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Compare Barbados (2003) - China (2002)

Compare Barbados (2003) z China (2002)

 Barbados (2003)China (2002)
 BarbadosChina
Administrative divisions 11 parishes; Christ Church, Saint Andrew, Saint George, Saint James, Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Lucy, Saint Michael, Saint Peter, Saint Philip, Saint Thomas; note - the city of Bridgetown may be given parish status 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**, Chongqing**, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai**, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin**, Xinjiang*, Xizang* (Tibet), Yunnan, Zhejiang; note - China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau
Age structure 0-14 years: 21.2% (male 29,621; female 29,207)


15-64 years: 70% (male 94,840; female 99,230)


65 years and over: 8.8% (male 9,355; female 15,011) (2003 est.)
0-14 years: 24.3% (male 163,821,081; female 148,855,387)


15-64 years: 68.4% (male 452,354,428; female 426,055,713)


65 years and over: 7.3% (male 43,834,528; female 49,382,568) (2002 est.)
Agriculture - products sugarcane, vegetables, cotton rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish
Airports 1 (2002) 489 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways total: 1


over 3,047 m: 1 (2002)
total: 324


over 3,047 m: 27


2,438 to 3,047 m: 88


1,524 to 2,437 m: 147


914 to 1,523 m: 30


under 914 m: 32 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways - total: 165


over 3,047 m: 1


2,438 to 3,047 m: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 29


914 to 1,523 m: 56


under 914 m: 78 (2002)
Area total: 431 sq km


land: 431 sq km


water: 0 sq km
total: 9,596,960 sq km


land: 9,326,410 sq km


water: 270,550 sq km
Area - comparative 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC slightly smaller than the US
Background The island was uninhabited when first settled by the British in 1627. Slaves worked the sugar plantations established on the island until 1834 when slavery was abolished. The economy remained heavily dependent on sugar, rum, and molasses production through most of the 20th century. The gradual introduction of social and political reforms in the 1940s and 1950s led to complete independence from the UK in 1966. In the 1990s, tourism and manufacturing surpassed the sugar industry in economic importance. For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. But in the 19th and early 20th centuries, China was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping gradually introduced market-oriented reforms and decentralized economic decision making, and output quadrupled by 2000. Political controls remain tight even while economic controls continue to be relaxed.
Birth rate 13.15 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) 15.85 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Budget revenues: $847 million (including grants)


expenditures: $886 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
revenues: $161.8 billion


expenditures: $191.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000)
Capital Bridgetown Beijing
Climate tropical; rainy season (June to October) extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
Coastline 97 km 14,500 km
Constitution 30 November 1966 most recent promulgation 4 December 1982
Country name conventional long form: none


conventional short form: Barbados
conventional long form: People's Republic of China


conventional short form: China


local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo


local short form: Zhong Guo


abbreviation: PRC
Currency Barbadian dollar (BBD) yuan (CNY)
Death rate 9.02 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) 6.77 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Debt - external $692 million (2002) $149.4 billion (2002 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US chief of mission: Ambassador Earl N. PHILLIPS, Jr.


embassy: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building, Broad Street, Bridgetown; (courier) ALICO Building-Cheapside, Bridgetown


mailing address: P. O. Box 302, Bridgetown; FPO AA 34055


telephone: [1] (246) 436-4950


FAX: [1] (246) 429-5246, 429-3379
chief of mission: Ambassador Clark T. RANDT, Jr.


embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing


mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002


telephone: [86] (10) 6532-3431


FAX: [86] (10) 6532-6929


consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenyang
Diplomatic representation in the US chief of mission: Ambassador Michael Ian KING


