KEY FACTS
Joined Commonwealth: 1966
Population: 283,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: 0.7% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 38
Official language: English
Time: GMT minus 4hr
Currency: Barbados dollar (Bds$)
Geography
Area: 431 sq km
Coastline: 97 km
Capital: Bridgetown
Barbados, the most easterly of the Caribbean islands, lies south of Saint Lucia, east of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and north of Trinidad and Tobago.
Main towns:
Bridgetown (capital and only seaport, pop. 94,200 in 2010), Speightstown (2,400), Bathsheba (1,600), Holetown (1,500) and Oistins (1,500); extensive spread of hotels and apartments along the coast.
Society
KEY FACTS 2012
Population per sq km: 657
Life expectancy: 75 years
Net primary enrolment: 97% (2011)
Population:
283,000 (2012); 45 per cent of people live in urban areas; growth 0.4 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 13 per 1,000 people (22 in 1970); life expectancy 75 years (69 in 1970). The population is 93 per cent of African descent, three per cent of European descent, and the rest of Asian or mixed descent (2000 census).
Language:
English is the official and first language. An English based Creole is also widely spoken.
Education:
Public spending on education was eight per cent of GDP in 2010. There are 11 years of compulsory education starting at the age of five. Primary school comprises six years and secondary five. Computers are widely available to schools. Some 93 per cent of pupils complete primary school (2010). The school year starts in September. The University of the West Indies has a campus at Cave Hill, Barbados, as well as in Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. A UNESCO Chair in Eduational Technologies was established in 1999 at the Barbados campus of the University of the West Indies. Other tertiary institutions include the Barbados Community College, with its Hospitality Institute; Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic; and Erdiston College (offering teacher education). The female–male ratio for gross enrolment in tertiary education is 2.50:1 (2011). There is virtually no illiteracy among people aged 15–24. In 1990 Barbados hosted the 11th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in Bridgetown. Commonwealth Education Ministers meet every three years to discuss issues of mutual concern and interest.
