Can't get list of databases with \list

I recently installed PostgreSQL 8.2.11-1 on my Windows machine for use with
my java application. I need to get a list of the databases available so that
the user can choose one. Issuing a query of "\list" using jdbc doesn't seem
to work:

Connection connection =
DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:postgresql:postgres", "user", "pass");
Statement statement = connection.createStatement();
ResultSet resultSet = statement.executeQuery("\\list");

which produces:

org.postgresql.util.PSQLException: ERROR: syntax error at or near "\"

Why is this and how can I fix it?