Weather
Tropical; rainy season (June to October).
Terrain
Relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region.
Currency
Barbadian Dollar (BBD)
Languages
English
Religion
Protestant 67% (Anglican 40%, Pentecostal 8%, Methodist 7%, other 12%), Roman Catholic 4%, none 17%, other 12%
Ethnic groups
black 90%, white 4%, Asian and mixed 6%
History
The island was uninhabited when first settled by the British in 1627. Slaves worked the sugar plantations established on the island until 1834 when slavery was abolished. The economy remained heavily dependent on sugar, rum, and molasses production through most of the 20th century. The gradual introduction of social and political reforms in the 1940s and 1950s led to complete independence from the UK in 1966. In the 1990s, tourism and manufacturing surpassed the sugar industry in economic importance.
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