Coordinates: 13°10′N 59°33′W / 13.167°N 59.55°W / 13.167; -59.55

Barbados
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Pride and Industry"
Anthem: In Plenty and In Time of Need Royal anthem: "God Save the Queen"
Capital (and largest city)		Bridgetown 13°06′N 59°37′W / 13.1°N 59.617°W / 13.1; -59.617
Official language(s)		English
Recognised regional languages		Bajan
Ethnic groups (2000)		80% Afro-Bajan 16% Asian and Multiracial 4% European
Demonym		Barbadian, Bajan (colloquial)
Government		Parliamentary democracy under constitutional monarchy
-	Monarch	Elizabeth II
-	Governor-General	Elliot Belgrave
-	Prime Minister	Freundel Stuart
Legislature		Parliament
-	Upper house	Senate
-	Lower house	House of Assembly
Independence
-	from the United Kingdom	30 November 1966
Area
-	Total	431 km2 (200th) 166 sq mi
-	Water (%)	negligible
Population
-	2009 estimate	284,589[1] (180th)
-	2001 census	250,012
-	Density	660/km2 (15th) 1,704/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$6.493 billion[2] (148th)
-	Per capita	$23,416[2] (40th)
GDP (nominal)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$4.478 billion[2]
-	Per capita	$16,148[2]
HDI (2011)		0.793[3] (Very high) (47th)
Currency		Barbadian dollar ($) (BBD)
Time zone		Eastern Caribbean (UTC-4)
-	Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC-4)
Drives on the		left[4]
ISO 3166 code		BB
Internet TLD		.bb
Calling code		+1 (specifically, +1-246)

Barbados (ⁱ/bɑrˈbeɪdɒs/ or /bɑrˈbeɪdoʊs/) is a sovereign island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is 34 kilometres (21 mi) in length and up to 23 kilometres (14 mi) in width, covering an area of 431 square kilometres (166 sq mi). It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea;^[5] therein, it is about 168 kilometres (104 mi) east of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and 400 kilometres (250 mi) north-east of Trinidad and Tobago. Barbados is outside of the principal Atlantic hurricane belt.

Barbados was initially visited by the Spanish around the late 1400s to early 1500s and first appears on a Spanish map from 1511.^[6] The Spanish explorers may have plundered the island of whatever native peoples resided therein to become slaves.^[6] The Portuguese visited in 1536, but they too left it unclaimed, with their only remnants being an introduction of wild hogs for a good supply of meat whenever the island was visited. The first English ship, the Olive Blossom, arrived in Barbados in 1624. They took possession of it in the name of the British king James I. Two years later in 1627 the first permanent settlers arrived from England and it became an English and later British colony.^[7]

Barbados has an estimated population of 284,000 people,^[8] with around 80,000 living in or around Bridgetown, the largest city and the country's capital.^[9] In 1966, Barbados became an independent state and Commonwealth realm, retaining Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State.^[10] Barbados is one of the Caribbean's leading tourist destinations and is one of the most developed islands in the region, with an HDI number of 0.788. In 2011 Barbados ranked 2nd in The Americas (16th globally) on Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index^[11]

Etymology[link]

According to accounts by descendants of the indigenous Arawakan-speaking tribes in other regional areas, the original name for Barbados was Ichirouganaim, with possible translations including "Red Land with White Teeth",^[12] "Redstone island with teeth outside (reefs)",^[13] or simply "Teeth".^[14][15][16]

The reason for the later name Barbados is controversial. According to some sources the Portuguese, en route to Brazil,^[17][18] were the first Europeans to come upon the island, while others say it was the Spanish which gave the Spanish name "Los Barbudos". The word Barbados means "bearded ones", but it is a matter of conjecture whether "bearded" refers to the long, hanging roots of the bearded fig-tree (Ficus citrifolia), indigenous to the island; to allegedly bearded Caribs once inhabiting the island; or, more fancifully, to the foam spraying over the outlying reefs giving the impression of a beard. In 1519, a map produced by the Genoese mapmaker Visconte Maggiolo showed and named Barbados in its correct position. Furthermore, an island in the Leewards which is very close in name to Barbados is Barbuda and was once named Las Barbudas by the Spanish.

Other names or nicknames associated with Barbados include "Bim" and "Bimshire". The origin is uncertain but several theories exist. The National Cultural Foundation of Barbados says that "Bim" was a word commonly used by slaves and that it derives from the phrase "bi mu" or either ("bem", "Ndi bem", "Nwanyi ibem" or "Nwoke ibem")^[19] from an Igbo phrase meaning "my people". In colloquial or literary contexts, "Bim" can also take a more deific tone, referring to the "goddess" Barbados.^{[citation needed]}

The word Bim and Bimshire are recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary and Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionaries. Another possible source for "Bim" is reported to be in the Agricultural Reporter of 25 April 1868, The Rev. N Greenidge (father of one of the island's most famous scholars, Abel Hendy Jones Greenidge) suggested the listing of Bimshire as a county of England. Expressly named were "Wiltshire, Hampshire, Berkshire and Bimshire".^[19] Lastly in the Daily Argosy (of Demerara, i.e. Guyana) of 1652 it referred to Bim as a possible corruption of the word "Byam", who was a Royalist leader against the Parliamentarians. That source suggested the followers of Byam became known as Bims and became a word for all Barbadians.^[19]

History[link]

The Barbadoes mulatto girl ca. 1764

Amerindian settlement of Barbados dates to about the 4th to 7th century AD, by a group known as the Saladoid-Barrancoid.^[20] In the 13th century, the Caribs arrived from South America.^[21]

