Barbados Facts

Here are some interesting Barbados Facts which were chosen and researched by kids especially for kids.

Interesting Barbados Facts

• Population: about 293,000 people live in Barbados
• Capital: Bridgetown with 110,000 inhabitants (2021)
• Government: Parliamentary Democracy
• Language: English
• Literacy: 99% of all the Barbadians over the age of 15 years can read and write
• Religion: Christians (73%, with the vast majority being Protestants)
• Currency: 1 Barbados dollar = 100 cents.
• National colors: blue, yellow, black
• National symbols: Neptune’s trident (shown also on the flag), pelican, Pride of Barbados (Red Bird of Paradise flower)

• Independence Day: 30 November
• History: The first indigenous inhabitants on the island were Amerindians from Venezuela. The island was first claimed for the Spanish crown after Spanish explorers landed on the island in 1511. The Portuguese also set foot on the island on their route to Brazil in 1637. Barbados was colonised by the British who settled on the island in 1627. The first settlement was in the islands’ west and was called Holetown. The British cut down the dense rainforest and planted tobacco and cotton. They also introduced sugarcane and shipped slaves from Africa to make them work on their plantations. Slavery was abolished in 1834, but the island remained a British colony. Barbados reached independence from Britain in 1966 and now belongs to the Commonwealth States.