Central America · The modern Caribbean and isthmus states
Barbados
1966/2021–present
Barbados, the easternmost Caribbean island, was an English then British colony continuously from 1627 and one of the first great sugar-and-slavery societies — the "Barbados model" of plantation slavery spread across the Americas — earning it the nickname "Little England." It gained independence from the UK on 30 November 1966, with Errol Barrow of the Democratic Labour Party as founding prime minister; the capital is Bridgetown.
- Existed
- 1966/2021–present
- Shown on the map
- 1967–2024
- Peak area
- 740 km²
- Region
- Central America
Overview
Barbados, the easternmost Caribbean island, was an English then British colony continuously from 1627 and one of the first great sugar-and-slavery societies — the "Barbados model" of plantation slavery spread across the Americas — earning it the nickname "Little England." It gained independence from the UK on 30 November 1966, with Errol Barrow of the Democratic Labour Party as founding prime minister; the capital is Bridgetown. Barbados developed a stable two-party democracy and one of the region's higher standards of living, based on tourism, sugar, and financial services.
Later history and present status
In a landmark move, Barbados removed Queen Elizabeth II as head of state and became a parliamentary republic on 30 November 2021 (the 55th anniversary of independence), installing Dame Sandra Mason as its first president. Mia Mottley (Barbados Labour Party) has been prime minister since 2018 and has emerged as a leading global voice for climate-finance reform (the "Bridgetown Initiative").
Common questions
- What was Barbados?
- Barbados, the easternmost Caribbean island, was an English then British colony continuously from 1627 and one of the first great sugar-and-slavery societies — the "Barbados model" of plantation slavery spread across the Americas — earning it the nickname "Little England." It gained independence from the UK on 30 November 1966, with Errol Barrow of the Democratic Labour Party as founding prime minister; the capital is Bridgetown.
- When did Barbados exist?
- Barbados existed 1966/2021–present. On this map it is drawn 1967–2024.
- How large was Barbados?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Barbados covered about 1,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- What is the present status of Barbados?
- In a landmark move, Barbados removed Queen Elizabeth II as head of state and became a parliamentary republic on 30 November 2021 (the 55th anniversary of independence), installing Dame Sandra Mason as its first president. Mia Mottley (Barbados Labour Party) has been prime minister since 2018 and has emerged as a leading global voice for climate-finance reform (the "Bridgetown Initiative").
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity and for the key figures and events as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, EBSCO Research Starters and academic sources. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Barbados en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbados
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
See Barbados in its world
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