Barbados Population and Language

Barbados is one of the world’s most densely populated countries. Nearly 300,000 people live on an area equivalent to just under a third of Ă–land. Most residents are wholly or partly of African origin.

The Africans were brought to Barbados as slaves to work on sugar plantations that European colonizers built in the 17th century. At the time of the British colonization, the island was uninhabited, but people had lived there before (see Older History).

Barbados Population Forecast

  • COUNTRYAAH.COM: Key populations estimated size and data of Barbados, including population density of how many people per square mile. Also included are facts for population and language.

A small number of today’s residents are descendants of Europeans or Asians. Many Americans have also settled in the country. Population growth is low, birth rates are lower than in the USA, for example, and there is some emigration to especially North America.

Unlike in many other islands in the Caribbean, only English is spoken in Barbados, since the English were the only colonizers. English is an official language, but in everyday life the local bajan is often used, a mixture of English and African languages. The word bajan is a simplified form of the English Barbadian and is used as both adjectives and nouns, even if the residents of the country.

Barbados Population and Language

FACTS – POPULATION AND LANGUAGE

Population

the majority of the residents are black, the others mainly of mixed origin

Number of residents

285 719 (2017)

Number of residents per square kilometer

664 (2017)

Percentage of residents in the cities

31.2 percent (2017)

Nativity / birth

11.9 per 1000 residents (2016)

Mortality / mortality

10.7 per 1000 residents (2016)

pOPULATION GROWTH

0.3 percent (2017)

fertility rate

1.8 number of births per woman (2016)

Percentage of women

52.1 percent (2017)

Life expectancy

76 years (2016)

Life expectancy for women

78 years (2016)

Life expectancy for men

73 years (2016)

Language

English is the official language, the Creole Bajan is also spoken