons (2020 est.)

proven reserves:

0 metric tons (2019 est.)

total petroleum production:

1,000 bbl/day (2021 est.)

refined petroleum consumption:

10,800 bbl/day (2019 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate exports:

700 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate imports:

0 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil estimated reserves:

2 million barrels (2021 est.)

production:

14.923 million cubic meters (2019 est.)

consumption:

20.954 million cubic meters (2019 est.)

exports:

0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

imports:

6.031 million cubic meters (2019 est.)

proven reserves:

113 million cubic meters (2021 est.)

general assessment:

• the telecom sector has seen a decline in subscriber numbers (particularly for prepaid mobile services the mainstay of short term visitors) and revenue;
• fixed and mobile broadband services are two areas that have benefited from the crisis as employees and students have resorted to working from home;
• one area of the telecom market that is not prepared for growth is 5G mobile;
• governments, regulators, and even the mobile network operators have shown that they have not been investing in 5G opportunities at the present time;
• network expansion and enhancements remain concentrated around improving LTE coverage (2021)

domestic:

fixed-line teledensity of roughly 43 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density about 113 per 100 persons (2021)

international:

• country code - 1-246;
• landing points for the ECFS and Southern Caribbean Fiber submarine cable with links to 15 other islands in the eastern Caribbean extending from the British Virgin Islands to Trinidad and Puerto Ricco;
• satellite earth stations - 1 (Intelsat - Atlantic Ocean);
• tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and Saint Lucia (2019)

• government-owned Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) operates the lone terrestrial TV station;
• CBC also operates a multi-channel cable TV subscription service;
• roughly a dozen radio stations, consisting of a CBC-operated network operating alongside privately owned radio stations (2019)

total:

1,700 km (2015)

paved:

1,700 km (2015)

• voluntary service only (men and women);
• 17 years, 9 months to 17 years, 11 months with letter of consent from a parent or guardian, or be in the age range of 18-25 years (18-30 for the Reserves) at the start of recruit training;
• citizens of Barbados by descent or naturalization (2023)

Barbados-Venezuela (Maritime Boundary):

• Barbados joins other Caribbean states and the United Kingdom to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island, a large sandbar with some vegetation, sustains human habitation or economic life, the criteria under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Article 121, which would permit Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea;
• the dispute hampers hydrocarbon prospecting and creation of exploration blocks

Barbados-Trinidad and Tobago (Maritime Boundary):

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

• a transit point for cocaine and marijuana destined for North America, Europe, and elsewhere in the Caribbean;
• some local demand for cocaine and some use of synthetic drugs