Barbados << bahr BAY dohz or bahr BAY duhs >> is an island country in the Caribbean Sea. It lies about 250 miles (400 kilometers) northeast of Venezuela. Barbados is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Historically, the Caribbean Islands were called the West Indies.
Growing sugar cane has been an important industry in Barbados for more than 300 years. Manufacturing and processing have increased in importance. Barbados’s pleasant climate and sandy beaches have made it a popular vacation resort, and tourism is also a major industry.
Barbados was a British colony from the 1620’s until it became independent in 1966. Bridgetown is the capital and largest city. It is also the business and tourist center of Barbados and the country’s chief port.
Government.
Barbados is a parliamentary republic. It is an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations. A president, elected by the Parliament to a four-year term, serves as Barbados’s chief of state. The president appoints a prime minister and a Cabinet to govern the country.
The Parliament consists of the Senate, appointed by the president, and the House of Assembly, elected by the people. There are 21 senators and 30 members of the House of Assembly. The leader of the political party with the most members in the House of Assembly usually serves as prime minister. Members of Parliament serve for a maximum of five years. All citizens 18 years of age or older can vote.
People.
In many ways, life in Barbados resembles life in England. Traffic moves on the left, cricket is the most popular sport, and Bridgetown’s harbor police wear uniforms that date from the late 1700’s, the era of the British naval hero Lord Nelson. The people of Barbados speak English.
About 90 percent of the country’s people are descendants of enslaved West Africans brought to Barbados between 1636 and 1833. About 10 percent have both African and British ancestry. Approximately 4 percent are of European—chiefly British—descent.
Many of the people farm or work on sugar plantations. Most, however, have jobs in the tourist trade, the government, and other service industries. Still others work in factories and processing plants, or on construction jobs. The Anglican Church is the traditional church in Barbados. However, Pentecostal Protestants are the dominant religious group. Other churches include the Roman Catholic, Methodist, and Moravian churches.
Popular foods include flyingfish, okra, pork, and yams. The people wear light clothing.
Barbados has a high literacy rate. Almost all Barbadian adults can read and write. Children between the ages of 5 and 16 must attend school. Primary, secondary, and post-secondary schooling are free. Cave Hill, near Bridgetown, has a campus of the University of the West Indies, a regional institution with campuses in several countries.
Land.
Most of Barbados is flat, but a high, rugged region lies in the middle of the northeast coast. The land descends from the northeast coastal region across an upland plateau to a lowland plateau. The lowland plateau stretches to the coast all around the rest of the island. Fine sandy beaches extend along the west and southwest coasts. Mount Hillaby (1,115 feet, or 340 meters) is the island’s highest point. Coral rock covers most of the island, but 85 percent of the land can be farmed. Barbados has little natural plant life, but some evergreen trees grow in the northeast.
Temperatures range between 70 and 87 °F (21 and 31 °C). Rainfall varies from 80 inches (200 centimeters) a year in the north to between 40 and 60 inches (100 and 150 centimeters) in the south. Hurricanes occasionally cause extensive damage on the island.
Economy.
Barbados has one of the most developed economies in the Caribbean. Manufacturing and processing, tourism, and agriculture are all important to Barbados’s economy. The country produces cement, chemicals, refined sugar, rum, and textiles.
Each year, Barbados’s pleasant climate, good beaches, and English atmosphere attract hundreds of thousands of tourists. Many tourists come from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Tourism and hospitality services employ much of the labor force.
Sugar cane is the country’s chief crop product by far. It was introduced to the island about 1640. Most sugar is raised on large plantations.
Farmers also grow such food crops as avocados, bananas, coconuts, cucumbers, okra, pulses, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and yams. In addition, they raise beef and dairy cattle, chickens, and hogs. Barbadians catch flyingfish and other fish for sale locally.
Barbados imports more than it exports. Important trade partners include Canada, China, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The country imports chemicals, food, fuel, machinery, and transportation equipment. It exports chemicals, electrical parts, rum, and sugar.
Barbados has hundreds of miles of paved roads, but there are no railroads. Bridgetown is the chief port of Barbados. The country’s international airport is near Bridgetown.
History.
Scholars believe that Arawak people from South America were the first settlers in Barbados. They believe Carib people, also from South America, drove them out in the 1500’s.
The English reached Barbados in 1625, and the first permanent English settlement dates from 1627. From 1629 to 1652, several English families fought over Barbados. The British Parliament sent an expedition to gain control of the island in 1652. The colony had a governor and some representative government from the beginning. In 1639, the landowners of Barbados elected a House of Assembly. The colony prospered, and many English families settled there in the 1700’s and 1800’s.
In the late 1870’s, Barbados opposed the British government’s plans to form a federation of British islands in the Caribbean region. But Barbados joined the West Indies Federation when it was formed in 1958. Grantley Adams, a Barbadian, was the federation’s prime minister. The federation broke up in 1962, when Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago became independent. In 1966, Barbados became an independent country within the Commonwealth of Nations. The British monarch, represented by a governor general, served as chief of state and a prime minister served as head of government.
In 1967, Barbados joined the Organization of American States (OAS). In 1968, it became a charter member of an economic union called the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA), now the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). In 1983, Barbados and several other Caribbean nations joined the United States in an invasion of Grenada to overthrow a Marxist government there (see Grenada (History and government)).
Since Barbados became independent, control of its government has gone back and forth between the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and the Labour Party. Prime ministers from the 1960’s through the 2010’s included Errol W. Barrow (1966-1976), (1986-1987); J. M. G. Adams, the son of Grantley Adams (1976-1985); Bernard St. John (1985-1986); Erskine Sandiford (1987-1994); Owen Arthur (1994-2008); David Thompson (2008-2010); and Freundel Stuart (2010-2018). In 2018, Mia Mottley became the country’s first woman prime minister.
In 2021, Barbados changed its form of government to become a parliamentary republic. It replaced the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, with a president as chief of state. Dame Sandra Mason, who had served as governor general, became the country’s first president.
