Barbados

Barbados is a country in the Caribbean area. It consists of a single island, which belongs to the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles . It is also known as Little England or Bimshire.

Barbados is the easternmost region of the West Indies ; it is located about 175 kilometers east of Saint Vincent . On the south and the west coast are many sandy beaches, while the interior is dotted with hills. The beaches are surrounded by coral reefs . There is a tropical climate with an average temperature of 26 ° C and abundant rainfall, especially inland. The rainy season lasts from June to November . Hurricanes in the area are numerous, but the southeastern exposure Barbados often remains unaffected.

The official currency is the Barbados dollar (or Barbadian dollars), divided into 100 cents. The official language is Bajan, a Creole language. The official language isEnglish .

The name Barbados comes from the Spanish or Portuguese. The first European explorers who arrived there they named the island to the common "bearded fig tree" Los Barbados.

Content

 * 1 Geography
 * 2 Population
 * 3 Religion
 * 4 History
 * 5 Polity
 * 5.1 Political parties
 * 5.2 Administrative divisions
 * 5.3 Flag
 * 6 Economy
 * 7 Cities
 * 8 Education
 * 9 Flora and fauna
 * 10 Celebrities from Barbados
 * 11 See also
 * 12 External links

[Geography edit ]
Barbados lies in the Atlantic Ocean and consists largely of coral limestone. Around the island bays come with coral sand beaches for, including: On the north and east of the island, the sea is often too rough for swimming, although there surfing. Most tourists are also found on the Caribbean south and the west coast. The main capes are: The country has few rivers of any size. The largest are Constitution River in Bridgetown and Long Pond in the same bay. The height of the island does not gradually, but in the form of terraces, to the northwest by the island consists of phased-tossed sea floor. The four famous hills therefore are all on the same ridge in the northeast that describes a semicircle around Long Pond:
 * River Bay (northwest)
 * Gay's Cove (northwest)
 * Long Pond (West)
 * Foul Bay (southwest)
 * Long Bay (southwest)
 * Oistins Bay (southeast)
 * Carlisle Bay (southeast)
 * Freshwater Bay (east)
 * Paynes Bay (east)
 * Alleynes Bay (east)
 * Six Men's Bay (northeast)
 * Ragged Point (southwest)
 * The Chair (southwest)
 * Kitridge Point (southwest)
 * South Point (south)
 * Harrison Point (northeast)
 * North Point (north).
 * Mount Hillaby (340 m) (southwest of Long Pond)
 * Castle Grant (338 m) (south of Long Pond)
 * Farley Hill (251 m) (west of Long Pond)
 * Mount Stepney (246 m) (northwest of Long Pond)

Population [ edit ]
Barbados has 288 725  (2013)  inhabitants, which is relatively high, given the fact that the island only has an area of 430 km². The population density is 671.5 / km²  (2013). The country is overpopulated, and the population continues to increase, with a growth rate of six percent per year. The life expectancy is 76.5 years.

The majority of the population is descended from African slaves. Minority is formed by Hindus, British, Chinese, Syrians, Lebanese and Jews.

Religion [ edit ]
Approximately 49.4% of the population is Christian . Besides the Anglicans (26.3%), there are many Christians in Barbados who are so called. revival churches. Besides Christianity is also found other religions to Barbados, including Hinduism , Buddhism , Baha'i and Islam .
 * Anglican 26.6%
 * Pentecostal 10.6%
 * Methodism 5.7%
 * Roman Catholic Church 4.8%
 * other Christian 2%

History [ edit ]
Barbados population consists mainly of descendants of African slaves and mulattos. The island was inhabited by the Arawak, which have died out by European diseases and the harsh conditions under which they had to perform slave labor. As in many other Caribbean countries were also slaves from Africa imported. The island was visited by the Spaniards and the Portuguese, and the country by the British occupied in 1627. On 16 April 1816 the heaviest slave uprising began that Barbados has known, led by Bussa . In 1838 slavery was finally abolished. Barbados was as a member of the West Indies Federation ( 1958 - 1962 ) and finally gained self-government in 1961 . In 1962, the elections were won by the Democratic Labour Party, led by Errol Walton Barrow, who became prime minister after independence on 30 November 1966 . Since1998 Owen Arthur of the Labour Party Prime Minister (situation 2002).

[Polity edit ]
Barbados is a parliamentary democratic kingdom headed by Queen Elizabeth II of Barbados . However, the current government advocates to change this situation by a republic set with a ceremonial president. It would, however, within the British Commonwealth remain.

The executive power lies in the hands of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. The prime minister is usually the leader of the largest party. The parliament consists of two chambers. The lower house, the National Assembly, consists of 30 members. They are elected by universal suffrage. The upper house, the Senate, composed of 21 members. They are by the governor-general appointed. Barbados has a Knighthood ; The Order of St. Andrew .

Barbados is a member of the Caribbean Community ( CARICOM ).

Political parties [ edit ]
The main parties in Barbados are:
 * Barbados Labour Party (Workers' Party of Barbados, social democratic )
 * Democratic Labour Party (Democratic Labour Party, social democratic )
 * National Democratic Party (National Democratic Party, social democratic )

Administrative divisions [ edit ]
In fact Barbados is not administratively divided into local government. Historically, the country is divided into eleven parishes . They were created in 1645, but have since 1967 more no political function.

Flag [ edit ]
The flag of Barbados is horizontal rectangular, and is divided into three vertical bands of equal width, from left to right: dark blue, yellow, dark blue. Centered in the yellow band is a black trident : with a left and right angles, of which each corner bovenonaan has a crooked leg and at the bottom of a right, and only the middle tooth has on both sides an "arrow thickening".

The first blue band symbolizes the sky and the sea, the yellow symbolizes the sand from the beaches and other blue band symbolizes the sea. The trident symbolizes the break with the UK at independence (Britannia held in the colonial flag down the trident). The trident refers to the strong bond that the country has with the sea.

Economy [ edit ]
The tourism and the banks are currently (2003) the main source of income. The industry consists largely of the refining of sugar cane, the main export product, although rum and molasses are produced, as well astextiles . The island has one of the highest incomes of Central and South America, namely $ 10,580 per capita (year 1998).

[Cities edit ]
The capital of Barbados is Bridgetown (anno 1628 ). This city in 2003 counted about 90,000 inhabitants.

Towns of less than 25,000 inhabitants are: Greenidge, Spring Hall, Ness Field, Greenland, Saint Andrew, Bruce Vale, Bakers, Speightstown, Westmoreland, Bathsheba, Hillcrest, Holetown, Welch Mann Hall, Blackman's, Newcastle, Bath, Lemon Arbour Todds, Kendal, Whitehaven, Three Houses, The Crane, Six Cross Roads, Carrington, Charnocks (with the only international airport) (south), Oistins, Maxwell's Coast, Carrington, Saint Lawrence, Worthing, Hastings, Bannatyne, Constant, Ellerton St. George , Rouen, Blackrock, Jackson and Durants.

The south and west coasts of the island are highly urbanized. Many of the above cities blend seamlessly into one another.

Education [ Edit ]
The level of education in Barbados is high. Good training is considered important by the population. Despite offering the limited size of the island there are several schools that university education. Pupils in secondary and primary schools are severely disciplined by lashing ( thrashing ). [4] Officially may cover only the head of the school students, but in practice many teachers also use the ruler . Only a limited number, sometimes expensive private schools and one public school do to corporal punishment . The private schools often have a strongly overrepresented share students of European descent. This is one of the few manifestations of the strong segregation on the island of residents of African and European descent who is still present.

Flora and fauna [ edit ]
The vervet monkey is originally from West Africa.

The fauna of Barbados is less diverse than those of the other islands of the Lesser Antilles . This is mainly because the island are far from the mainland of South America lies and no other islands between Barbados and the mainland.

Human activities have greatly influenced the fauna. This influence consists of mining for growing sugar cane, urbanization and the introduction of exotic species . Animals that could adapt best to the people there still, while the animals were less proficient in customizing the generally poor is gone. [5]

Celebrities from Barbados [ edit ]

 * Rihanna
 * Shontelle

See also [ edit ]

 * Andromeda Botanic Gardens, a botanical garden in Barbados
 * List of heads of state and prime ministers of Barbados