Bureau of Western Hemisphere
Affairs
June
2007
Background Note:
Barbados
Rockley Beach in the resort town
of
Rockley, Barbados. September
13,
2001. [© AP
Images]
The flag of Barbados is three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist
side),
gold, and blue with the head of a
black trident centered on the gold band.
PROFILE
OFFICIAL
NAME:
Barbados
Geography
Area: 431 sq. km. (166 sq. mi.); about three times the size of
Washington,
DC.
Cities:
Capital--Bridgetown.
Terrain: Generally flat, hilly in the
interior.
Climate:
Tropical.
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Barbadian(s); informally
"Bajan(s)."
Population
(2006 estimate):
279,912.
Annual population growth rate (2005):
0.3%.
Ethnic groups: Predominantly of African descent 90%, White 4%, Asian
or mixed
6%.
Religions: Protestant 67% (Anglican 40%, Pentecostal 8%, Methodist
7%, other
12%), Roman Catholic 4%, none 17%, other
12%.
Language:
English.
Education (2005): Adult
literacy--99.7%.
Health (2005): Infant mortality rate--11.0/1,000. Life
expectancy--men 70.8
years; women 74.8
years.
Work force (2006): 142,000 (tourism, government, manufacturing,
construction,
mining, agriculture,
fishing).
Unemployment (2006):
7.6%.
Government
Type: Parliamentary democracy; independent sovereign state within
the
Commonwealth.
Independence: November 30,
1966.
Constitution:
1966.
Branches: Executive--governor general (representing Queen Elizabeth
II, head
of state), prime minister (head of government),
cabinet.
Legislative--bicameral Parliament. Judicial--magistrate's courts,
Supreme
Court (High Court and Court of Appeals),
Caribbean Court of Justice in
Trinidad and
Tobago.
Subdivisions: Eleven parishes and the city of
Bridgetown.
Political parties: Barbados Labour Party (BLP, incumbent), Democratic
Labour
Party (DLP), People's Empowerment Party
(PEP).
Suffrage: Universal at
18.
Economy
GDP (2006): $2.976
billion.
GDP growth rate (2006):
3.8%.
Per capita GDP (2006 est.):
$17,300.
Inflation (2006):
7.6%.
Natural resources: Petroleum, fish, quarrying, natural
gas.
Agriculture: Sugar accounts for less than 1% of GDP and 80% of arable
land.
Manufacturing and construction: Food, beverages,
infrastructure, electronic
components, textiles, paper,
chemicals.
Services: Tourism, banking and other financial services, and data
processing.
Trade (2005): Exports--$359 million (merchandise) and
$1.41 billion
(commercial services). Major markets--United States (13.4%), European
Union
(12.4%), Trinidad and Tobago (10.8%), St. Lucia (6.1%),
and Jamaica (5%).
Imports--$1.6 billion
(merchandise) and $636 million (commercial services).
Major
suppliers--United States (35.9%), Trinidad and Tobago (21.2%),
European
Union (13.3%), Japan (7.6%), and Canada
(3.4%).
Official exchange rate: BDS$2 = U.S.
$1.
PEOPLE
About 90% of Barbados' population is of African descent, 4% European
descent,
and 6% Asian or mixed. About 40% of Barbadians are Anglican,
and the rest
mostly Roman Catholic, Methodist,
Baptist, and Moravian. There also are small
Jewish and Muslim
communities. Barbados' population growth rate has been very
low, less
than 1% since the 1960s, largely due to family planning efforts and
a
high emigration
rate.
HISTORY
British sailors who landed on Barbados in the 1620s at the site
of
present-day Holetown on the Caribbean coast found the island uninhabited. As
elsewhere in the eastern Caribbean, Arawak Indians may have been
annihilated
by invading Caribs, who are believed to have subsequently
abandoned the
island.
From the arrival of the first British settlers in 1627-28 until
independence
in 1966, Barbados was a self-funding colony under
uninterrupted British rule.
Nevertheless, Barbados always enjoyed a
large measure of local autonomy. Its
House of Assembly, which began
meeting in 1639, is the
third-oldest
legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, preceded only by
Bermuda's
legislature and the
Virginia House of
Burgesses.
As the sugar industry developed into the main commercial enterprise,
Barbados
was divided into large plantation estates, which replaced the
small holdings
of the early British settlers. Some of the displaced
farmers relocated to
British colonies in North
America. To work the plantations, slaves were
brought from Africa; the slave trade ceased a few years before the
abolition
of slavery throughout the British empire in
1834.
Plantation owners and merchants of British descent dominated local
politics.
It was not until the 1930s that the descendants of
emancipated slaves began a
movement for political rights. One of the
leaders of this movement, Sir
Grantley
Adams, founded the Barbados Labour Party in 1938. Progress toward
more democratic government for Barbados was made in 1951, when the
first
general election under universal adult
suffrage occurred. This was followed
by steps toward increased
self-government, and in 1961, Barbados achieved the
status of
self-governing
autonomy.
From 1958 to 1962, Barbados was one of 10 members of the West
Indies
Federation,
and Sir Grantley Adams served as its first and only
prime
minister. When the
federation was terminated, Barbados reverted to its former
status as a
self-governing colony. Following several attempts to form another
federation composed of Barbados and the Leeward and Windward
Islands,
Barbados
negotiated its own independence at a constitutional conference with
the United Kingdom in June 1966. After years of peaceful and
democratic
progress, Barbados became an
independent state within the
British
Commonwealth on November 30,
1966.
Under its constitution, Barbados is a parliamentary democracy modeled
on the
British system. The governor general represents the monarch.
Control of the
government rests with the cabinet, headed by the
prime minister and
responsible to the
Parliament.
The bicameral Parliament consists of the House of Assembly and
Senate. The 30
members of the House are elected by universal suffrage
to 5-year terms.
Elections may be
called at any time the government wishes to seek a
new
mandate or if the government
suffers a vote of no-confidence in Parliament.
The Senate's 21
members are appointed by the governor general--12 with the
advice of the prime minister, two with the advice of the leader of
the
opposition, and seven at the
governor general's discretion to represent
segments of the
community.
Barbados has an independent judiciary composed of magistrate courts,
which
are statutorily authorized, and a Supreme Court,
which is constitutionally
mandated. The Supreme Court
consists of the high court and the court of
appeals, each with four judges. The Chief Justice serves on both the
high
court and the court of appeals. The court of
last resort is the Caribbean
Court of
Justice.
The island is divided into 11 parishes and the city of Bridgetown
for
administrative
purposes. There is no local
government.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL
CONDITIONS
The two main political parties--the Barbados Labour Party (BLP),
the
Democratic Labour
Party (DLP)--are both moderate and have no
major
ideological differences; electoral contests and political disputes often
have
personal overtones. The major political problems facing Barbados
today are in
promoting economic growth: creating jobs, encouraging
agricultural
diversification, attracting foreign investment, and promoting
tourism.
The ruling BLP was decisively returned to power in May 2003
elections,
winning 23 seats in
the Parliament with the DLP gaining seven seats. The
Prime Minister, Owen Arthur, who also serves as Minister of Finance,
has
given a high priority to economic
development and diversification. The main
opposition party, the
DLP, is led by David Thompson, a Member of Parliament.
Principal Government
Officials
Head of State--Queen Elizabeth
II
Governor General--Sir Clifford Straughn
Husbands
Prime Minister--Owen Seymour
Arthur
Deputy Prime Minister--Mia Amor
Mottley
Ambassador to the United States and the OAS--Michael
King
Ambassador to the UN--Dr. Christopher
Hackett
Barbados maintains an embassy in the United States at 2144 Wyoming
Avenue,
NW, Washington, D.C. 20008 (tel. 202-939-9200), a
consulate general in New
York City at 800 2nd Avenue,
18th Floor, New York, NY 10017
(tel.
212-867-8435), and a consulate general in Miami at 150 Alhambra
Circle, Suite
1270, Coral Gables, FL 33134 (tel.
305-442-1994).
ECONOMY
Since independence, Barbados has transformed itself from a low-income
economy
dependent upon sugar production into an upper-middle-income
economy based on
tourism. Barbados is now one of the most prosperous
countries in the western
hemisphere outside of the United States and
Canada. The economy went into a
deep recession in 1990 after 3
years of steady decline brought on
by
fundamental
macroeconomic imbalances. After a painful readjustment process,
the economy began to grow again in 1993. Growth rates averaged between 3%-5%
since then until 2001, when the economy contracted 2.8% in the wake
of the
September 11 terrorist attacks and the global
drop-off in tourism. Growth
picked up again in 2004
and 2005, and the economy grew by 3.8% in 2006.
Tourism drives the economy in Barbados, but offshore banking and
financial
services have become an increasingly important
source of foreign exchange and
economic growth. The sugar industry,
once dominant, now makes up less than 1%
of GDP and employs only
around 500 people. The labor force totaled 142,000
persons at the end of 2006. The average rate of unemployment during the last
quarter of 2006 was estimated at 7.6%. The current account deficit
expanded
to 12.5% of GDP, and government debt rose above 80% of
GDP in 2006.
Barbados hosted the final matches of the Cricket World Cup in 2007,
and much
of the country's investment during 2006 and the beginning of
2007 was
directed toward
accommodating the expected influx of visitors. As a result of
these
preparations, growth was registered in all sectors,
especially
transportation, communications, construction, and utilities. The
government
and private sector are both working to prepare the
country for the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) Single Market and
Economy (CSME)--a European Union-style
single
market.
FOREIGN
RELATIONS
As a small nation, the primary thrust of Barbados' diplomatic
activity has
been within international organizations. The
island is a member of the
Commonwealth and participates in its activities. Barbados was admitted to
the
United Nations in December 1966. Barbados joined the Organization
of American
States (OAS) in
1967.
On July 4, 1973, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Jamaica
signed a
treaty in Trinidad to found the Caribbean Community and
Common Market
(CARICOM). In
May 1974, most of the remaining English-speaking
Caribbean
states joined CARICOM, which now
has 15 members. Barbados also is a member of
the Caribbean Development
Bank (CDB), established in 1970, with headquarters
in Bridgetown. The
Eastern Caribbean's Regional Security System (RSS), which
associates
Barbados with six other island nations, also is headquartered in
Barbados. In July 1994, Barbados joined the newly established
Association of
Caribbean States
(ACS).
Barbados has diplomatic missions headed by resident ambassadors or
high
commissioners in Canada, the
United Kingdom, the United States,
and
Venezuela,
and at the European Union (Brussels) and the UN. It also
has
resident consuls general in
Toronto, Miami, and New York City. Brazil,
Canada, China, Cuba, the United Kingdom, the United States, and
Venezuela
have ambassadors or high commissioners
resident in
Barbados.
U.S.-BARBADIAN
RELATIONS
In 1751, George Washington visited Barbados as a young man, making
what is
believed to have been his only trip abroad. The
U.S. Government has been
represented on
Barbados since 1823. From 1956 to 1978, the United
States
operated a naval facility in
Barbados.
The United States and Barbados have had friendly bilateral relations
since
Barbados' independence in 1966. The United States
has supported the
government's efforts to expand the country's economic base and to
provide a
higher standard of living for its citizens. Barbados
is a beneficiary of the
U.S. Caribbean Basin Initiative. U.S.
assistance is channeled primarily
through multilateral agencies such as the Inter-American Development Bank
and
the World Bank, as well as the U.S. Agency for International
Development
(USAID) office in
Bridgetown.
In May 1997, Prime Minister Owen Arthur hosted President Clinton and
14 other
Caribbean leaders during the first-ever U.S.-regional summit
in Bridgetown,
Barbados. The summit strengthened the basis for
regional cooperation on
justice and
counter narcotics issues, finance and development, and trade.
Barbados receives counternarcotics assistance and is eligible to
benefit from
the U.S. military's exercise-related and humanitarian
assistance construction
program.
