Barbados

Barbados

Barbados, situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent island nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. At roughly 13o North and 59o West, the country lies in the southern Caribbean region, where it is a part of the Lesser Antilles. Its closest island neighbours are St. Vincent and St. Lucia to the west, Grenada to the south-west, and Trinidad and Tobago to the south, with which Barbados now shares a fixed official maritime boundary.

Barbados's total land area is about 166 square miles, and is primarily low, with some higher regions in the island's interior. The organic composition of Barbados is thought to be of non-volcanic origin and is predominantly composed of limestone-coral. The island's climate is tropical, with constant trade winds off the Atlantic Ocean serving to keep temperatures mild. Some more undeveloped areas of the country contain woodland. Other parts of the interior which contribute to the agriculture industry are dotted with large sugarcane estates and wide, gently sloping pastures, with many good views down to the sea coast.

Barbados has one of the highest standards of living and literacy rates worldwide. Despite its small size, Barbados's Human Development Index ranking is consistently among the top 50 in the world. For example, in 2006, it was ranked thirty-first in the world, and third in the Americas, behind Canada and the United States.

History of Barbados

The first indigenous people were Amerindians who arrived here from Venezuela around 350 CE. The Arawak people were the second wave of migrants, arriving from South America around 800 CE. Arawak settlements on the island include Stroud Point, Chandler Bay, Saint Luke's Gully and Mapp's Cave. According to accounts by descendants of the aboriginal Arawak tribes on other local islands, the original name for Barbados was Ichirouganaim. In the thirteenth century, the Caribs arrived from South America in the third wave, displacing both the Arawak and the Salodoid-Barrancoid. For the next few centuries, the Caribs lived in isolation on the island.

The origin of the name Barbados is controversial. It was the Portuguese that were the first to conquer (discover) and name the island. As early as