About Barbados

The Barbados is an island in the Antilles, located in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea. The island was initially visited by the Spanish around the late 1400s to early 1500s and was uninhabited when first settled by the British in 1627. Slaves worked the sugar plantations established on the island until 1834 when slavery was abolished. The economy remained heavily dependent on sugar, rum, and molasses production through most of the 20th century. The gradual introduction of social and political reforms in the 1940s and 1950s led to complete independence from the UK in 1966. Barbados has an estimated population of 300,000 people, with around 80,000 living in or around Bridgetown, the largest city and the country's capital. In 1966, Barbados became an independent state and Commonwealth realm, retaining Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State. In the 1990s, tourism and manufacturing surpassed the sugar industry in economic importance and it is one of the Caribbean's leading tourist destinations.