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General Information Area: 430 sq km (166 sq miles). Population: 267,900 (official estimate 1999). Population Density: 623.0 per sq km. Capital: Bridgetown. Population: 5928 (1990). GEOGRAPHY: Barbados is the most easterly of the Caribbean chain of islands. It lies well to the east of the West Indies. To the west, beaches are made of fine white sand and there are natural coral reefs. Along the east coast there is a lively surf as the sea pounds the more rocky shoreline. Barbados is predominantly flat with only a few gently rolling hills to the north. The coral structure of the island acts as a natural filter and the waters of Barbados are amongst the purest in the world. Government: Constitutional monarchy. Gained independence from the UK in 1966. Head of State: HM Queen Elizabeth II, represented locally by Governor-General Sir Clifford Husbands since 1996. Head of Government: Prime Minister Owen S Arthur since 1994. Language: The official language is English. Local Bajan dialect is also spoken. Religion: Mainly Christian, with an Anglican majority, Roman Catholic minority, plus small Jewish, Hindu and Muslim communities. Time: GMT - 4 (- 5 in the summer). Electricity: 110 volts AC, 50Hz. American-style two-pin plugs are in use. Communications:   Telephone Inward IDD service is available and outward IDD is available from most telephones. Country code: 1 246. Outgoing international code: 011. Hotels have telephones available to both residents and non-residents. There are cardphones at the airport, the seaport, the university campus, in Bridgetown and at the offices of Barbados External Telecommunications (BET) in Wildey and Bridgetown. Payphones exist throughout the island, although it may be better to use cardphones for overseas calls. Overseas calls may also be made from the offices of BET at Wildey, St Michael. Local calls are free when calling from a residence. Collect overseas calls can be made from cardphones and payphones. Mobile telephone TDMA and GSM 1900 networks. Network provider is Cable & Wireless Caribbean Cellular (website: www.caribcell.com). Unregistered roaming is available – visitors with TDMA handsets can make calls without registering, provided they can give a credit card number. Fax Available at hotels. BET provides services for members of the public. Internet There are about 20 Internet cafes throughout Barbados. The major ISPs are Cable & Wireless BET (website: www.cwwionline.com), CaribSurf (website: www.caribsurf.com), Sunbeach, and CariAccess. Telegram Services are provided by Barbados External Telecommunications (BET). The Cable & Wireless office is at Lower Broad Street (Mon-Fri 0700-1900, Sat 0700-1300). There is a 24-hour service at Wildey, St Michael. Post Deliveries are made twice a day in Bridgetown and once a day in rural areas. Post boxes, which are red, are plentiful. Post office hours: Mon-Fri 0800-1700 at Bridgetown main office; other branches are open Mon 0730-1200 and 1300-1500, Tues-Fri 0800-1200 and 1300-1515. Press The main dailies are The Barbados Advocate, The Nation and East Caribbean News. Foreign newspapers are also available. BBC World Service and Voice of America frequencies: From time to time these change. BBC (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice): MHz 15.19 12.10 6.195 5.975 Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov): MHz 13.79 9.455 6.130 5.995 From www.columbusguides.com, Copyright © 2004 Highbury Columbus Travel Publishing Terms and Conditions apply.