The Spanish and Portuguese briefly claimed Barbados from the late-16th to the 17th centuries, and may have seized the Arawaks on Barbados and used them as slave labour.^{[citation needed]} Other Arawaks are believed to have fled to neighbouring islands. Apart from possibly displacing the Caribs, the Spanish and Portuguese left little impact and left the island uninhabited. Some Arawaks migrated from Guyana in the 1800s and continue to live in Barbados.^[21][22][23]

From the arrival of the first English settlers in 1627–1628 until independence in 1966, Barbados was under uninterrupted British governance (and was the only Caribbean island that did not change hands during the colonial period). In the very early years, the majority of the population was white and male, with African slaves providing little of the workforce. Cultivation of tobacco, cotton, ginger and indigo was handled primarily by European indentured labour until the start of the sugar cane industry in the 1640s. As Barbados' economy grew, Barbados developed a large measure of local autonomy through its founding as a proprietary colony. Its House of Assembly began meeting in 1639. Among the initial important figures was Anglo-Dutchman Sir William Courten.

The 1780 hurricane killed over 4,000 people. In addition, a cholera epidemic killed over 20,000 people in 1854.^[24] At emancipation in the late 1830s, the size of the slave population was approximately 83,000. Between 1946 and 1980, Barbados' rate of population growth was diminished by one-third because of emigration to Britain.^[25]

Government and politics[link]

Parliament Building.

Barbados has been an independent country since 30 November 1966. It functions as a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, modelled on the British Westminster system, with Elizabeth II, Queen of Barbados, as head of state, represented locally by the Governor-General (currently Elliot Belgrave, the Acting Governor-General), and the Prime Minister as the head of the government. The number of representatives within the House of Assembly has gradually increased from 24 at independence to its present composition of 30 seats.

During the 1990s, at the suggestion of Trinidad and Tobago's Patrick Manning, Barbados attempted a political union with Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. The project stalled after the then Prime Minister of Barbados Lloyd Erskine Sandiford became ill and his party (the Democratic Labour Party) lost the next general election.^[26][27] Barbados continues to share close ties with Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, claiming the highest number of Guyanese immigrants after the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Barbados functions as a two-party system, the two dominant parties being the ruling Democratic Labour Party and the opposition, Barbados Labour Party. Until 2003, each party had served two terms in office alternately.^[28] The election of 2003 gave the BLP a third term victory, at which time the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) achieved being in government for 14 years, (1994 until the 2008 elections). Under that administration, the former Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Owen S. Arthur acted as the Regional Leader of the CSM (Caribbean Single Market).

The Honourable David Thompson, who was elected Prime Minister of Barbados in 2008, died of pancreatic cancer on 23 October 2010. He was succeeded by Deputy Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, who was sworn in the same day.^[29][30]

Barbados has had several third parties over a period of time since independence: The People's Pressure Movement formed in the early 1970s and contested the 1976 elections; The National Democratic Party, which contested the 1994 elections; and the People's Democratic Congress, which contested the 2008 elections. Apart from these there were several independents who contested the elections, but independents are yet to win a seat in Parliament.

Law[link]

The Constitution of Barbados is the supreme law of the nation.^[31] The Attorney General heads the independent judiciary. Historically, Barbadian law was based entirely on English common law with a few local adaptations. At the time of independence, the British Parliament ceased having the ability to change local legislation at its own discretion. British law and various legal statutes within British law at this time, and other prior measures adopted by the Barbadian Parliament, became the basis of the modern-day law system.

More recently, however, local Barbadian legislation may be shaped or influenced by such organisations as the United Nations, the Organization of American States, or other international fora to which Barbados has obligatory commitments by treaty. Additionally, through international cooperation, other institutions may supply the Barbados Parliament with key sample legislation to be adapted to meet local circumstances before crafting it as local law.

Laws are passed by the Barbadian Parliament, whereby upon their passage, are given official royal assent by the Governor-General to become law.

In Barbados, camouflage clothing is reserved for military use and forbidden for civilians to wear, including children.^[4]

Judiciary[link]

The local court system of Barbados is made-up of:

• Magistrates' Courts: Covering Criminal, Civil, Domestic, Domestic Violence, and Juvenile matters. But can also take up matters dealing with Corornor's Inquests, Liquor Licences, and civil marriages. Further, the Magistrates' Courts deal with Contract and Tort law where claims do not exceed $10,000.00.^[32]
• The Supreme Court: is made up of High Court and Court of Appeals.^[32]
  • High Court: Consisting of Civil, Criminal, and Family law divisions.
  • Court of Appeal: Handles appeals from the High Court and Magistrates' Court. It hears appeals in both the civil, and criminal law jurisdictions. It may consist of a single Justice of Appeal sitting in Chambers; or may sit as a Full Court of three Justices of Appeals.
• The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), (based in Port Of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago), is the court of last resort (final jurisdiction) over Barbadian law. It replaced the London-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC). The CCJ may resolve other disputed matters dealing with the Caribbean (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy (CSME).

Foreign relations[link]

Barbados is a full and participating member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS).^[33] Organization of American States (OAS), Commonwealth of Nations, and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which currently pertains only to Barbados, Belize and Guyana. In 2001 the Caribbean Community heads of government voted on a measure declaring that the region should work towards replacing the UK's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice.

Barbados is an original Member (1995) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and participates actively in its work. It grants at least MFN treatment to all its trading partners. As of December 2007, Barbados is linked by an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Commission. The pact involves the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) subgroup of the Group of African, Caribbean, and Pacific states (ACP). CARIFORUM presently the only part of the wider ACP-bloc that has concluded the full regional trade-pact with the European Union.