What is the official language of Barbados?
TagMe TagMe
Official_language.txt Barbados.txt
Official language Barbados
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a country's official language refers to the language used within government (e.g., courts, parliament, administration).  Since "the means of expression of a people cannot be changed by any law",  the term "official language" does not typically refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government. 

Worldwide, 178 countries have at least one official language, and 101 of these countries recognise more than one language. Many of the world's constitutions mention one or more official and/or national languages.   Some countries use the official language designation to empower indigenous groups by giving them access to the government in their native languages. In countries that do not formally designate an official language, a de facto national language usually evolves. English is the most common official language, with recognized status in 51 countries. Arabic, French, and Spanish are also widely recognized.

An official language that is also an indigenous language is called endoglossic, one that is not indigenous is exoglossic.  An instance is Nigeria which has three endoglossic official languages. By this the country aims to protect the indigenous languages although at the same time recognising the English language as its lingua franca.

History

Around 500 BC, when Darius the Great annexed Mesopotamia to the Persian Empire, he chose a form of Aramaic language (the so-called Official Aramaic or Imperial Aramaic) as the vehicle for written communication between the different regions of the vast empire with its different peoples and languages. Aramaic script was widely employed from Egypt in the southwest to Bactria and Sogdiana in the northeast. Texts were dictated in the native dialects written down in Aramaic, and then read out again in the native language at the place they were received. 

Statistics

According to an undated chart by the American pro-English-only organization known as U.S. English, 178 countries have an official language at the national level. Among those, English is the most common with 67 nations giving it official status. French is second with 29 countries, Arabic is third with 26 countries and Spanish is fourth with 19 countries, Portuguese is the official language of 9 countries and German is official in 6. Some countries—like Australia, Britain and the United States—have no official language recognized as such at national level. On the other extreme, Bolivia officially recognizes 37 languages, the most by any country in the world. Second to Bolivia is India with 23 official languages.

Political alternatives

The selection of an official language (or no official language) is often contentious. An alternative to having a single official language is "official multilingualism", where a government recognizes multiple official languages. Under this system, all government services are available in all official languages. Each citizen may choose their preferred language when conducting business. Most countries are multilingual  and many are officially multilingual. Canada, Philippines, Belgium, Switzerland, and the European Union are examples of official multilingualism. This has been described as controversial and, in some other areas where it has been proposed, the idea has been rejected. It has also been described as necessary for the recognition of different groups  or as an advantage for the country in presenting itself to outsiders. 

In specific countries

Afghanistan

In accordance with Chapter 1, Article 16 of the Constitution of Afghanistan, the Afghan government gives equal status to Pashto and Dari as official languages.

Canada

In accordance with the Constitution Act, 1982 the (federal) Government of Canada gives equal status to English and French as official languages. The province of New Brunswick is also officially bilingual, as are the territories (Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories), but all provinces offer some necessary services in both English and French.

Canadian advocates of a single official language say it promotes national identity.  In Canada, debate has focused on whether the local majority language should be made the exclusive language of public business. In the Canadian province of Quebec, for example, laws restrict the use of the minority English in education, on signs, and in the workplace.

Germany

German is the official language of Germany. However, its minority languages include Sorbian, Romani, Danish and North Frisian, which are officially recognised. Migrant languages like Turkish, Russian and Spanish are widespread, but are not recognised official languages.

The recognition of English as an official language is frequently discussed in the public.  According to a representative YouGov survey, 59 percent of all Germans would welcome the establishment of English as an official language in the whole European Union. 

Hong Kong

There are two official languages in Hong Kong: English and Chinese. Hong Kong Cantonese is used in daily conversation and Traditional Chinese used to be the only writing system in Hong Kong before the 1997 handover. However, in Mainland China the official language is Mandarin and Simplified Chinese is used as the standard writing system. As time goes by, much of the signage in Hong Kong has been converted to Simplified Chinese characters due to its popularity in China and around the world. Also, as more and more people from the mainland visit Hong Kong, Traditional Chinese characters seem to be disappearing due to the impracticality of having two sets of Chinese characters. 

India

Israel

Hebrew and Arabic are the Official languages of Israel. In most public schools, the main teaching language is Hebrew, English is taught as a second language, and most students learn a third language, usually Arabic but not necessarily. Other public schools have Arabic as their main teaching language, and they teach Hebrew as a second language and English as a third one. There are also bilingual schools which aim to teach in both Hebrew and Arabic equally. 

Some languages other than Hebrew and Arabic, such as English, Russian, Amharic, Yiddish and Ladino enjoy a somewhat special status, but are not considered to be official languages. For instance, at least 5% of the broadcasting time of privately owned TV-channels must be translated into Russian (a similar privilege is granted to Arabic), warnings must be translated to several languages, signs are mostly trilingual (Hebrew, Arabic and English), and the government supports Yiddish and Ladino culture (alongside Hebrew culture and Arabic culture).

New Zealand

New Zealand has three official languages.  Official status can be used to give a language (often indigenous) a legal status even if that language is not widely spoken. For example, in New Zealand the Māori language and New Zealand Sign Language both have de jure official status under the Māori Language Act 1987 and New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006  respectively, even though Te Reo Māori is spoken by less than five percent of New Zealanders. 

Norway

Latvia

The Constitution of Latvia (or Satversme) designated Latvian as the state language. In 2012 there was initiative to hold a referendum on constitutional amendments, elevating Russian as a state language; proposed several constitutional amendments for introducing Russian as Latvia’s second official language—i.e., amendments to the Satversme’s Articles 4 (on Latvian as the state language), 18 (on the solemn promise of a member of Parliament to strengthen the Latvian language), 21 (on Latvian as the working language of the Parliament), 101 (on Latvian as the working language of local governments), and 104 (on the right to receive a reply to a petition in Latvian), since Article 4 of the Satversme alike norms of independence, democracy, sovereignty, territorial wholeness, and basic principles of elections that form the core of the Satversme (according to Article 77), the initiative, in fact, proposed discontinuing an existing state and establishing a new one that is no longer a nation-state wherein Latvians exercise their rights to self-determination, enjoying and maintaining their cultural uniqueness. 

South Africa

South Africa has eleven official languages that are mostly indigenous. Due to poor funding, however, the government rarely produces documents in most of the languages. Accusations of mismanagement and corruption have been leveled against the Pan South African Language Board, which is in charge of maintaining the system. 

United States

At the federal level, the United States has no official language, but 27 U.S. states and all inhabited U.S. territories, excluding Puerto Rico have designated English the official language and courts have found that residents do not have a right to government services in their preferred language. Public debate in the last few decades has focused on whether Spanish should be recognized by the government, or whether all business should be done in English.

At the state level, California allows people to take their driving test in the following 32 languages: Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Chinese, Croatian, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog/Filipino, Thai, Tongan, Turkish, and Vietnamese. 

The pro-English-only website U.S. English sees a multilingual government as one in which its "services actually encourage the growth of linguistic enclaves...[and] contributes to racial and ethnic conflicts".  Opponents of an official language policy in the United States argue that it would hamper "the government's ability to reach out, communicate, and warn people in the event of a natural or man-made disaster such as a hurricane, pandemic, or...another terrorist attack". Professor of politics Alan Patten argues that disengagement (officially ignoring the issue) works well in religious issues but that it is not possible with language issues because it must offer public services in some language. Even if it makes a conscious effort not to establish an official language, a de facto official language, or the "national language", will nevertheless emerge. Indeed, two-thirds of Americans believe that English is the United States' official language. 

Ukraine

In 2012, the debate over adopting Russian as a regional language in Ukraine caused "an all-out brawl in Parliament", protests, and the resignation of a lawmaker in attempt to block the bill. 

Yugoslavia

Sometimes an official language definition can be motivated more by national identity than by linguistic concerns. When Yugoslavia dissolved in 1991, the country had three official languages—Serbo-Croatian, Slovene and Macedonian. Serbo-Croatian was used for mutual understanding and was also the language of the army.

When Croatia broke away, it defined its official language as Croatian. Serbia likewise defined its official language as Serbian. Bosnia-Herzegovina defined three official languages—Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian. The different "languages" are mutually intelligible and linguists see them more as dialects than as distinct languages. Critics allege that the Bosnian government chose to define three languages to reinforce ethnic differences and keep the country divided.  The language used in Montenegro, traditionally considered a dialect of Serbian, became standardized as the Montenegrin language upon its declaration of independence. Barbados ( or) is a sovereign island country in the Lesser Antilles, in the Americas. It is 34 km in length and up to 23 km in width, covering an area of . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and  east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea;  therein, it is about  east of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and  north-east of Trinidad and Tobago. Barbados is outside of the principal Atlantic hurricane belt. Its capital is Bridgetown.  Barbados is  Southeast of Miami.

Inhabited by Kalingo people since the 13th century, and prior to that by other Amerindians, Barbados was visited by Spanish navigators in the late 15th century and claimed for the Spanish Crown. It first appeared in a Spanish map in 1511.   The Portuguese visited the island in 1536, but they left it unclaimed, with their only remnants being an introduction of wild hogs for a good supply of meat whenever the island was visited. An English ship, the Olive Blossom, arrived in Barbados in 1625; its men took possession of it in the name of King James I. In 1627, the first permanent settlers arrived from England, and it became an English and later British colony. 

In 1966, Barbados became an independent state and Commonwealth realm with the British Monarch (presently Queen Elizabeth II) as hereditary head of state.   Due to their colonial history and connection to the United Kingdom, even after independence, it is sometimes referred to as Little England.  It has a population of 280,121 people, predominantly of African descent. Despite being classified as an Atlantic island, Barbados is considered to be a part of the Caribbean, where it is ranked as a leading tourist destination. Forty percent of the tourists come from the UK, with the US and Canada making up the next large groups of visitors to the island. In 2014, Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Barbados joint second in the Americas (after Canada, equal with the United States) and joint 17th globally (after Belgium and Japan, equal with the U.S., Hong Kong and Ireland). 

Etymology 

The name Barbados is either the Portuguese word Barbados or the Spanish equivalent los Barbados, both meaning "the bearded ones". It is unclear whether "bearded" refers to the long, hanging roots of the bearded fig-tree (Ficus citrifolia), indigenous to the island; or to the allegedly bearded Caribs once inhabiting the island; or, more fancifully, to a visual impression of a beard formed by the sea foam that sprays over the outlying reefs. In 1519, a map produced by the Genoese mapmaker Visconte Maggiolo showed and named Barbados in its correct position. Furthermore, the island of Barbuda in the Leewards is very similar in name and was once named Las Barbudas by the Spanish.

It is uncertain which European nation arrived first in Barbados.  One lesser known source points to earlier-revealed works predating contemporary sources indicating it could have been the Spanish. Others believe the Portuguese, en route to Brazil,   were the first Europeans to come upon the island.

The original name for Barbados in the Pre-Columbian era was Ichirouganaim according to accounts by descendants of the indigenous Arawakan-speaking tribes in other regional areas, with possible translations including "Red land with white teeth",  "Redstone island with teeth outside (reefs)",  or simply "Teeth".   

Other names or nicknames associated with Barbados include "Bim" and "Bimshire". The origin is uncertain but several theories exist. The National Cultural Foundation of Barbados says that "Bim" was a word commonly used by slaves and that it derives from the Igbo term bém from bé mụ́ meaning 'my home, kindred, kind',  the Igbo phoneme /e/ in the Igbo orthography is very close to [ ɪ ]. The name could have arisen due to the relatively large percentage of enslaved Igbo people from modern-day southeastern Nigeria arriving in Barbados in the 18th century. 

The words 'Bim' and 'Bimshire' are recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary and Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionaries. Another possible source for 'Bim' is reported to be in the Agricultural Reporter of 25 April 1868, where the Rev. N. Greenidge (father of one of the island's most famous scholars, Abel Hendy Jones Greenidge) suggested the listing of Bimshire as a county of England. Expressly named were "Wiltshire, Hampshire, Berkshire and Bimshire". Lastly, in the Daily Argosy (of Demerara, i.e. Guyana) of 1652 there is a reference to Bim as a possible corruption of 'Byam', the name of a Royalist leader against the Parliamentarians. That source suggested the followers of Byam became known as 'Bims' and that this became a word for all Barbadians.

History 

Amerindian settlement of Barbados dates to about the 4th to 7th centuries AD, by a group known as the Saladoid-Barrancoid.  In the 13th century, the Kalinago arrived from South America. 

The Spanish and Portuguese briefly claimed Barbados from the late 16th to the 17th centuries. The Arawaks are believed to have fled to neighbouring islands. Apart from possibly displacing the Caribs, the Spanish and Portuguese made little impact and left the island uninhabited. Some Arawaks migrated from British Guiana (modern-day Guyana) in the 19th century and continue to live in Barbados.  

