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Barbados is an independent island nation situated on the boundary of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The island is 166 sq. mi. (430 km²), and is primarily low, with some hills in the island's interior. Its location is 13ºN,59ºW. Which is about 270 miles(434.5 km) north-east of Venezuela.
Barbados is composed mainly of limestone. It is tropical with constant tradewinds and consists of some marshes and mangrove swamps. Parts of the island's interior consist of large sugarcane estates.
Barbados is one of the Lesser Antilles, it lies to the east of the main chain of islands, with the nations of Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines being its closest neighbours.
Barbados is now a major tourist destination.
History
Main article: History of Barbados
The name Barbados comes from a Portuguese explorer named Pedro A. Campos in 1536, who originally called the island "Os Barbados" ("The Bearded Ones"), the explorer named the island this upon seeing the appearance of the island's fig trees, whose long roots he thought resembled "beards".
The island was uninhabited when first settled by the British in 1627, though Amerindian tribes had lived on the island previously. 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 United Kingdom in 1966, with the island remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. In the 1990s, tourism and manufacturing surpassed the sugar industry in economic importance.
Politics
Main article: Politics of Barbados
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is head of state, and is represented by a Governor General. In Barbados the Queen is styled "By the Grace of God, Queen of Barbados and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth." The present government is proposing that Barbados become a republic within the Commonwealth, with a ceremonial president replacing the Queen.
Executive power however is in the hands of the prime minister and his cabinet. The prime minister is usually the leader of the winning party in the elections for the House of Assembly, the lower house of parliament, which has 28 seats. Its members are elected every 5 years. The Senate has 21 members, and its members are appointed by the governor general.
Barbados is a full & participating member of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM).
Geography
- Main article: Geography of Barbados
Barbados is a relatively flat island, rising gently to central highland region, the highest point being Mount Hillaby at 336 m. It is located in a slightly eccentric position in the Atlantic Ocean compared to other Caribbean islands. The climate is tropical, with a rainy season from June to October.
Though one might assume the island deals with severe tropical storms and hurricanes during the rainy season it actually does not. The island gets brushed or hit every 3.09 years and the average number of years between direct hurricane hits is once every 26.6 years.
In the parish of Saint Michael lies Barbados' chief city Bridgetown, which is the nation's capital. Locally Bridgetown is sometimes referred to as "The City" or "B-town". Other towns include Holetown, in the parish of Saint James and Speightstown, in the parish of Saint Peter.
Parishes
See the main article: Parishes of Barbados
Barbados, is divided into eleven parts or sections that are called Parishes. They are called "parishes" because of the island's religious Anglican history.
See the main article: Parishes of Barbados
Economy
Main article: Economy of Barbados
Historically, the Barbadian economy had been dependent on sugarcane cultivation and related activities, but production in recent years has diversified into manufacturing and tourism. Offshore finance and information services are important foreign exchange earners, and there is also a light manufacturing sector. The government continues its efforts to reduce unemployment, encourage direct foreign investment, and privatise remaining state-owned enterprises. The economy contracted in 2001 due to slowdowns in tourism and consumer spending. Growth will remain anaemic in 2002 with a recovery likely near the end of the year.
Barbados's economy ranks as one of Canada's top destinations of Canadian Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Characteristics and tourist information
The island of Barbados has a single major airport, the Sir Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) (IATA identifier BGI). The Grantley Adams Airport receives daily flights by several major airlines, from points around the globe, as well as several smaller regional commercial airlines and charters. The airport serves as the main air-transportation hub for the Eastern Caribbean. The airport is currently under-going a US$100 Million upgrade and expansion.
The island is well developed and there are many local quality-hotels known internationally which offer world-class accommodations. Timeshares are available, and many of the smaller local hotels and private vilas which dot the island have space available if booked months in advanced. The southern and western coasts of Barbados are popular, with it's calm light blue Caribbean sea and fine white and pink sandy beaches. Along the islands' east coast are tumbling-waves which are perfect for surfing.
Shopping districts are another treat in Barbados, with it's ample amount of duty-free shopping. There is also a festive nightlife available in mainly tourist areas like the Saint Lawrence Gap. Other attractions include casinos, jewelry stores, scuba diving, helicopter rides, golf, festivals, cave exploration, exotic drinks and fine clothes shopping.
Transportation
Transportation on the island is good, with public taxis, called "ZRs" (pronounced "Zed-R")s, traveling to most points on the island. These public taxis as they are known can at times be crowded, but will usually take the more scenic routes to destinations. These buses generally depart from the capital Bridgetown or from Speightstown in the northern part of the island.
Some hotels also provide visitors with shuttles to points of interest on the island. Hotel shuttles generally leave right outside of the Hotel's lobby. The island also has an abundance of Taxis-for-hire, visitors staying on the island may find this an expensive option, most hired-taxis will take you to points of interest but they can be expensive, visitors also have the option of car and vehicles rentals in Barbados, presuming they have a valid drivers license from their native country.
Many of Barbados' annual visitors are repeat visitors.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Barbados
About nine tenths of all Barbadians (also known colloquially as Bajan) are of African descent, mostly descendants of the slaves and workers on the sugar plantations. The remainder of the population includes small groups of Europeans and Asians. The official language is English and while most Barbadians are Protestant Christians, chiefly of the Anglican Church, there are other Protestant, Roman Catholic, Hindu and Muslim minorities.
Culture
Main article: Culture of Barbados
The influence of the English on Barbados is more noticeable than on other islands in the West Indies. A good example of this is the island's national sport: cricket. Barbados has brought forth several great cricket players, including Garfield Sobers and Frank Worrell.
Citizens are officially called Barbadian, however residents of Barbados colloquially refer to themselves or the products of the country as "Bajan". The term "Bajan", may have come from a localized pronunciation of the word Barbadian which at times can sound more like "Bar-bajan". The term Barbadian, is used less frequently than is "Bajan".
The largest Carnival cultural events which take place in Barbados are the Congaline Festival and Crop Over Festival as known internationally.
As is the case in many of the other Caribbean and Latin American countries, Carnival is an important event for many people on the island, as well as the thousands of tourists that flock to the island to participate in the annual events.
The smaller of the two events is the Congaline Festival, which takes place during the last week of March. The Crop Over Carnival which includes various musical competitions, and other traditional activities usually kicks into high gear from the beginning of July, and ends in its entirety during the first week of August.
The Crop Over festival closes with a large parade in the final days of the festivities.
See also:
International rankings
- CIA World Factbook - GDP (http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html) - (PPP) per capita
- 2004: 59th of 232 countries & territories -- $ 15,700 [1] (http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html)
- UN Human Development Index (HDI)
- 2004: 29th out of 177 countries [2] (http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2004/pdf/presskit/HDR04_PKE_HDI.pdf)
- 2003: 27th out of 175 countries [3] (http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2003/pdf/presskit/HDR03_PKE_HDI.pdf)
- 2002: 31st out of 173 countries [4] (http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2002/en/pdf/HDR%20PR_HDI.pdf)
- 2001: 31st out of 162 countries [5] (http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2001/en/pdf/hdi.pdf)
- 2000: 30th out of 174 countries [6] (http://www.undp.org/hdr2000/english/presskit/hdi.pdf)
- 1999: 29th out of 174 countries [7] (http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/1999/en/pdf/hdr_1999_back1.pdf)
- 1998: N/A
- World Bank
See Also
Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.
External links
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