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BARBADOS
Capital | Bridgetown
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 band colors represent the blue of the sea and sky and the gold of the beaches; the trident head represents independence and a break with the past (the colonial coat of arms contained a complete trident)
Population | 285,653 (July 2010 est)
Area | 431 SQ KM
Official Language | English
Holidays | Independence Day, 30 November (1966)
Currency | Barbadian Dollars (BBD)
Time Zone | UMT -4
Best Time to Visit | February to May
Connecting with the Culture | Taking a tram ride through Harrison’s Cave, an amazing network of limestone caverns and subterranean waterfalls. Encountering local fauna at the Barbados Wildlife Reserve, which features green monkeys, red-footed turtles, caimans, brocket deer, iguanas and agoutis. Wandering around the grand 17th-century plantation homes and estate gardens. Bodysurfing at Crane Beach, a scenic stretch of pink-tinged sand.
Read | the acclaimed novel The Castle of My Skin by Bajan author George Lamming, in which he tells what it was like growing up black in colonial Barbados
Listen | to calypso artist Mighty Gabby
Watch | The Tamarind Seed, starring Omar Sharif and Julie Andrews, a romance cum spy thriller set partly in Barbados
Eat | cou-cou (a creamy cornmeal and okra mash, often served with saltfish)
Drink | Mount Gay rum or Banks, a locally brewed beer
In a Word | Workin’up (dancing)
Characteristics | Cricket fanatics; calypso music; rum; nightlife
Surprises | Barbados boasts more world-class cricket players on a per capita basis than any other nation; women are the head of the household in many families, and a majority of children are born out of wedlock.
NEWS ABOUT BARBADOS
Barbados & UNDP Host Pre Rio+20 Meeting on Sustainable Energy
(Video `Sustainable Energy for All', UNFoundation)
(HN, 5/7/12) - The Barbados’ government & the United Nations Development Program are co-hosting an informal ministerial meeting dubbed “Sustainable Energy for All” this week. The 2-day meeting, which begins Monday, comes ahead of a preparatory Rio+20 meeting on Wednesday. The Barbados talks aim to produce a declaration which decries the realities & opportunities of SEFA from the perspective of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The meeting looks to outline a clear statement on circumstances, needs & vulnerabilities of SIDS & call & to commit to supporting the actions of SIDS DOCK - a sustainable energy project which provides a mechanism for investment in green energy & energy efficiency - pioneered by the Alliance of Small Island States, UNDP Barbados & the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. More than 100 high-level officials from SIDs, representing the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, South China Sea, the Caribbean & the Pacific will attend the conference resulting in the `Barbados Declaration' to be signed Tuesday. (Read more at Caribbean Journal)
