]! ^! 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. 
]" ^" Caribbean, island in the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela ^# 13 10 N, 59 32 W ^$ Central America and the Caribbean ^% `! 431 sq km `" 431 sq km `# 0 sq km ^& 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC ^' 0 km ^( 97 km ^) `$ 12 nm `N 200 nm ^* tropical; rainy season (June to October) ^+ relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region ^, `% Atlantic Ocean 0 m `& Mount Hillaby 336 m ^- petroleum, fish, natural gas ^. `' 37.21% `( 2.33% `) 60.46% (2005) ^/ 50 sq km (2003) ^0 infrequent hurricanes; periodic landslides ^1 pollution of coastal waters from waste disposal by ships; soil erosion; illegal solid waste disposal threatens contamination of aquifers _P `P Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands `Q none of the selected agreements ^2 easternmost Caribbean island 
]# ^3 280,946 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 19.7% (male 27,659/female 27,573) `, 71.4% (male 98,633/female 102,020) `- 8.9% (male 9,662/female 15,399) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 35 years `. 33.8 years `/ 36 years (2007 est.) ^6 0.369% (2007 est.) ^7 12.61 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 8.61 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 -0.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.01 male(s)/female `1 1.003 male(s)/female `, 0.967 male(s)/female `- 0.627 male(s)/female `2 0.938 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 11.55 deaths/1,000 live births `. 12.88 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 10.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 73 years `. 71.02 years `/ 75.01 years (2007 est.) ^= 1.65 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> 1.5%; (2003 est.) ^? 2,500 (2003 est.) ^@ less than 200 (2003 est.) ^A `3 Barbadian(s) or Bajan (colloquial) `4 Barbadian or Bajan (colloquial) ^B black 90%, white 4%, Asian and mixed 6% ^C Protestant 67% (Anglican 40%, Pentecostal 8%, Methodist 7%, other 12%), Roman Catholic 4%, none 17%, other 12% ^D English ^E `5 age 15 and over has ever attended school `2 99.7% `. 99.7% `/ 99.7% (2002 est.) 
]$ ^F `6 none `7 Barbados ^H parliamentary democracy ^I `8 Bridgetown `9 13 06 N, 59 37 W `: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^J 11 parishes and 1 city*; Bridgetown*, Christ Church, Saint Andrew, Saint George, Saint James, Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Lucy, Saint Michael, Saint Peter, Saint Philip, Saint Thomas ^K 30 November 1966 (from UK) ^L Independence Day, 30 November (1966) ^M 30 November 1966 ^N English common law; no judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `; Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Sir Clifford Straughn HUSBANDS (since 1 June 1996) `< Prime Minister Owen Seymour ARTHUR (since 7 September 1994); Deputy Prime Minister Mia MOTTLEY (since 26 May 2003) `= Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister `> none; 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 ^Q bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (21-member body appointed by the governor general) and the House of Assembly (30 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms) `> House of Assembly - last held 21 May 2003 (next to be held by May 2008) `? House of Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - BLP 23, DLP 7 ^R Supreme Court of Judicature (judges are appointed by the Service Commissions for the Judicial and Legal Services); Caribbean Court of Justice is the highest court of appeal ^S Barbados Labor Party or BLP [Owen ARTHUR]; Democratic Labor Party or DLP [David THOMPSON]; People's Empowerment Party or PEP [David COMISSIONG] ^T 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, which 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] ^U ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO ^V `R Ambassador Michael Ian KING `S 2144 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 `T [1] (202) 939-9200 `U [1] (202) 332-7467 `V Miami, New York `^ Los Angeles ^W `R Ambassador Mary M. OURISMAN `_ U.S. Embassy, Wildey Business Park, Wildey, St. Michael `` P. O. Box 302, Bridgetown; CMR 1014, APO AA 34055 `T [1] (246) 436-4950 `U [1] (246) 429-5246, 429-3379 ^X three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), gold, 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) 
]% ^Y Historically, the Barbadian economy had been dependent on sugarcane cultivation and related activities, but production in recent years has diversified into light industry and tourism. Offshore finance and information services are important foreign exchange earners. The government continues its efforts to reduce unemployment, to encourage direct foreign investment, and to privatize remaining state-owned enterprises. The economy contracted in 2002-03 mainly due to a decline in tourism. Growth was positive in 2005-06, as economic conditions in the US and Europe moderately improved. ^Z $5.108 billion (2006 est.) ^[ $3.157 billion (2006 est.) ^\ 4% (2006 est.) ^] $18,200 (2006 est.) ^^ `@ 6% `A 16% `B 78% (2000 est.) ^_ 128,500 (2001 est.) ^` `@ 10% `A 15% `B 75% (1996 est.) ^a 10.7% (2003 est.) _! NA% _" `C NA% `D NA% _# -0.5% (2003 est.) _$ `E $847 million (including grants) `F $886 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) _& sugarcane, vegetables, cotton _' tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export _( -3.2% (2000 est.) _) 896 million kWh (2004) _* 833.3 million kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh (2004) _, 0 kWh (2004) _- 1,000 bbl/day (2004) _. 11,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ NA bbl/day _0 NA bbl/day _W 1.254 million bbl (1 January 2002) _1 29.17 million cu m (2004 est.) _2 29.17 million cu m (2004 est.) _X 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Y 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Z 141.6 million cu m (1 January 2005 est.) _3 $209 million (2004 est.) _4 sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and beverages, chemicals, electrical components _5 US 18.6%, Trinidad and Tobago 15%, UK 12.1%, Saint Lucia 8.4%, Jamaica 7.9%, Grenada 4.6%, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 4.6% (2005) _6 $1.476 billion (2004 est.) _7 consumer goods, machinery, foodstuffs, construction materials, chemicals, fuel, electrical components _8 US 37.2%, Trinidad and Tobago 22.1%, UK 5.5%, Japan 5.2% (2005) _9 $668 million (2003) _: $9.1 million (1995) _; Barbadian dollar (BBD) _< Barbadian dollars per US dollar - 2 (2006), 2 (2005), 2 (2004), 2 (2003), 2 (2002) _= 1 April - 31 March 
]& _> 134,900 (2005) _? 206,200 (2005) _@ `G NA `H island-wide automatic telephone system `I country code - 1-246; satellite earth stations - 1 (Intelsat -Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and Saint Lucia _A AM 2, FM 6, shortwave 0 (2004) _B 1 (plus 2 cable channels) (2004) _C .bb _D 282 (2006) _E 160,000 (2005) 
]' _F 1 (2006) _G `! 1 `a 1 (2006) _H `! 1,600 km `K 1,600 km (2004) _S `! 58 ships (1000 GRT or over) 433,390 GRT/664,998 DWT by type: bulk carrier 11, cargo 32, chemical tanker 7, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 2, specialized tanker 1 `X 57 (Bahamas, The 1, Canada 8, Greece 11, Lebanon 1, Monaco 1, Norway 29, UAE 1, UK 5) `d 1 (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1) (2006) _I Bridgetown 
]( _J Royal Barbados Defense Force: Troops Command, Barbados Coast Guard (2007) _T 18 years of age for voluntary military service; volunteers at earlier age with parental consent; no conscription (2001) _K males age 18-49: 71,524 females age 18-49: 72,302 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 54,510 females age 18-49: 54,889 (2005 est.) _U 0.5% (2006 est.) _M 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 (2005) 
]) _N in April 2006, the Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a decision that delimited a maritime boundary with Trinidad and Tobago and compelled Barbados to enter a fishing agreement limiting Barbadian fishermen's catches of flying fish in Trinidad and Tobago's exclusive economic zone; in 2005, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago agreed to compulsory international arbitration under UNCLOS challenging whether the northern limit of Trinidad and Tobago's and Venezuela's maritime boundary extends into Barbadian waters; 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 _O one of many Caribbean transshipment points for narcotics bound for Europe and the US; offshore financial center 