c aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $15
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $169 million

_#_Currency: Barbadian dollars (plural--dollars); 1 Barbadian dollar
(Bds$) = 100 cents

_#_Exchange rates: Barbadian dollars (Bds$) per US$1--2.0113 (fixed
rate)

_#_Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March

_*_Communications
_#_Highways: 1,570 km total; 1,475 km paved, 95 km gravel and earth

_#_Ports: Bridgetown

_#_Merchant marine: 2 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,200
GRT/7,338 DWT

_#_Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft

_#_Airports: 1 with permanent-surface runways 2,440-3,659 m

_#_Telecommunications: islandwide automatic telephone system with
89,000 telephones; tropospheric scatter link to Trinidad and Saint Lucia;
stations--3 AM, 2 FM, 2 (1 is pay) TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth
station

_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Royal Barbados Defense Force, Coast Guard, Royal
Barbados Police Force

_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 69,038; 48,455 fit for military
service, no conscription

_#_Defense expenditures: $10 million, 0.7% of GDP (1989)
_%_
_@_Bassas da India
(French possession)
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: undetermined

_#_Comparative area: undetermined

_#_Land boundaries: none

_#_Coastline: 35.2 km

_#_Maritime claims:

Contiguous zone: 12 nm;

Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation;

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

_#_Disputes: claimed by Madagascar

_#_Climate: tropical

_#_Terrain: a volcanic rock 2.4 m high

_#_Natural resources: none

_#_Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and
pastures 0%; forest and woodland 0%; other (rock) 100%

_#_Environment: surrounded by reefs; subject to periodic cyclones

_#_Note: navigational hazard since it is usually under water during
high tide; located in southern Mozambique Channel about halfway between
Africa and Madagascar

_*_People
_#_Population: uninhabited

_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: none

_#_Type: French possession administered by Commissioner of the
Republic Daniel CONSTANTIN, resident in Reunion

_*_Economy
_#_Overview: no economic activity

_*_Communications
_#_Ports: none; offshore anchorage only

_*_Defense Forces
_#_Note: defense is the responsibility of France
_%_
_@_Belgium
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 30,510 km2;