Background:
The island 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. In the 1990s, tourism and manufacturing surpassed the
sugar industry in economic importance.
Geography Barbados
Location:
Caribbean, island in the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of
Venezuela
Geographic coordinates:
13 10 N, 59 32 W
Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean
Area:
total: 431 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 431 sq km
Area - comparative:
2.5 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
97 km
Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM