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Where is Barbados?
About Barbados
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

Barbados is an island in the south of North America.

Barbados is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean.

The land is flat but rising to a central highland region.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of Barbados, also known as lines of latitude and longtitude, are:-
Latitude - 13 10N
Longitude - 59 32W

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Check the weather in Bridgetown now.

This is the time in Bridgetown now

The Barbadian flag is 3 equal vertical stripes of blue, gold and blue. The head of a black trident is in the centre of the gold stripe. The blues represent the sea and the sky and the gold the beaches. The trident represents independence.

The capital of Barbados is Bridgetown.

Barbados is a republic with a Prime Minister as head of government. The President is Head of State.

In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.

The currency in Barbados is the Barbadian dollar. Barbados is a member of the Commonwealth.

English is the official language.

Hear the National Anthem


These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the Barbadian National Anthem called the Barbadian National Anthem. It was adopted in 1966 replacing God Save the Queen.

If anthem fails to play click here

In plenty and in time of need, When this fair land was young
Our brave forefathers sowed the seed, From which our pride is sprung,
A pride that makes no wanton boast, Of what it has withstood
That binds our hearts from coast to coast, The pride of nationhood.

We loyal sons and daughters all, Do hereby make it known
These fields and hills beyond recall, Are now our very own.
We write our names on history’s page, With expectations great,
Strict guardians of our heritage, Firm craftsmen of our fate. 

The Lord has been the people’s guide, For past three hundred years.
With him still on the people’s side, We have no doubts or fears.
Upward and onward we shall go, Inspired, exulting, free,
And greater will our nation grow, In strength and unity.

We loyal sons and daughters all, Do hereby make it known
These fields and hills beyond recall, Are now our very own.
We write our names on history’s page, With expectations great,
Strict guardians of our heritage, Firm craftsmen of our fate. 

We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Barbados to provide us with a detailed history of their own country. Check how here.


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The total land area of Barbados is 430 sq kms which is the 20th largest in North America.

Barbados has no lakes, rivers and canals.

Barbados has no boundaries with other countries.

Barbados has a coastline of 97 kms which is the 22nd longest in North America.

The highest point in Barbados is Mount Hillaby at 336 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of Barbados is 291,495 people, making it the 17th largest country in North America by population.

Of this number 150,504 are females and 140,991 are males.

A person from Barbados is called a Barbadian.

To be a citizen of Barbados you must be born in Barbados or one of your parents must be a citizen of Barbados. You have to live in Barbados for 5 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in Barbados, by population are:-

• Bridgetown 98,511 people
• Speightstown 3,634
• Oistins 2,285
• Bathsheba 1,7650
• Holetown 1,350

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



31.5% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in Barbados is 11.8 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in Barbados is 8.5 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 9.4 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 11.6 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 39.4 and for males is 37.2. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

We have no figures for the average age of a woman when she has her first child.

The elderly dependency ratio is 21.3. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 4.7. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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Barbados spends 7.5% of its total income on health care.

There are 1.81 doctors per 1,000 people.

There are 6.2 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

23.1% of the population are estimated as obese.

99.7% of the urban population and 99.7% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

96.2% of the urban population and 96.2% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer. a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

Barbados releases 1.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 17th highest in North America.

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Barbados spends 6.7% of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 5 in Barbados. Primary education is for seven years until age 12 and secondary education must continue till 16 but can go on to 18/19. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

Generally the school year consists of 3 terms and starts in the second week of September and finishes at the beginning of July. There is usually a 3 week break at Christmas and a 2 week break at Easter.

We have no figures for the number of people who are able to read and write by the age of 15.

29.6% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 31.5% are unemployed while with males 27.9% can't find work.

The total number of people available for work in Barbados is 142,500.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

11.0% of the workforce are unemployed.

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There is 1 paved airport in Barbados, which is the 23rd and lowest number in North America.


There are no railways in Barbados.


There are 1,700 kilometres of roads in Barbados, which means Barbados is in 14th place for the most kilometres of roads in North America.

There are 2 major national newspapers in Barbados.

There are 335,000 mobile phone users.

54% of the people have a fixed landline.



221,000 people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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