In the very early years (1620-1640s) the majority of the labour was provided by European indentured servants, mainly English, Irish and Scottish, with African slaves and Amerindian slaves providing little of the workforce. During the Cromwellian era (1650s) this included a large number of PoWs, vagrants and people who were illicitly kidnapped, who were forcibly transported to the island and sold as servants. These last two groups were predominately Irish, as several thousand were infamously rounded up by English merchants and sold into servitude in Barbados and other Caribbean islands during this period.  Cultivation of tobacco, cotton, ginger and indigo was thus handled primarily by European indentured labour until the start of the sugar cane industry in the 1640s and the growing reliance and importation of enslaved Africans. As Barbados' economy grew, Barbados developed a large measure of local autonomy through its founding as a proprietary colony. Its House of Assembly began meeting in 1639. Among the island's earliest leading figures was the Anglo-Dutch Sir William Courten.

The 1780 hurricane killed over 4,000 people on Barbados. In 1854, a cholera epidemic killed over 20,000 inhabitants.  At emancipation in 1833, the size of the slave population was approximately 83,000. Between 1946 and 1980, Barbados' rate of population growth was diminished by one-third because of emigration to Britain. 

Geography and climate 

Barbados is situated in the Atlantic Ocean, east of the other West Indies Islands. Barbados is the easternmost island in the Lesser Antilles. It is flat in comparison to its island neighbours to the west, the Windward Islands. The island rises gently to the central highland region, with the high point of the nation being Mount Hillaby in the geological Scotland District 340 m above sea level.

In the parish of Saint Michael lies Barbados' capital and main city, Bridgetown. Other major towns scattered across the island include Holetown, in the parish of Saint James; Oistins, in the parish of Christ Church; and Speightstown, in the parish of Saint Peter.

Geology 

Barbados lies on the boundary of the South American and the Caribbean Plates.  The subduction of the South American plate beneath the Caribbean plate scrapes sediment from the South American plate and deposits it above the subduction zone forming an accretionary prism. The rate of this depositing of material allows Barbados to rise at a rate of about 25 mm per 1,000 years.  This subduction means geologically the island is composed of coral roughly 90 m thick, where reefs formed above the sediment. The land slopes in a series of "terraces" in the west and goes into an incline in the east. A large proportion of the island is circled by coral reefs.

The erosion of limestone rock in the northeast of the island, in the Scotland District, has resulted in the formation of various caves and gullies, some of which have become popular tourist attractions such as Harrison's Cave and Welchman Hall Gully. On the Atlantic east coast of the island coastal landforms, including stacks, have been created due to the limestone composition of the area.

Climate 

The country generally experiences two seasons, one of which includes noticeably higher rainfall. Known as the "wet season", this period runs from June to November. By contrast, the "dry season" runs from December to May. Annual precipitation ranges between 40 and.
From December to May the average temperatures range from 21 to, while between June and November, they range from 23 to. 

On the Köppen climate classification scale, much of Barbados is regarded as a tropical monsoon climate (Am). However, gentle breezes of 12 to abound throughout the year and give Barbados a climate which is moderately tropical.

Infrequent natural hazards include earthquakes, landslips and hurricanes. Barbados is often spared the worst effects of the region's tropical storms and hurricanes during the rainy season. Its location in the south-east of the Caribbean region puts the country just outside the principal hurricane strike zone. On average, a major hurricane strikes about once every 26 years. The last significant hit from a hurricane to cause severe damage to Barbados was Hurricane Janet in 1955; in 2010 the island was struck by Hurricane Tomas, but this caused only minor damage across the country. 

Environmental issues 

Barbados is susceptible to environmental pressures. As one of the world's most densely populated isles, the government worked during the 1990s  to aggressively integrate the growing south coast of the island into the Bridgetown Sewage Treatment Plant to reduce contamination of offshore coral reefs.   As of the first decade of the 21st century, a second treatment plant has been proposed along the island's west coast. Being so densely populated, Barbados has made great efforts to protect its underground aquifers. 

As a coral-limestone island, Barbados is highly permeable to seepage of surface water into the earth. The government has placed great emphasis on protecting the catchment areas that lead directly into the huge network of underground aquifers and streams. On occasion illegal squatters have breached these areas, and the government has removed squatters to preserve the cleanliness of the underground springs which provide the island's drinking water. 

The government has placed a huge emphasis on keeping Barbados clean with the aim of protecting the environment and preserving offshore coral reefs which surround the island. Many initiatives to mitigate human pressures on the coastal regions of Barbados and seas come from the [http://www.coastal.gov.bb/ Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU)].  Barbados has nearly 90 km of coral reefs just offshore and two protected marine parks have been established off the west coast.  Overfishing is another threat which faces Barbados. 

Barbados is host to four species of nesting turtles (green turtles, loggerheads, hawksbill turtles, and leatherbacks) and has the second-largest hawksbill turtle breeding population in the Caribbean.  The driving of vehicles on beaches can crush nests buried in the sand and such activity should be avoided in nesting areas. 

