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COUNTRY |
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Barbados, the
most easterly island of the Caribbean, is a little dot of
166 square miles that lies some 1 500 miles south
southeast of Miami, Florida.
The island is coral-capped and relatively flat with the
notable exception of a district on the eastern side where
the strata of the island’s genesis can be seen in
peaked, jagged hills flanking the Atlantic Ocean. This
rustic, wild side of the island is far different from the
western shores, where the Caribbean Sea gently laps the
white sand beaches up and down the coast.
Barbados has a long and stable history. Settled in 1627
by the British, it soon became England’s "boom
town" territory with migrants sailing across the sea
to settle and cultivate the ‘white gold’ of
that era, sugar.
Unlike other islands, Barbados remained under British
rule until its independence on November 30, 1966. The
people of the island are primarily of African descent,
whose ancestors came to the island during the tumultuous
slave era. Principal minorities of Anglo Saxon, East
Indian and Lebanese are also resident.
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