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Barbados
Barbados, situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is a West Indian continental island-nation in the western Atlantic Ocean.
Located at roughly 13° North of the equator and 59° West of the prime meridian, it is considered a part of the Lesser Antilles.
Its closest island neighbours are Martinique, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the west. To the south lies Trinidad and Tobago - with which Barbados now shares a fixed official maritime boundary - and also the mainland of South America.
Barbados's total land area is about 430 square kilometres (166 square miles), and is primarily low-lying, with some higher in the country's interior. The highest point in Barbados is Mount Hillaby in the parish of Saint Andrew.
The population is 284,000.
The capital is Bridgetown.
Barbados's Human Development Index ranking is consistently among the top 75 countries in the world. In report published in 2009, it was ranked 37th in the world, and third in the Americas, behind Canada and the United States. Although Barbados' history is heavily influenced by its mainstay of sugar production, the economy is now dominated by services and tourism. The country is one of the largest global domiciles of insurance companies, and a growing number of companies have been expanding call centres to Barbados.