The 2005 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

electrical components

      Exports - partners:

       US 20.6%, UK 14.5%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.9%, Saint Lucia 6.9%,

       Jamaica 6.6%, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 5.1% (2004)

      Imports:

       $1.039 billion (2002)

      Imports - commodities:

       consumer goods, machinery, foodstuffs, construction materials,

       chemicals, fuel, electrical components

      Imports - partners:

       US 35.2%, Trinidad and Tobago 20%, UK 5.6%, Japan 4.3% (2004)

      Debt - external:

       $668 million (2003)

      Economic aid - recipient:

       $9.1 million (1995)

      Currency (code):

       Barbadian dollar (BBD)

      Currency code:

       BBD

      Exchange rates:

       Barbadian dollars per US dollar - 2 (2004), 2 (2003), 2 (2002), 2

       (2001), 2 (2000)

      Fiscal year:

       1 April - 31 March

      Communications Barbados

      Telephones - main lines in use:

       134,000 (2003)

      Telephones - mobile cellular:

       140,000 (2003)

      Telephone system:

       general assessment: NA

       domestic: island-wide automatic telephone system

       international: country code - 1–246; satellite earth stations - 4

       Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and

       Saint Lucia

      Radio broadcast stations:

       AM 2, FM 6, shortwave 0 (2004)

      Radios:

       237,000 (1997)

      Television broadcast stations:

       1 (plus two cable channels) (2004)

      Televisions:

       76,000 (1997)

      Internet country code:

       .bb

      Internet hosts:

       204 (2003)

      Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

       19 (2000)

      Internet users:

       100,000 (2003)

      Transportation Barbados

      Highways: total: 1,600 km paved: 1,578 km unpaved: 22 km (2002)

      Ports and harbors:

       Bridgetown

      Merchant marine:

       total: 58 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 427,465 GRT/668,195 DWT

       by type: bulk carrier 14, cargo 31, chemical tanker 6,

       passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 2,

       specialized tanker 1

       foreign-owned: 53 (Bahamas 1, Bangladesh 1, Canada 12, Greece 11,

       Lebanon 2, Netherlands 1, Norway 17, UAE 1, United Kingdom 7)

       registered in other countries: 1 (2005)

      Airports:

       1 (2004 est.)

      Airports - with paved runways: total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.)

      Military Barbados

      Military branches:

       Royal Barbados Defense Force: Troops Command and Coast Guard (2005)

      Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; volunteers at earlier age with parental consent; no conscription (2001)

      Manpower available for military service:

       males age 18–49: 71,330 (2005 est.)

      Manpower fit for military service:

       males age 18–49: 51,298 (2005 est.)

      Military expenditures - dollar figure:

       NA

      Military expenditures - percent of GDP:

       NA

      Military - note:

       the Royal Barbados Defense Force includes a land-based Troop

       Command and a small Coast Guard; the primary role of the land

       element is to defend the island against external aggression; the

       Command consists of a single, part-time battalion with a small

       regular cadre that is deployed throughout the island; it

       increasingly supports the police in patrolling the coastline to

       prevent smuggling and other illicit activities (2005)

      Transnational Issues Barbados

      Disputes - international:

       in 2005, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago agreed to compulsory

       international arbitration that will result in a binding award

       challenging whether the northern limit of Trinidad and Tobago's and

       Venezuela's maritime boundary extends into Barbadian waters and the

       southern limit of Barbadian traditional fishing; joins other

       Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island

       sustains human habitation, a criterion under UNCLOS, which permits

       Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion

       of the Caribbean Sea

      Illicit drugs:

       one of many Caribbean transshipment points for narcotics bound for

       Europe and the US; offshore financial center

      This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005

      ======================================================================

      @Bassas da India

      Introduction Bassas da India

      Background:

       This atoll is a volcanic rock surrounded by reefs and is awash at

       high tide. A French possession since 1897, it was placed under the

       administration of a commissioner residing in Reunion in 1968.

      Geography Bassas da India

      Location:

       Southern Africa, islands in the southern Mozambique Channel, about

       one-half of the way from Madagascar to Mozambique

      Geographic coordinates:

       21 30 S, 39 50 E

      Map references:

       Africa

      Area:

       total: 0.2 sq km

       land: 0.2 sq km

       water: 0 sq km

      Area - comparative:

       about one-third the size of The Mall in Washington, DC

      Land boundaries:

       0 km

      Coastline:

       35.2 km

      Maritime claims: