Barbados :: essays research papers fc

Barbados Barbados is an independent country, formerly a British colony, and the most easterly island of the West Indies. Its capital and only port of entry is Bridgetown. The island is underlain with folded aqueous deposits, and a surface layer of coral attains 90 m (300 ft) in thickness. In the northeastern parts, erosion has exposed rugged ridges and ravines. The climate is fond(p) and pleasant. The average annual temperature is about 27 C (80 F), and little daily or annual variation occurs. A dry season (from celestial latitude to May) alternates with a wet season. The average annual rainfall is about 1,500 mm (60 in). Barbados is one of the worlds most densely populated countries. Nearly 90% of the islands world is black. The production of sugarcane and its by-products, molasses and rum, long a mainstay of the Barbadian economy, has been replaced by tourism as the chief industry. The development of light industry, offshore banking, and angle and the diversification of agricu lture have been encouraged by the government. Barbados was settled by English colonists in 1627. To work the sugarcane plantations, slaves were brought from Africa, a practice abolished end-to-end the British Empire in 1834. Dominance by a half-size group of British landowners continued, and a political rights movement began, resulting in the institution of the Barbados Labour party (BLP) in 1938 and an offshoot, the Democratic Labour party (DLP), in 1955. Barbados became independent on Nov. 30, 1966. Errol Barrow of the DLP, the first premier, was succeeded by Tom Adams of the BLP, who held authorisation from 1976 until his death in 1985. The DLP returned to power under Barrow (198687) and Lloyd Erskine Sandiford (198794). Owen Arthur of the BLP became premier after elections in 1994 and was returned to office in a landslide victory in 1999. In 1997, Barbados hosted a regional summit attended by the leading of the English-speaking Caribbean nations and U.S. president Bill Clin ton. Late the following year, a complete commission recommended that Barbados become a republic and replace the British monarch butterfly with an elected president as head of state.