"A Little Bit About My Little Bitty Island In The Sun"
Information About The Barbados Island
When looking for the island of
Barbados on the world map it is often missed by those who don't know
that it isn't located along the main chain of Caribbean islands.
This is because the island Barbados is slightly to the east of this
chain of islands.
So exactly where is Barbados located? Grab the world map and take a look at the Caribbean again. I have
provided you with one below if you don't have one.
This time follow the chain of Caribbean islands south until you reach
Now take a look slightly to the east (yes that is to the right) and you
will see my little bitty island of Barbados!
Did you find it???
is the exact longitude and latitude of the island of Barbados?
This position we have to the east
of the Caribbean island chain gives a longitude of 13.10 degrees North
of the equator and a latitude of 59.4 degress West.
This places my Caribbean
island in a perfect position to get sunny weather all year round.
This has made it a wonderful tropical destination
and a 2nd home to visitors around the world.
Is Barbados a part of The Antilles?
OK now that you know where the
Barbados island is..Did you know that Barbados is a member of the group
of islands known as the Antilles?
Now you are probably wondering what the heck the Antilles even are!
Don't worry I will tell you.
The Antilles is a group of islands located in the West Indies in the
Caribbean Sea. This group of islands is divided into The
Greater Antilles and The Lesser Antilles.
The Greater Antilles are made up of the larger islands of the northern
region of the Caribbean island chain. These islands include
Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic) and Puerto
The Lesser Antilles are made up of the smaller islands to the south of
the Caribbean island chain. These islands are divided into
two groups, The Leeward Islands and The Windward Islands.
The Leeward Islands are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles
while The Windward Islands are the southern islands of the Lesser
The island of Barbados is a member of the Windward Islands.
These islands are the Caribbean islands from Martinique down
south to Grenada, and are named after the prevailing trade winds that
blow from the east to the west off the Atlantic Ocean.
Which Caribbean islands are the closest to the island of Barbados?
The nearest island to Barbados is St.Vincent. This island and
its neighbouring islands, The Grenadines, are located
approximately 160 kilometres to directly west of Barbados.
The island of St.Lucia is just a tad further north west of Barbados.
Grenada is the nearest island to the south west of Barbados while
Trinidad and Tobago are the closest islands located to the south of
How big is the Barbados
island and how many people live on this tiny Caribbean island?
The island is only 430 sq
km or 166 sq miles in size. You could drive around the island
in under 3 hours!
As of mid 2008, the
Population Reference Bureau estimates there to be approximately 300,
000 people living on this island. Thats quite a few for our
430 sq km size.
This has placed Barbados as the 16th most dense country in the world
with approximately 650 person per km.
Don't worry though, we have enough room for you and your family to
visit : ).
How many cities are there in the
island of Barbados?
The Barbados island is divided into parishes as opposed to cities.
There are 11 of these parishes called:
• St. Lucy, Barbados(No.7)
• St. Peter, Barbados (No.
• St. Andrew, Barbados (No. 2)
• St. James, Barbados (No. 4)
• St. Thomas, Barbados (No. 11)
• St. Joseph, Barbados (No. 6)
• St. Michael, Barbados (No. 8)
• St. George, Barbados (No. 3)
• St. John, Barbados (No. 5)
• St. Philip, Barbados (No. 10)
• Christ Church, Barbados (No. 1)
Most of the island's hotels are located
along the south and west coasts in the Barbados parishes
of Christ Church, St.Michael and St. James. You will however find a few hotels along the Barbados north and east coast more geared toward the adventurous and those seeking tranquility.
What is the shape of the Barbados
If you look at Barbados on the world map you will see that this
Caribbean island is some what shaped like a pear with the stem end
pointing towards the north.
What is the island of Barbados made
The island is mostly made of limestone
coral and is not volanic like many of The Leeward Islands to the north.
This charateristic of the Barbados island
is the reason for many of our beautiful coral reefs, as well as many of
our underground cave formations.
This allows you to enjoy scuba diving as well as do some cave exploring
during your Barbados vacation.
The most popular cave on the island explored by tourists is Harrison's
Cave. This is a 2.3 km long, limestone cave in the central region of
the island, in the parish of St. Thomas.
You can take tours through this cave aboard an electric tram for $20
USD per person.
Is the Barbados island hilly and
The coastline of Barbados is
generally flat with its highest points being towards the
Mount Hillaby is the highest point in Barbados with a height
of 340 metres or 1110 feet above sea level, located in the
parish of St.Andrew. If you would like, you can visit Mount
Hillaby during you trip.
From this hill top you will have an amazing aerial view of the island's
landscape and coasts.
There are also many sedimentary rock formations in these central
to see photos of the Barbados island landscape?
What types of crops are grown on the
island of Barbados?
The 3 main crops grown in Barbados are sugar cane, vegetables and
Over 37% of the land in Barbados is arable land with sugarcane
continuing to be the dominate crop.
This is because sugar cane is the island's leading crop and
the second largest industry in Barbados, with millions of
dollars being exported each year.
Therefore while driving around in your rental car you will
notice that there are many sugar cane fields and plantation houses
spread throughout the island.
You will also see some vegetables being grown on arable land.
These include sweet potatoes, eddoes and yams. These
are usually sold by local vendors in vegetable stands along the sides
of the streets and not grown for export.
Cotton fields are also scattered throughout the island but are scarce
more about Barbados sugar and sugar cane