166 SQUARE MILES

Barbados National Flag

First, let's look at a VERY brief look at the history of this country:

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. (This being in no way a scholarly journal, I feel no necessity to cite the source...although it is a good one!  So sue me.)

On country's flag, the field of blue represents the sea and sky, both natural resources in abundance,  while gold represents the sand of the island's beaches. The symbol at the centre of the flag represents the Trident of the mythical sea god, Neptune - the shaft of the trident is broken symbolising Barbados' break from Britain.

In many ways, this country, to quote a saying I've seen somewhere, punches way above its weight. It is one of the most highly advanced developing countries in the world as measured in almost all areas.  For example, literacy.  Take a look at the following table showing the highest literacy rates by country in the world:

Rank	Country	Literacy rate
1	Georgia	100.0
2	Cuba	99.8
2	Estonia	99.8
2	Latvia	99.8
5	Barbados	99.7
5	Slovenia	99.7
5	Belarus	99.7
5	Lithuania	99.7
5	Ukraine	99.7
5	Armenia	99.7
10	Kazakhstan	99.6

There.  See what I mean by punching above its weight?  Here we have one of the smallest nations on earth tied for fifth place with the third highest literacy rate in the world.  And please don't think that is a statistic lost on the people here!!!  They wear it with pride.

According to my sources at the Central Intelligence Agency (you can have the same sources thanks to Google!), the estimated population of Barbados in July was 284,589, ranking it 180th in size in the world. (The Pitcairn Islands are the smallest population with 48 people.)  If Barbados were a city in the US, it would be the country's 54th largest city, behind Mesa City, AZ and slightly ahead of Colorado Springs, CO. I used to kid a former correspondent by saying that being Prime Minister of B'dos (common abbreviation) is akin to being the Prime Minister of Germantown, one of Philadelphia's larger neighborhoods.  It isn't QUITE that small, but its population IS smaller than Staten Island, New York's smallest borough.

But here's one of the interesting things about living in this country.  It is the size of the 54th largest city with a complete national government!  There is Prime Minister and a Parliament.  There is an Army, Navy, and even an Air Force.  (Wikipedia says that the Barbados Air Wing "consists of one Cessna 402 aircraft based at Grantley Adams International Airport")

Cessna 402 - Same type as the Barbados Air Wing!

So it is not unusual here for just about everyone you meet to be related to someone else you know, or maybe a cabinet minister or even the Prime Minister.

Speaking of which, next time, I need to fill you in on the politics here, especially the Prime Minister.

Later!