Though on the opposite side of the Atlantic, and some 4800 km west of Africa, Barbados is one of many places in the American continent that experiences heightened levels of mineral dust from the Sahara Desert.  Some particularly intense dust episodes have been blamed partly for the impacts on the health of coral reefs  surrounding Barbados or asthmatic episodes,  but evidence has not wholly supported the former such claim. 

Wildlife 

Barbados is host to four species of nesting turtles (green turtles, loggerheads, hawksbill turtles, and leatherbacks) and has the second-largest hawksbill turtle breeding population in the Caribbean.

Barbados is also the host to the green monkey.  The green monkey is found in West Africa from Senegal to the Volta River. It has been introduced to the Cape Verde islands off north-western Africa, and the West Indian islands of Saint Kitts, Nevis, Saint Martin, and Barbados. It was introduced to the West Indies in the late 17th century when slave trade ships traveled to the Caribbean from West Africa.

Government and politics 

Barbados has been an independent country since 30 November 1966. It functions as a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy modelled on the British Westminster system. The British and Barbadian monarch — Queen Elizabeth II — is head of state and is represented locally by the Governor-General of Barbados — presently Elliott Belgrave. Both are advised on matters of the Barbadian state by the Prime Minister of Barbados, who is head of government. There are 30 representatives within the House of Assembly.

The Constitution of Barbados is the supreme law of the nation.  The Attorney General heads the independent judiciary. New Acts are passed by the Barbadian Parliament and require royal assent by the governor-general to become law.

During the 1990s at the suggestion of Trinidad and Tobago's Patrick Manning, Barbados attempted a political union with Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. The project stalled after the then prime minister of Barbados, Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, became ill and his Democratic Labour Party lost the next general election.   Barbados continues to share close ties with Trinidad and Tobago and with Guyana, claiming the highest number of Guyanese immigrants after the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Political culture 

Barbados functions as a two-party system. The dominant political parties are the Democratic Labour Party and the opposition Barbados Labour Party. Since Independence the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has governed from 1976 to 1986 and from September 1994 to 2008. The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) held office 1966 to 1976, from 1986 to 1994, and has formed the government from January 2008 to present.

Foreign relations

Barbados is a full and participating member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS).  Organization of American States (OAS), Commonwealth of Nations, and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). In 2005 the Parliament of Barbados voted on a measure replacing the UK's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Barbados is an original member (1995) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and participates actively in its work. It grants at least MFN treatment to all its trading partners. As of December 2007, Barbados is linked by an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Commission. The pact involves the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) subgroup of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP). CARIFORUM is the only part of the wider ACP-bloc that has concluded the full regional trade-pact with the European Union.

Trade policy has also sought to protect a small number of domestic activities, mostly food production, from foreign competition, while recognising that most domestic needs are best met by imports.

In 2013, CARICOM called for European nations to pay reparations for slavery and established an official reparations commission. 

Military 

The Barbados Defence Force has roughly 600 members. Within it, 12- to 18-year-olds make up the Barbados Cadet Corps. The defence preparations of the island nation are closely tied to defence treaties with the United Kingdom, the United States, and the People's Republic of China. 

The Royal Barbados Police Force is the sole law enforcement agency on the island of Barbados.

Administrative divisions 

Barbados is divided into 11 parishes:

St. George and St. Thomas are in the middle of the country and are the only parishes without coastlines.

Economy 

Barbados is the 53rd richest country in the world in terms of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita, has a well-developed mixed economy, and a moderately high standard of living. According to the World Bank, Barbados is classified as being in its 66 top high income economies of the world.  A 2012 self-study in conjunction with the Caribbean Development Bank revealed 20% of Barbadians live in poverty, and nearly 10% cannot meet their basic daily food needs. 

Historically, the economy of Barbados had been dependent on sugarcane cultivation and related activities, but since the late 1970s and early 1980s it has diversified into the manufacturing and tourism sectors. Offshore finance and information services have become important foreign exchange earners, and there is a healthy light manufacturing sector. Since the 1990s the Barbados Government has been seen as business-friendly and economically sound.  The island saw a construction boom, with the development and redevelopment of hotels, office complexes, and homes. This slowed during the 2008 economic crisis. 

Recent government administrations have continued efforts to reduce unemployment, encourage foreign direct investment, and privatise remaining state-owned enterprises. Unemployment was reduced to 10.7% in 2003. However, it has since increased to 11.9% in second quarter, 2015. 

The economy contracted in 2001 and 2002 due to slowdowns in tourism, consumer spending and the impact of the 11 September 2001 attacks, but rebounded in 2003 and has shown growth since 2004. Traditional trading partners include Canada, the Caribbean Community (especially Trinidad and Tobago), the United Kingdom and the United States.

Business links and investment flows have become substantial: as of 2003 the island saw from Canada CA$ 25 billion in investment holdings, placing it as one of Canada's top five destinations for Canadian foreign direct investment (FDI). Businessman Eugene Melnyk of Toronto, Canada, is said to be one of Barbados' richest permanent residents. 

It has been reported that the year 2006 was the busiest years for building construction ever in Barbados, as the building-boom on the island entered the final stages for several multimillion-dollar commercial projects. 

The European Union is assisting Barbados with a €10 million program of modernisation of the country's International Business and Financial Services Sector. 

Barbados maintains the third largest stock exchange in the Caribbean region. , officials at the stock exchange were investigating the possibility of augmenting the local exchange with an International Securities Market (ISM) venture. 

Society 

Demographics 

Barbados has a population of about 281,968 and a population growth rate of 0.33% (Mid-2005 estimates).

Ethnic groups 

Close to 90% of all Barbadians (also known colloquially as "Bajan") are of Afro-Caribbean descent ("Afro-Bajans") and mixed-descent. The remainder of the population includes groups of Europeans ("Anglo-Bajans" / "Euro-Bajans") mainly from the United Kingdom and Ireland, along with Asians, predominantly Chinese and Indians (both Hindu and Muslim).
Other groups in Barbados include people from the United Kingdom, United States and Canada. Barbadians who return after years of residence in the United States and children born in America to Bajan parents are called "Bajan Yankees", a term considered derogatory by some.  Generally, Bajans recognise and accept all "children of the island" as Bajans, and refer to each other as such.

The biggest communities outside the Afro-Caribbean community are:

# The Indo-Guyanese, an important part of the economy due to the increase of immigrants from partner country Guyana. There are reports of a growing Indo-Bajan diaspora originating from Guyana and India starting around 1990.  Predominantly from southern India and Hindu states, they are growing in size but smaller than the equivalent communities in Trinidad & Guyana. 
# Euro-Bajans (4% of the population)  have settled in Barbados since the 17th century, originating from England, Ireland and Scotland. In 1643, there were 37,200 whites in Barbados (86% of the population).  More commonly they are known as "White Bajans". Euro-Bajans introduced folk music, such as Irish music and Highland music, and certain place names, such as "Scotland", a mountainous region. Among White Barbadians there exists an underclass known as Redlegs; mostly the descendants of Irish indentured labourers and prisoners imported to the island.  Many additionally moved on to become the earliest settlers of modern-day North and South Carolina in the United States.
# Chinese-Barbadians are a small portion of Barbados' Asian demographics. Most if not all first arrived in the 1940s during the Second World War. Many Chinese-Bajans have the surnames Chin, Chynn or Lee, although other surnames prevail in certain areas of the island. Chinese food and culture is becoming part of everyday Bajan culture.
# Lebanese and Syrians form the Arab community on the island, and the Muslim minority among them make up a small percentage of the Muslim population. The majority of the Lebanese and Syrians arrived in Barbados through trade opportunities. Their numbers are falling due to emigration to other countries.
# Jews arrived in Barbados just after the first settlers in 1627. Bridgetown is the home of Nidhe Israel Synagogue, the oldest Jewish synagogue in the Americas, dating from 1654, though the current structure was erected in 1833 replacing one ruined by the hurricane of 1831. Tombstones in the neighbouring cemetery date from the 1630s. Now under the care of the Barbados National Trust, the site was deserted in 1929 but was saved and restored by the Jewish community beginning in 1986.
# The Muslim-Indian Barbadian community is largely of Gujarati ancestry. Many small businesses in Barbados are run and operated by Muslim-Indian Bajans.

Languages 

English is the official language of Barbados, and is used for communications, administration, and public services all over the island. In its capacity as the official language of the country, the standard of English tends to conform to the vocabulary, pronunciations, spellings, and conventions akin to, but not exactly the same as, those of British English.

A regional variant of English, referred to locally as Bajan, is spoken by most Barbadians in everyday life, especially in informal settings. In its full-fledged form, Bajan sounds markedly different from the Standard English heard on the island. The degree of intelligibility between Bajan and general English, for the general English speaker, depends on the level of creolised vocabulary and idioms. A Bajan speaker may be completely unintelligible to an English speaker from another country. Bajan is influenced by other Caribbean English dialects.

