Barbados

The island of Barbados 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.

Tourists pour into Barbados from all over the world, drawn by the delightful climate, the big blue sea and brilliant white sandy beaches. Many of them rarely stray far from their hotels and guesthouses, but those who make an effort find a proud island scattered with an impressive range of historic sites and, away from the mostly gently rolling landscape, dramatic scenery in hidden caves, cliffs and gullies.

For more than three centuries Barbados was a British colony and retains something of a British feel: the place names, the cricket, horse-racing and polo, Anglican parish churches, and even a hilly district known as Scotland. But the Britishness is often exaggerated, for this is a distinctly West Indian country , covered by a patchwork of sugarcane fields and dotted with rum shops, where calypso is the music of choice and flying fish the favoured food.

The people of Barbados, known as Bajans , take great pride in their tiny island of 430 square kilometres and 250,000 people, which has produced writers like George Lamming, calypsonians like the Mighty Gabby and cricket players including the great Sir Gary Sobers, who have for decades had an influence way out of proportion to the size of their home country.

Tourism plays a major part in the country's economy and revenues have been put to good use. The infrastructure and public transport are first-rate and there is no sign of the poverty that continues to bedevil some Caribbean islands. Development has mostly been pretty discreet, many of the facilities are Bajan-owned, there are no private beaches and no sign of American fast-food franchises.