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• Location: Lesser Antilles
• Capital: Bridgetown
• Population: 281.200
• Official language: English
• Currency: Barballian Dollar
• Demonym: Barbadian
• Vernacular language: Bajan
• Official language: English

Barbados' flag.

In 1536, a Portuguese explorer named the island as "Os Barbados" (means "the bearded") due to the appearance of the island's figures, because they looked like beards. A hundred-year later, in 1627, the British started to colonize the island, but before this colonization, some American tribes had already lived there. A few years later, in 1650, the island became British and it was repopulated by slaves who worked in sugar plantations until 1830, when the slavery was abolished. Since that period, Barbados has made political progress until the 1966s, that they achieve its independence.

TRADITIONS AND FESTIVALS

Barbados' traditions come from the West African and British cultures that shaped the island. The majority of the population is of African descent, however, the island was a colony of the British Empire for more than 300 years, so the English influence is very strong.

Barbados' major festivals are a mix of cultural, culinary, musical and sporting events that offer entertainment as well as showcasing Barbados' rich history. Below are the most important festivals to consider on your next visit.

1. The Holetown Festival: celebrates the anniversary of the first English settlement in Holetown on February 17, 1627. The week-long celebration occurs every year during mid-February and includes a number of activities which showcase the culture and traditions of Barbados.
   

2. Oistins Fish Festival: takes place every Easter weekend in the scenic fishing village of Oistins Barbados in the parish of Christ Church, on the south coast of the island. It is arguably the largest community festival in Barbados with activities for the entire family!

TRADITIONAL FOOD

3. Jug-Jug: This dish originated thanks to the immigrants who arrived from Scotland to the island in the 17th century. It is a very tasty mixture of meat, peas and herbs.

4. Pepper pot: This dish has pork, beef and chicken. The meat is usually seasoned with lemon and lime juice, as well as garlic, onion or thyme.

5. Sea eggs: It is one of the seventeen species of sea urchins found in Barbadian waters. These urchins are not weighed, they are collected from the bottom of the sea

Cou-Cou

Roti

Sea eggs

Cou-Cou

Roti

TRADITIONAL SPORTS

Cricket is the most common sport in Barbados. They have a national Cricket team, the Barbados national cricket team, organised by the Barbados Cricket Association. They have participated in lots of inter-regional competitions and they compete in the professional Cricket League.

Another popular sport is football and they also have a national football team, nicknamed "Bajan Tridents".

There are more well-loved sports like basketball, volleyball and rugby. There is also a traditional sport, named Road Tennis, that is a version of tennis played on a smaller court with paddles and a low wooden net.

Barbados has been taking place in the Summer Olympic Games since 1968, but the only time they have won an Olympic medal was due to a sprinter (Obadele Thompson) in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Barbados Cricket Team

Obadele Thompson

FAMOUS PEOPLE:

Rihanna (Singer)

Sue Gardner (Journalist)

Doug E. Fresh (Rapper)

Grandmaster Flash (Rapper)

Carlos Brathwaite (Cricket player)

Sandra Mason (Politician and lawyer)

CURIOSITIES

Barbados has an average temperature of 28 degrees year-round.

Annually, Barbados welcomes about 1 million visitors to our shores.

Many people used to travel to Barbados for its health benefits. It was considered the healthiest place in the world in the 1840s having 1 death per 66 people compared to the world average of 1 death per 35 people.

Barbados has an average temperature of 28 degrees year-round.

The legal age for drinking alcohol in Barbados is 18 years; however, children between 10-17 years are permitted to consume alcohol when accompanied by a parent.

BARBADOS FLORA AND FAUNA

The local flora is immensely varied, palm trees of all kinds, flowers of different colours, tropical fruits such as bananas, mangoes, guavas and papayas, has a wide variety of tropical vegetation. In the eastern part, large areas are densely forested. The predominant tree species is the palm.

The Red Bird of Paradise is the national flower of the Caribbean island of Barbados, and is featured on the Queen's Flag of Barbados, which Queen Elizabeth II uses as Queen of Barbados.

This great diversity of flowers and plants is produced by the tropical climate of the area. This is a very warm climate during most of the year. There are also several periods where it rains a lot but only moderately. All these factors make it one of the most beautiful places in the world in terms of nature.

Barbados Flora

The Red Bird of Paradise

BARBADOS FLORA AND FAUNA

When you visit a Barbados animal sanctuary, you get up close to wildlife such as pink flamingos, multi-coloured parrots, blue sapphire peacocks, green monkeys, deer, agoutis, caimans and armadillos. The marine fauna is naturally rich in species. There are sponges, sea anemones, 35 species of madrepores and related species, some 400 species of fish typical of coral areas and at least three species of turtles.

The Barbados Seedeater (Loxigilla barbadensis) is a species of passerine bird in the family Thraupidae, one of two in the genus Loxigilla. It is the only species endemic to Barbados.

As with the flora section, the fauna is also very diverse thanks to the climate. This also means that the animals are brightly coloured and summery.

Barbados Peacock

Barbados Seed Bird

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