Barbados and U.S. authorities cooperate closely in the fight
against
narcotics
trafficking and other forms of transnational crime. In 1996, the
United States and Barbados signed a mutual legal assistance treaty
(MLAT) and
an updated extradition treaty covering all common offenses,
including
conspiracy and
organized crime. A maritime law enforcement agreement
was
signed in 1997. A popular tourist
destination, Barbados had around 570,000
tourists in
2006, mainly cruise ship visitors. The majority of tourists are
from the U.K., Germany, the Caribbean, and the United States. An
estimated
3,000 Americans reside in the
country.
Principal U.S. Embassy
Officials
Ambassador--Mary M.
Ourisman
Deputy Chief of Mission--Mary Ellen T.
Gilroy
Political/Economic Counselor--Martina Strong
(Acting)
Consul General--Clyde Howard
Jr.
Regional Labor Attaché--Martina
Strong
Economic-Commercial Affairs--Anthony
Eterno
Public Affairs Officer--Julie
O'Reagan
Peace Corps Director--Kate
Raftery
The U.S. Embassy in Barbados is located in the Wildey Business Park,
Wildey,
St. Michael (tel: 246-436-4950; fax:
246-429-5246).
Other Contact
Information
U.S. Department of
Commerce
International Trade
Administration
Office of Latin America and the
Caribbean
14th & Constitution Avenue,
NW
Washington, DC
20230
Tel: 202-482-1658,
800-USA-Trade
Fax:
202-482-0464
Caribbean/Latin American
Action
1818 N Street,
NW
Suite
310
Washington, DC
20036
Tel:
202-466-7464
Fax:
202-822-0075
TRAVEL AND BUSINESS
INFORMATION
The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program advises
Americans
traveling and residing abroad through Consular Information
Sheets, Public
Announcements, and Travel Warnings.
Consular Information Sheets exist for all
countries and include
information on entry and exit requirements, currency
regulations, health conditions, safety and security, crime,
political
disturbances, and
the addresses of the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.
Public
Announcements are issued to disseminate information quickly
about
terrorist threats and other relatively
short-term conditions overseas that
pose significant
risks to the security of American travelers. Travel Warnings
are
issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel
to a certain country because the situation is dangerous or
unstable.
For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling
abroad
should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau
of Consular Affairs Internet
web site at
href="http://www.travel.state.gov">http://www.travel.state.gov, where the
current Worldwide Caution,
Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings
can be found. Consular Affairs
Publications,
which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a
safe
trip abroad, are also available at
href="http://www.travel.state.gov">http://www.travel.state.gov.
For
additional information on international
travel, see
href="http://www.usa.gov/">http://www.usa.gov/
Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml.
The Department of State encourages all U.S citizens who traveling or
residing
abroad to register via the State Department's travel
registration website or
at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate
abroad. Registration will make your
presence and whereabouts known in
case it is necessary to contact you in an
emergency and will
enable you to receive up-to-date information on security
conditions.
Emergency information concerning Americans traveling abroad may be
obtained
by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and
Canada or the regular
toll line 1-202-501-4444 for
callers outside the U.S. and
Canada.
The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is the U.S.
Department of
State's single, centralized public
contact center for U.S.
passport
information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778). Customer
service
representatives and operators for TDD/TTY
are available Monday-Friday, 7:00
a.m. to 12:00 midnight,
Eastern Time, excluding federal
holidays.
Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S.
Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP
(877-394-8747) and a web site at
href="http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm">http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm
give the
most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations
or requirements,
and advice on food and drinking water safety for
regions and countries. A
booklet entitled "Health
Information for International Travel"
(HHS
publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S.
Government
Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202)
512-1800.
Further Electronic
Information
Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at
http://
www.state.gov, the Department of State web
site provides timely, global
access to
official U.S. foreign policy information, including
Background
Notes and daily press briefings
along with the directory of key officers of
Foreign Service
posts and more. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC)
provides
security information and regional news that impact U.S. companies
working abroad through its website
href="http://www.osac.gov">http://www.osac.gov
Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related assistance and
market
information offered by the federal
government and provides trade leads, free
export counseling, help
with the export process, and
more.
STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce,
provides
authoritative economic, business, and
international trade information from
the Federal
government. The site includes current and
historical
trade-related releases, international market research, trade
opportunities,
and country analysis and provides access to the
National Trade Data Bank.