Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general. Prime minister : Freundel Stuart
Population
313,847,465
287,733
Life Expectancy
78.490 years
74.520 years
Capital City
Washington, DC
Bridgetown
Largest city
New York City (population: 8,008,280)
Bridgetown (population: 98,511)
Human Development Index
0.95
0.889
GDP per capita
$49,000 US
$23,700 US
Literacy Rate
99%
99.7%
Corruption Perception Index
7.3
7
Percentage of Women in Parliament
16.6%
13.7%
Wealthiest Citizens
William Gates III ($40.0bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
9.000%
12.000%
Death Penalty
Legal
Legal
Political System
Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition
parliamentary democracy
Independence date
4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)
30 November 1966 (from UK)
Religions
Protestant 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, other Christian 1.6%, Jewish 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Muslim 0.6%, other or unspecified 2.5%, unaffiliated 12.1%, none 4% (2007 est.)
Protestant 63.4% (Anglican 28.3%, Pentecostal 18.7%, Methodist 5.1%, other 11.3%), Roman Catholic 4.2%, other Christian 7%, other 4.8%, none or unspecified 20.6% (2008 est.)
Languages
English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census) note: Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii
manufactures, sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and beverages, chemicals, electrical components
External Debt
$14,710,000,000,000 $
$668,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Barbadian dollars (BBD) per US dollar - NA (2007), 2 (2006), 2 (2005), 2 (2004), 2 (2003)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
4.060%
0.800%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
110
0
Location
North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Caribbean, island in the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela
Area
9,826,675 km sq
430 km sq
Coastline
19,924 km
97 km
Climate
mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
