Barbados

Located in the western Atlantic ocean, Barbados is an independent island nation in the Caribbean. The island lies on the eastern part of the Caribbean sea, 13° north of the Equator and 59° west of the Prime Meridian. The island is located around 434 Km to Venezuela and the closest lying islands from Barbados are Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the west, Trinidad and Tobago to the south, and Grenada to the south-west.

The island covers an area of 430 sq kms and is a low lying land. The soil consists of the limestone coral. The island enjoys a sub-tropical climate with the constant trade winds off the Atlantic Ocean influencing the climate to a great extent.

The topography of the land consists of relatively flat land occasionally rising to certain heights in certain sections. Mount Hillaby, in the Scotland district is the highest point in Barbados at a height of 336 mt above the sea level.

Bridgetown, the capital city of Barbados is the chief city of the island nation along with Holetown, Saint James; Oistins and Speightstown.

The economy of the island is predominantly dependent upon the sugarcane industry. There are lots of smaller industries based on the sugarcane cultivation. Most o fthe agricultural land of the island are dotted with sugarcane fields. Off late the swing of the economics of the island has shifted towards Manufacturing units and Tourism. A bulk of the influx of the foreign exchange in the island is happening through the Offshore finance and Information services. in the past ten years the island has witnessed the construction of several hotels and shopping malls which are signs of the growth of the tourism industry in Barbados.

Barbados enjoys one of the highest standard of living among its citizens. Moreover the literacy rate too has sprung up in the recent past. As a matter of fact, according to UNDP ( United Nations Development Programming) Barbados is ranked fourth in the list of most developed country of all developing countries in the world.