chancery: 2144 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008


telephone: [1] (202) 339-9201


FAX: [1] (202) 332-7467


consulate(s) general: Miami and New York


consulate(s): Los Angeles
chief of mission: Ambassador YANG Jiechi


chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008


telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500


FAX: [1] (202) 328-2582


consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco
Disputes - international none in 2000, China joined ASEAN discussions towards creating a South China Sea "code of conduct" - a non-legally binding, confidence-building measure; much of the rugged, militarized boundary with India is in dispute, but talks to resolve the least contested middle sector resumed in 2001; ongoing talks with Tajikistan have failed to resolve the longstanding dispute over the indefinite boundary; Kazakhstan is working rapidly with China to delimit its large open borders to control population migration, illegal activities, and trade; 2001 Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation commits Russia and China to seek peaceable unanimity over disputed alluvial islands at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers and a small island on the Argun; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary agreement with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin awaits ratification; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan; demarcation of the land boundary with Vietnam has commenced, but details of the alignment have not been made public; 33-km section of boundary with North Korea in the Paektu-san (mountain) area is indefinite
Economic aid - recipient $9.1 million (1995) $NA
Economy - overview Historically, the Barbadian economy had been dependent on sugarcane cultivation and related activities, but production in recent years has diversified into manufacturing and tourism. Offshore finance and information services are important foreign exchange earners, and there is also a light-manufacturing sector. The government continues its efforts to reduce unemployment, to encourage direct foreign investment, and to privatize remaining state-owned enterprises. The economy contracted in 2002 mainly due to a 3% decline in tourism. Growth should be positive in 2003, the precise level largely dependent on economic conditions in the US and Europe. In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within a political framework of strict Communist control, the economic influence of non-state organizations and individual citizens has been steadily increasing. The authorities have switched to a system of household and village responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization, increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy to increased foreign trade and investment. The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978. In 2002, with its 1.28 billion people but a GDP of just $4,600 per capita, China stood as the second largest economy in the world after the US (measured on a purchasing power parity basis). Agriculture and industry have posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment has helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. On the darker side, the leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and of capitalism (windfall gains and growing income disparities). Beijing thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals. The government has struggled to (a) collect revenues due from provinces, businesses, and individuals; (b) reduce corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) keep afloat the large state-owned enterprises many of which had been shielded from competition by subsidies and had been losing the ability to pay full wages and pensions. From 80 to 120 million surplus rural workers are adrift between the villages and the cities, many subsisting through part-time low-paying jobs. Popular resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have weakened China's population control program, which is essential to maintaining long-term growth in living standards. Another long-term threat to growth is the deterioration in the environment, notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table especially in the north. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development. Beijing will intensify efforts to stimulate growth through spending on infrastructure - such as water control and power grids - and poverty relief and through rural tax reform aimed at eliminating arbitrary local levies on farmers. Access to the World Trade Organization strengthens China's ability to maintain sturdy growth rates, and at the same time puts additional pressure on the hybrid system of strong political controls and growing market influences. Although Beijing has claimed 7%-8% annual growth in recent years, many observers believe the rate, while strong, is more like 5%.
Electricity - consumption 725.4 million kWh (2001) 1.206 trillion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2001) 10.25 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports 0 kWh (2001) 400 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - production 780 million kWh (2001) 1.308 trillion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source fossil fuel: 100%


hydro: 0%


nuclear: 0%


other: 0% (2001)
fossil fuel: 82%


hydro: 17%


nuclear: 1%


other: 0% (2000)
Elevation extremes lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m


highest point: Mount Hillaby 336 m
lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m


highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.)
Environment - current issues pollution of coastal waters from waste disposal by ships; soil erosion; illegal solid waste disposal threatens contamination of aquifers air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal, produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species
Environment - international agreements party to: Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution


signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling


signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Ethnic groups black 90%, white 4%, Asian and mixed 6% Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%
Exchange rates Barbadian dollars per US dollar - 2 (2002), 2 (2001), 2 (2000), 2 (1999), 2 (1998) yuan per US dollar - 8.2767 (January 2002), 8.2771 (2001), 8.2785 (2000), 8.2783 (1999), 8.2790 (1998), 8.2898 (1997)
Executive branch chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Clifford Straughn HUSBANDS (since 1 June 1996)


head of government: Prime Minister Owen Seymour ARTHUR (since 6 September 1994); Deputy Prime Minister Mia MOTTLEY (since 26 May 2003)


cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister


elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; the prime minister recommends the deputy prime minister
chief of state: President Hu Jintao (since 15 March 2003) and Vice President ZENG Qinghong (since 15 March 2003)


head of government: Premier WEN Jiabao (since 16 March 2003); Vice Premiers QIAN Qichen (since 29 March 1993), LI Lanqing (29 March 1993), WU Bangguo (since 17 March 1995), and WEN Jiabao (since 18 March 1998)


cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC)


elections: president and vice president elected by the National People's Congress for five-year terms; elections last held 16-18 March 1998 (next to be held NA March 2003); premier nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress


election results: JIANG Zemin reelected president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a total of 2,882 votes (36 delegates voted against him, 29 abstained, and 32 did not vote); HU Jintao elected vice president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a total of 2,841 votes (67 delegates voted against him, 39 abstained, and 32 did not vote)
Exports NA (2001) $312.8 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and beverages, chemicals, electrical components machinery and equipment; textiles and clothing, footwear, toys and sporting goods; mineral fuels
Exports - partners US 14.7%, Trinidad and Tobago 12%, UK 10.6%, Jamaica 6.2%, Saint Lucia 4.7% (2002) US 20.4%, Hong Kong 17.5%, Japan 16.9%, South Korea 4.7%, Germany 3.7%, Netherlands 2.7%, UK 2.6%, Singapore 2.2%, Taiwan (2001)
Fiscal year 1 April - 31 March calendar year
Flag description three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), gold, and blue with the head of a black trident centered on the gold band; the trident head represents independence and a break with the past (the colonial coat of arms contained a complete trident) red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner
GDP purchasing power parity - $4.153 billion (2002 est.) purchasing power parity - $6 trillion (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 6%


industry: 16%


services: 78% (2000 est.)
agriculture: 18%


industry: 49%


services: 33% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $15,000 (2002 est.) purchasing power parity - $4,600 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate -2.8% (2002 est.) 8% (official estimate) (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates 13 10 N, 59 32 W 35 00 N, 105 00 E
Geography - note easternmost Caribbean island world's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal, is the world's tallest peak; soybean, one of the oldest of cultivated crops, is believed to have originated in China
Highways total: 1,793 km


paved: 1,719 km


unpaved: 74 km (1999)
total: 1.4 million km


paved: 271,300 km (with at least 16,000 km of expressways)


unpaved: 1,128,700 km (1999)
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: NA%


highest 10%: NA%
lowest 10%: 2%


highest 10%: 30% (1998)
Illicit drugs one of many Caribbean transshipment points for narcotics bound for Europe and the US; offshore financial center major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem; source country for chemical precursors and methamphetamine
Imports NA (2001) $268.6 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities consumer goods, machinery, foodstuffs, construction materials, chemicals, fuel, electrical components machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steel, chemicals
Imports - partners US 41.1%, Trinidad and Tobago 17%, UK 7.3%, Japan 4.2% (2002) Japan 17.6%, Taiwan 11.2%, US 10.8%, South Korea 9.6%, Germany 5.7%, Hong Kong 3.9%, Russia 3.3%, Malaysia 2.5% (2001)
Independence 30 November 1966 (from UK) 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty 221 BC; Qing or Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February 1912; People's Republic established 1 October 1949)
Industrial production growth rate -3.2% (2000 est.) 13.5% (2002 est.)
Industries tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications
Infant mortality rate total: 12.72 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 14.39 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 11.04 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
27.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) -0.6% (2002 est.) -0.8% (2002 est.)
International organization participation ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO AfDB, APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CCC, CDB, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (observer), OPCW, PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMOVIC, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 19 (2000) 3 (2000)
Irrigated land 10 sq km (1998 est.) 525,800 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch Supreme Court of Judicature (judges are appointed by the Service Commissions for the Judicial and Legal Services) Supreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress); Local Peoples Courts (comprise higher, intermediate and local courts); Special Peoples Courts (primarily military, maritime, and railway transport courts)
Labor force 128,500 (2001 est.) 706 million (2000 est.)
Labor force - by occupation services 75%, industry 15%, agriculture 10% (1996 est.) agriculture 50%, industry 23%, services 27% (2001 est.)
Land boundaries 0 km total: 22,147.34 km


border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,677 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km
Land use arable land: 37.21%


permanent crops: 2.33%


other: 60.46% (1998 est.)
arable land: 13.31%


permanent crops: 1.2%


other: 85.49% (1998 est.)
Languages English Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry)
Legal system English common law; no judicial review of legislative acts a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law
Legislative branch bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (21-member body appointed by the governor general) and the House of Assembly (30 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)


elections: House of Assembly - last held 21 May 2003 (next to be held by May 2008)


election results: House of Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - BLP 23, DLP 7
unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,979 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve five-year terms)


elections: last held NA December 1997-NA February 1998 (next to be held late 2002-NA March 2003)


election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - NA
Life expectancy at birth total population: 71.84 years


male: 69.56 years


female: 74.14 years (2003 est.)
total population: 71.86 years


male: 70.02 years


female: 73.86 years (2002 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school


total population: 97.4%


male: 98%


female: 96.8% (1995 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 81.5%


male: 89.9%


female: 72.7% (1995 est.)
Location Caribbean, island in the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam
Map references Central America and the Caribbean Asia
Maritime claims exclusive economic zone: 200 NM


territorial sea: 12 NM
contiguous zone: 24 NM


continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin


territorial sea: 12 NM


exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
Merchant marine total: 34 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 284,222 GRT/439,810 DWT


ships by type: bulk 8, cargo 22, combination bulk 1, container 1, petroleum tanker 2


note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Australia 1, The Bahamas 1, Canada 4, Germany 1, Greece 2, Hong Kong 7, Norway 7, UK 18 (2002 est.)
total: 1,764 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,915,047 GRT/25,366,296 DWT


ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 328, cargo 822, chemical tanker 25, combination bulk 10, combination ore/oil 1, container 134, liquefied gas 26, multi-functional large-load carrier 6, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 45, petroleum tanker 263, refrigerated cargo 26, roll on/roll off 23, short-sea passenger 42, specialized tanker 3, vehicle carrier 1


note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Croatia 1, Germany 1, Hong Kong 16, Japan 2, Panama 2, South Korea 1, Spain 1, Taiwan 9, Tanzania 1, Turkey 1 (2002 est.)
Military branches Royal Barbados Defense Force (including Ground Forces and Coast Guard), Royal Barbados Police Force People's Liberation Army (PLA): comprises ground forces, Navy (including naval infantry and naval aviation), Air Force, and II Artillery Corps (strategic missile force), People's Armed Police Force (internal security troops, nominally a state security body but included by the Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered to be an adjunct to the PLA), militia
Military expenditures - dollar figure $NA $20.048 billion (2002); note - this is the officially announced figure, but actual defense spending more likely ranges from $45 billion to $65 billion for 2002
Military expenditures - percent of GDP NA% 1.6% (2002); note - this is the officially announced figure, but actual defense spending is more likely between 3.5% to 5.0% of GDP for 2002
Military manpower - availability males age 15-49: 77,862 (2003 est.) males age 15-49: 370,087,489 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 15-49: 53,282 (2003 est.) males age 15-49: 203,003,036 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - military age - 18 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually - males: 10,089,458 (2002 est.)
National holiday Independence Day, 30 November (1966) Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949)
Nationality noun: Barbadian(s) or Bajan (colloquial)


adjective: Barbadian or Bajan (colloquial)
noun: Chinese (singular and plural)


adjective: Chinese
Natural hazards infrequent hurricanes; periodic landslides frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence
Natural resources petroleum, fish, natural gas coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest)
Net migration rate -0.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) -0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Pipelines - crude oil 9,070 km; petroleum products 560 km; natural gas 9,383 km (1998)
Political parties and leaders Barbados Labor Party or BLP [Owen ARTHUR]; Democratic Labor Party or DLP [Clyde Mascoll] Chinese Communist Party or CCP [HU Jintao, General Secretary of the Central Committee]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP
Political pressure groups and leaders Barbados Workers Union [Leroy TROTMAN]; Clement Payne Labor Union [David COMMISSIONG]; People's Progressive Movement [Eric SEALY]; Worker's Party of Barbados [Dr. George BELLE] no substantial political opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the Falungong sect and the China Democracy Party as potential rivals
Population 277,264 (July 2003 est.) 1,284,303,705 (July 2002 est.)
Population below poverty line NA% 10% (2001 est.)
Population growth rate 0.38% (2003 est.) 0.87% (2002 est.)
Ports and harbors Bridgetown, Speightstown (Port Charles Marina) Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang (2001)
Radio broadcast stations AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998) AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998)
Radios - 417 million (1997)
Railways 0 km total: 67,524 km (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails)


standard gauge: 63,924 km 1.435-m gauge (13,362 km electrified; 20,250 km double-track)


narrow gauge: 3,600 km 0.750-m and 1.000-m gauge local industrial lines (1999 est.)
Religions Protestant 67% (Anglican 40%, Pentecostal 8%, Methodist 7%, other 12%), Roman Catholic 4%, none 17%, other 12% Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%


note: officially atheist (2002 est.)
Sex ratio at birth: 1.01 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female


total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
at birth: 1.09 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female


total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Suffrage 18 years of age; universal 18 years of age; universal
Telephone system general assessment: NA


domestic: island-wide automatic telephone system


international: satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and Saint Lucia
general assessment: domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns


domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place


international: satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); several international fiber-optic links to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany (2000)
Telephones - main lines in use 108,000 (1997) 135 million (2000)
Telephones - mobile cellular 8,013 (1997) 65 million (January 2001)
Television broadcast stations 1 (plus two cable channels) (1997) 3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997)
Terrain relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east
Total fertility rate 1.65 children born/woman (2003 est.) 1.82 children born/woman (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate 10% (2001 est.) urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2002 est.)
Waterways none 110,000 km (1999)
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