Barbados
OFFICIAL NAME: Barbados
CAPITAL CITY: Bridgetown
POPULATION: 277,800 (2010)
AREA: 430 km²
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): English
RELIGION: Protestants 67%, Catholics 4%, others 29%
COIN: Barbados dollar
CURRENCY CODE: BBD
ENGLISH NAME: Barbados
INDEPENDENCE: 1966
POPULATION COMPOSITION: Afro-Caribbean 92%, other 8%
GDP PER residents: 16,151 USD (2012)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 73 years, women 78 years (2007)
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.825
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 38
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .bb
Barbados, Republic of the Caribbean, which includes the easternmost island of
the Lesser Antilles. The island is densely populated and despite its small size
one of the region's significant countries. The country's relatively high
standard of living is mainly based on tourism, finance and other service
activities, while the traditional sugar economy is of diminishing
importance. Barbados has been an independent nation and a member of the British
Commonwealth since 1966.
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Barbados - national flag
The flag originates from 1966. The blue color symbolizes sky and sea, the
yellow sandy beaches. In colonial times, Neptune's trefoil was the country's
coat of arms. As an expression of continuity, it is continued in the flag, but
without a shaft to mark the break with the past.
Barbados - language
According to AllCityPopulation.com,
the official language is (standard) English, but 95% of the population speak
as their mother tongue the English based Creole language Barbadian Creole
English or Bajan. Bajan differs from English by vocabulary, eg words like scotch for
English place to sit, cutter for English salt bread
sandwich or site? for English okay? . There are also
differences in pronunciation and grammar.
The pronunciation differs from English in the absence of the final consonants
[-t] and [-d] in eg [fag] for English fact or [pɑwn] for English pound; [-θ]
is pronounced like [-f], so that Bajan path rhymes with staff; [ð-]
pronunciation [d-] in fx the, them, this; many
vowels are strongly diphthongized, so eg man and egg are pronounced
respectively. [maən] and [εig]; unlike other Caribbean-English Creole languages,
[-r] is often pronounced at the end of syllables.
Grammatical differences are, among other things, that Bajan lacks copula, a
verb to connect subject and predicate with, as for example in Bajan I hay for
English I am here; double nouns such as gate-door and sparrow-bird and
in the pronoun (w) from, which is a plural form of you from
the African language.
Barbados - Constitution
Barbados's constitution dates from 1966. The head of state is the British
monarch, represented by a Governor - General. Parliament has two chambers. A
21-member Senate appointed by the Governor-General and a 30-member lower house
elected by universal suffrage for five years. The Governor - General usually
appoints the leader of the largest party or the leader of the largest coalition
as Prime Minister, and he proposes a Deputy Prime Minister.
Barbados - geography
Unlike the other Lesser Antilles, Barbados is not of volcanic origin, but
consists of coral lime, deposited on alternating layers of shale, clay and sand
folded up from the seabed. Live coral reefs protect the coasts from ocean
erosion, but the reefs are threatened by wastewater pollution. The island has a
pleasant tropical, oceanic climate and was covered by forests before
colonization, but they were cleared for sugar cultivation and only 50 ha are
left.
92% of the population are descendants of Africans who were imported as slaves
to the sugar plantations. Approximately 1/3 of the
residents living in and around the capital Bridgetown in SW Coast, but the
villages are close both on the coast and inland; they are connected by a
fine-meshed network of winding roads in the hilly countryside. The population is
stagnant due to low birth rate and emigration.
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population pyramid and resident density about this country.
A large part of the island is still covered by sugar cane, which is sold
through the EU sugar scheme. Barbados' two largest sources of income are tourism
and the internationally oriented financial sector, offshore banking. There are
a number of small industries in clothing, electronics, etc. The country's
education system is well developed, and a department of the University of the
West Indies is located in Barbados with teaching in most subject areas.
Barbados - history
Since the Spaniards in the early 1500-t. called Barbados, the island was
probably inhabited by Arawak Indians; after a short time, however, these were
exterminated or deported. In 1624, Barbados became British and colonized of
criminals or dissidents who were forced into exile due to religious or political
beliefs. In 1627-52, Barbados was privately owned, and its population grew
rapidly. The residents were closely connected with the English settlements
in Virginia and New England. Production on the island was shifted from tobacco
to sugar around 1640, and the first slaves from West Africa arrived, while the
number of Europeans subsequently dropped drastically. The island became the
setting for the first sugar boom in the Caribbean, but soon took over Jamaicathe
role of the most important British colony in the region. Before
the abolition of slavery in 1834, several major uprisings took place (1696, 1702
and 1816). Barbados has not experienced the changeable affiliations that
otherwise characterized parts of the Caribbean during colonial times. The island
was isolated from other islands and in headwinds in relation to the prevailing
wind direction. It was never fortified like many of the others and remained a
British colony throughout the period up to independence in November 1966.
In 1937 there were riots again, after which reforms were launched for the
benefit of the black part of the population. In 1958-62, Barbados was a member
of the West Indies Federation, after which the island returned to internal
self-government.
Barbados played an important role in the establishment of the Caribbean
Common Market, CARICOM. In 1983, the Prime Minister, Tom Adams, was a central
figure in the US-led invasion of the neighboring island of Grenada. This meant
that the traditionally close relations with Britain were cooled.
In the 1994 election, the Social Democratic Barbados Labor Party (BLP) became
victorious, and the post of Prime Minister passed to Owen Arthur
(1949-2020). The party pursued a successful economic policy that led to growth,
and in the subsequent election in 1997, the BLP won a landslide victory,
securing approximately 2/3 of the votes. The government has
successfully sought to attract foreign investment and has implemented
privatization of public enterprises. In 2008, the opposition in the Democratic
Labor Party (DLP) won the election, and the party's leader, David Thompson,
became the new head of government. He died in 2010 and was replaced by Freundel
Stuart. The DLP managed to retain power in the 2013 election.
Barbados was hit hard by the financial crisis in 2008. Tourism and financial
sector activity declined and the country's debt rose sharply.
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