Exports - partners:
US 20.6%, UK 14.5%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.9%, Saint Lucia 6.9%,
Jamaica 6.6%, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 5.1% (2004)
Imports:
$1.039 billion (2002)
Imports - commodities:
consumer goods, machinery, foodstuffs, construction materials,
chemicals, fuel, electrical components
Imports - partners:
US 35.2%, Trinidad and Tobago 20%, UK 5.6%, Japan 4.3% (2004)
Debt - external:
$668 million (2003)
Economic aid - recipient:
$9.1 million (1995)
Currency (code):
Barbadian dollar (BBD)
Currency code:
BBD
Exchange rates:
Barbadian dollars per US dollar - 2 (2004), 2 (2003), 2 (2002), 2
(2001), 2 (2000)
Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March
Communications Barbados
Telephones - main lines in use:
134,000 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
140,000 (2003)
Telephone system:
general assessment: NA
domestic: island-wide automatic telephone system
international: country code - 1–246; satellite earth stations - 4
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and
Saint Lucia
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 2, FM 6, shortwave 0 (2004)
Radios:
237,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
1 (plus two cable channels) (2004)
Televisions:
76,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.bb
Internet hosts:
204 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
19 (2000)
Internet users:
100,000 (2003)
Transportation Barbados
Highways: total: 1,600 km paved: 1,578 km unpaved: 22 km (2002)
Ports and harbors:
Bridgetown
Merchant marine:
total: 58 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 427,465 GRT/668,195 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 14, cargo 31, chemical tanker 6,
passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 2,
specialized tanker 1
foreign-owned: 53 (Bahamas 1, Bangladesh 1, Canada 12, Greece 11,
Lebanon 2, Netherlands 1, Norway 17, UAE 1, United Kingdom 7)
registered in other countries: 1 (2005)
Airports:
1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Military Barbados
Military branches:
Royal Barbados Defense Force: Troops Command and Coast Guard (2005)
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; volunteers at earlier age with parental consent; no conscription (2001)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 18–49: 71,330 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18–49: 51,298 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
NA
Military - note:
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)
Transnational Issues Barbados
Disputes - international:
in 2005, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago agreed to compulsory
international arbitration that will result in a binding award
challenging whether the northern limit of Trinidad and Tobago's and
Venezuela's maritime boundary extends into Barbadian waters and the
southern limit of Barbadian traditional fishing; joins other
Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island
sustains human habitation, a criterion under UNCLOS, which permits
Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion
of the Caribbean Sea
Illicit drugs:
one of many Caribbean transshipment points for narcotics bound for
Europe and the US; offshore financial center
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Bassas da India
Introduction Bassas da India
Background:
This atoll is a volcanic rock surrounded by reefs and is awash at
high tide. A French possession since 1897, it was placed under the
administration of a commissioner residing in Reunion in 1968.
Geography Bassas da India
Location:
Southern Africa, islands in the southern Mozambique Channel, about
one-half of the way from Madagascar to Mozambique
Geographic coordinates:
21 30 S, 39 50 E
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 0.2 sq km
land: 0.2 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:
about one-third the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
35.2 km
Maritime claims: