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| Barbados | ||||||||
| Article Outline | ||||||||
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Introduction;
Land and Resources;
People;
Economy;
Government |
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Map of Barbados |
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| Transportation & Communications | ||||||||
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Barbados is well served by roads but has no railway system. Nearly all of its 1,600 km (1,000 mi) of roads are paved. An international airport is located at Seawell in the southeast, and scheduled flights connect the island with Europe, North America, and South America. The coast of Barbados lacks natural shelter for ships, but an artificial deepwater harbor at Bridgetown was opened in 1961. The island is served by passenger and cargo services to Britain, other West Indian islands, and the United States and Canada. Barbados has 2 daily newspapers. The government-run Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation provides radio and television programming, and a number of commercial radio stations also operate. |
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Barbados has a
parliamentary system of government patterned on that of Britain.
Under the constitution of 1966, legislative power is vested in a
parliament consisting of an upper house, the Senate, and a lower
house, the House of Assembly. The Senate has 21
government-appointed members; the 28 members of the House of
Assembly are elected by universal suffrage (all citizens over
the age of 18). The House of Assembly dates back to 1639.
Barbados is
a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. It recognizes the
British monarch as its own monarch and head of state. The
monarch is represented by a governor-general who presides
over a privy council appointed after consultation with the
prime minister. A cabinet, composed of the prime minister
and other ministers responsible to the parliament, directs
and controls the government.
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| History | ||||||||
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Archaeological evidence indicates that there was a permanent settlement on Barbados as early as 1600 bc. Native American occupation of the island began about ad 300, and there were later settlements by Arawak and Carib Indians. By the 16th century, when Portuguese and Spanish navigators reached the island, it was uninhabited, and it remained so until English colonists established a settlement in 1627. Barbados remained under British control until independence, although the Dutch made an unsuccessful attempt to invade the island in the 17th century. |
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| A British Colony | ||||||||
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England's King Charles I granted the Earl of Carlisle permission to colonize the island by 1629. Immigration from Britain was substantial, and within a few years there were 40,000 settlers, mostly small farmers. In 1639 the House of Assembly was formed, and Barbados had representative government, although a property and income requirement limited the number of voters. In 1652 the island received The Charter of Barbados, by which the island was guaranteed government by a governor, council, and freely elected assembly, and freedom from taxation without the consent of the islanders. Tobacco was the first major cash crop grown in Barbados, but after 1645 sugar became the main export. The introduction of sugar necessitated an increase in the size of both landholdings and the labor force. Smallholders were squeezed out by members of the so-called plantocracy, who established large estates and imported Africans to work their new plantations. Most whites, except for the small group of estate owners, left the island. Sugar remained King even after the abolition of slavery in 1834, and the island's prosperity fluctuated in line with the fortunes of the industry. During the colonial era several unpopular and unsuccessful attempts were made to federate (join in a federal government) the eastern Caribbean islands. Severe riots, resulting in bloodshed and loss of property, occurred in 1876, when the British government proposed a confederation of Barbados and the Windward Islands, about 160 km (about 100 mi) to the west. In the following decades the right to vote was gradually extended to people of African and mixed ancestry, and this majority slowly rose to political power. In 1937 poor economic conditions caused serious unrest, and a British Royal Commission was sent to Barbados. As a result, social and political reforms were gradually introduced, and in 1951 universal adult suffrage was achieved. Previously the right to vote had been limited to males and based on income and property qualifications. In 1958 Barbados joined the Federation of the West Indies, which also included Trinidad and Tobago. Grantley Adams, leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and the Barbadian prime minister from 1954 to 1958, served as prime minister of the federation. After the collapse of the federation in 1962 and failure to reach agreement with neighboring islands on an East Caribbean federation, Barbados decided in 1965 to seek independence on its own. |
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| Independence | ||||||||
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Barbados became an independent state in the Commonwealth of Nations on November 30, 1966, the fourth British Caribbean dependency to gain independence. Led by Errol Barrow of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), Prime Minister from 1961 to 1976, Barbados took a leading role in establishing the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), an organization that promotes social and political cooperation and economic integration. The country also is a member of the United Nations and of the Organization of American States. In 1983 Barbados took part in the U.S.-led invasion of Grenada. Barbados has enjoyed a stable democratic government since independence, and both major political parties have held office for lengthy terms. When Barrow died in 1987, Erskine Sandiford, Barrow's ally in the DLP, took over as prime minister. Sandiford led the party to an electoral victory in 1991. Sandiford faced a declining economy, however, and lost popular support after his government adopted policies of fiscal austerity as a condition for assistance from the International Monetary Fund. In 1994, following a no-confidence vote in the assembly, Sandiford resigned and was replaced by the finance minister, David Thompson. Thompson was unable to restore the party's popularity in time for the elections, which were won by the BLP. |
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