Religion 

Most Barbadians of African and European descent are Christians (95%), the largest denomination being Anglican (40%). Other Christian denominations with significant followings in Barbados are the Catholic Church (which has its Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgetown on the island), Pentecostals (Evangelicals) Jehovah's Witnesses, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Spiritual Baptists. The Church of England was the official state religion until its legal disestablishment by the Parliament of Barbados following independence. 
 
Other religions in Barbados include Hinduism, Islam, Bahá'í,  Judaism and Wicca.

Health 

The life expectancy for Barbados residents  is 74 years. The average life expectancy is 72 years for males and 77 years for females (2005). Barbados and Japan have the highest per capita occurrences of centenarians in the world. 

The crude birth rate is 12.23 births per 1,000 people, and the crude death rate is 8.39 deaths per 1,000 people. The infant mortality rate is 11.63 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

All Barbadian citizens are covered by national healthcare.  Barbados has over twenty polyclinics throughout the country in addition to the main Queen Elizabeth Hospital (General Hospital) located in Bridgetown. In 2011, the Government of Barbados signed a Memorandum of Understanding to lease its 22-acre Saint Joseph Hospital site to the Denver, Colorado-based America World Clinics. Under the deal, the group will use Barbados as one of its main destinations for medical tourism at that facility. The government also announced it would begin constructing a new $900 million state-of-the-art hospital to replace the QEH.

Education 

The Barbados literacy rate is ranked close to 100%.  The mainstream public education system of Barbados is fashioned after the British model. The government of Barbados spends 6.7% of its GDP on education (2008).

All young people in the country must attend school until age 16. Barbados has over 70 primary schools and over 20 secondary schools throughout the island. There are a number of private schools, including Montessori and the International Baccalaureate. Student enrollment at these schools represents less than 5% of the total enrollment of the public schools.

Degree-level education in the country is provided by the Barbados Community College, the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic, and the Cave Hill campus and Open Campus of the University of the West Indies.

Educational testing

Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examination: Children who are 11 years old but under 12 years old on September 1 in the year of the examination are required to write the examination as a means of allocation to secondary school.

Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations are usually taken by students after five years of secondary school and mark the end of standard secondary education. The CSEC examinations are equivalent to the Ordinary Level (O-Levels) examinations and are targeted toward students 16 and older.

Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) are taken by students who have completed their secondary education and wish to continue their studies. Students who sit for the CAPE usually possess CSEC or an equivalent certification. The CAPE is equivalent to the British Advanced Levels (A-Levels), voluntary qualifications that are intended for university entrance. 

Culture 

   Barbados has brought forth several great cricketers, including Sir Garfield Sobers and Sir Frank Worrell.

Citizens are officially called Barbadians. The term "Bajan" (pronounced BAY-jun) may have come from a localised pronunciation of the word Barbadian, which at times can sound more like "Bar-bajan".

The largest carnival-like cultural event that takes place on the island is the Crop Over festival. As in many other Caribbean and Latin American countries, Crop Over is an important event for many people on the island, as well as the thousands of tourists that flock to there to participate in the annual events. The festival includes musical competitions and other traditional activities, and features the majority of the island's homegrown calypso and soca music for the year. The male and female Barbadians who harvested the most sugarcane are crowned as the King and Queen of the crop.  Crop Over gets under way at the beginning of July and ends with the costumed parade on Kadooment Day, held on the first Monday of August.

Music 

In music, eight-time Grammy Award winner Robyn Rihanna Fenty (born in Saint Michael) is one of Barbados' best-known artists and one of the best selling music artists of all time selling 200 million records worldwide. In 2009 she was appointed as an Honorary Ambassador of youth and culture for Barbados by the late Prime Minister, David Thompson. 

Singer-songwriter Shontelle, the band Cover Drive, musician Rupee and Mark Morrison, singer of Top 10 hit "Return of the Mack" also originate from Barbados. Grandmaster Flash (born Joseph Saddler in Bridgetown in 1958) is a hugely influential musician of Barbadian origin, pioneering hip-hop DJing, cutting, and mixing in 1970s New York. The Merrymen are a well known Calypso band based in Barbados, performing from the 1960s into the 2010s.

