Barbados with the capital city Bridgetown is located in North America (Caribbean, island in the North Atlantic Ocean). It covers some 431 square kilometres (2.5 times the size of Washington, DC) with 281,000 citizens.

About the flag and history of Barbados

Three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), gold, and blue with the head of a black trident centered on the gold band; the band colors represent the blue of the sea and sky and the gold of the beaches; the trident head represents independence and a break with the past (the colonial coat of arms contained a complete trident).

The island was uninhabited when first settled by the British in 1627. African 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.

National administrative regions of Barbados

• Barbados (general)
• Christ Church
• Saint Andrew
• Saint George
• Saint James
• Saint John
• Saint Joseph
• Saint Lucy
• Saint Michael
• Saint Peter
• Saint Philip
• Saint Thomas

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