BARBADOS
Location:
Barbados is an island in the extreme eastern Caribbean Sea, about 375 kilometres
northeast of Venezuela. Its total area is 430 square kilometres.
Population:
255,827 (July, 1994 estimate)
Languages:
Government:
The Barbadian government is a parliamentary democracy. The Barbados legislature
dates from 1627.
Legal System:
The Barbadian legal system is based on English common law. There is no judicial
review of legislative acts.
Telecommunications:
Barbados has an island-wide automatic telephone system with 89,000
telephones. It has tropospheric scatter link to Trinidad and Saint Lucia, as well
as one Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station.
Economy:
A per capita income of $8,700 gives Barbados one of the highest standards of living of
all the small island states of the eastern Caribbean. Historically, the economy was based
on the cultivation of sugar cane and related activities. In recent years, however, the
economy has diversified into manufacturing and tourism. The tourist industry is now a
major employer of the labor force and a primary source of foreign exchange. The
economy slowed in 1990-92 as Bridgetown's difficulty in financing its deficits caused it
to exert control over domestic demands.
Industries:
The main industries in Barbados are tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component
assembly for export, petroleum and financial services.
Currency:
1 Barbadian dollar (Bds$) = 100 cents
Exchange Rates:
Barbadian dollars (Bds$) per US$1 - 2.0113 (fixed rate)
Related sites:
Barbados
Barbados Home Page
Barbados Hotel And Tourism Association
Welcome To Barbados
To the Offshore World home page.
To the Offshore Financial Centres page.