Public holidays 

Sports

As in other Caribbean countries of British colonial heritage, cricket is very popular on the island. The West Indies cricket team usually includes several Barbadian players. In addition to several warm-up matches and six "Super Eight" matches, the country hosted the final of the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Barbados has produced many great cricketers including Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Clyde Walcott, Sir Everton Weekes, Gordon Greenidge, Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall.

Horse racing takes place at the Historic Garrison Savannah close to Bridgetown. Spectators can pay for admission to the stands, or else can watch races from the public "rail", which encompasses the track.

Obadele Thompson is a world-class sprinter from Barbados; he won a bronze medal at the Olympic Games of 2000 in the 100m sprint. Ryan Brathwaite, a hurdler, reached the 2008 Olympic semi-finals in Beijing. Brathwaite also earned Barbados its first ever medal at the world championships in Berlin, Germany on 20 August 2009, when he won the men's 110 meter hurdles title. The 21-year-old timed a national record of 13.14 seconds to win the Gold Medal.

Basketball is an increasingly popular sport, played at school or college. Barbados' national team has shown some unexpected results as in the past it beat many much larger countries.

Polo is very popular amongst the rich elite on the island and the "High-Goal" Apes Hill team is based at the St James's Club.  It is also played at the private Holders Festival ground.

In golf, the Barbados Open is an annual stop on the European Seniors Tour. In December 2006 the WGC-World Cup took place at the country's Sandy Lane resort on the Country Club course, an 18-hole course designed by Tom Fazio. The Barbados Golf Club is the other main course on the island. Sanctioned by the PGA European Tour to host a PGA Seniors Tournament in 2003 and it has also hosted the Barbados Open on several occasions.

Volleyball is also popular, though volleyball is mainly played indoors.

Tennis is gaining popularity and Barbados is home to Darian King, currently ranked 270th in the world and is the 2nd highest ranked player in the Caribbean.

Motorsports also play a role, with Rally Barbados occurring each summer and being listed on the FIA NACAM calendar. Also, the Bushy Park Circuit hosted the Race of Champions and Global RallyCross Championship in 2014.

The presence of the trade winds along with favourable swells make the southern tip of the island an ideal location for wave sailing (an extreme form of the sport of windsurfing).

Netball is also popular with women in Barbados.

Barbadian team The Flyin' Fish, are the 2009 Segway Polo World Champions. 

Transport 

Although Barbados is only about 34 km across at its widest point, a car journey from Six Cross Roads in St. Philip (south-east) to North Point in St. Lucy (north-central) can take one and a half hours or longer due to poor roads. Barbados has half as many registered cars as citizens.

 transport on the island is relatively convenient with "route taxis" called "ZRs" (pronounced "Zed-Rs") travelling to most points on the island. These small buses can at times be crowded, as passengers are generally never turned down regardless of the number. They will usually take the more scenic routes to destinations. They generally depart from the capital Bridgetown or from Speightstown in the northern part of the island.

Including the ZRs, there are three bus systems running seven days a week (though less frequently on Sundays). There are ZRs, the yellow minibuses and the blue Transport Board buses. A ride on any of them costs BBD$2.00. The smaller buses from the two privately owned systems ("ZRs" and "minibuses") can give change; the larger blue buses from the government-operated Barbados Transport Board system cannot, but do give receipts. Children in school uniform ride for free on the government buses and for $1.50 on the  and ZRs. Most routes require a connection in Bridgetown. Some drivers within the competitive privately owned systems are reluctant to advise persons to use competing services, even if those would be more suitable.

Some hotels also provide visitors with shuttles to points of interest on the island from outside the hotel lobby. There are several locally owned and operated vehicle rental agencies in Barbados but there are no multi-national companies.

The island's lone airport is the Grantley Adams International Airport. It receives daily flights by several major airlines from points around the globe, as well as several smaller regional commercial airlines and charters. The airport serves as the main air-transportation hub for the eastern Caribbean. In the first decade of the 21st century it underwent a US$100 million upgrade and expansion.

There is also a helicopter shuttle service, which offers air taxi services to a number of sites around the island, mainly on the West Coast tourist belt. Air and maritime traffic is regulated by the Barbados Port Authority.
Egnlish Englilsh English (disambiguation) Englissh ENGLISH Englis Enlish English Inglisj Engish
english disambiguation inglisj engish englis english englilsh englissh egnlish enlish
english
WikipediaEntity
English
 What is the official language of Barbados? 

 The official language of Barbados is a fascinating topic that means that represents a type of design or length and refers to a thought or something else make some class or findings that an of the magical language of different context and physical or sound in data of the conversation made you this specific or all something all any general language and typically