<text><span class="style42"></span><span class="style12">BARBADOS</span><span class="style42"></span><span class="style14"></span><span class="style42">Member of: </span><span class="style13">UN, Commonwealth, OAS, CARICOM</span><span class="style42">Area: </span><span class="style13">430 km2 (166 sq mi)</span><span class="style42">Population: </span><span class="style13">260000 (1993 est)</span><span class="style42">Capital: </span><span class="style13">Bridgetown 102000</span><span class="style42"> </span><span class="style13">(city 7500; 1990 census)</span><span class="style42">Language: </span><span class="style13">English</span><span class="style42">Religions: </span><span class="style13">Anglican (40%), Methodist, Pentecostalist</span><span class="style42">GOVERNMENT</span><span class="style13">The 21 members of the Senate are appointed; the 27 members of the House of Assembly are elected by universal adult suffrage for five years. The Governor General, the representative of the British Queen as sovereign of Barbados, appoints a Prime Minister who commands a majority in the House. The PM appoints a Cabinet responsible to the House.</span><span class="style42">GEOGRAPHY</span><span class="style13">Barbados is generally flat and low, except in the north where it rises to Mount Hillaby (340 m / 1115 ft). </span><span class="style42">Climate: </span><span class="style13">Barbados has a tropical climate. Rainfall is heavy, with totals everywhere above 1000 mm (40 in). The island is subject to hurricanes.</span><span class="style42">ECONOMY</span><span class="style13">Tourism (the main source of income) employs about one third of the labor force. The government has encouraged diversification and there has been growth in banking and insurance. Sugar ΓÇô once the mainstay of Barbados ΓÇô remains the main crop. </span><span class="style42">Currency: </span><span class="style13">Barbados dollar.</span><span class="style42">HISTORY</span><span class="style13">Barbados was claimed and settled by the English in the 1620s. Black slaves were imported to work the sugar cane plantations, which, in the 18th century, made the island one of the most profitable parts of the British Empire. Slavery was abolished in 1834, but economic and political power remained with a small white minority. In the 1930s, economic and social conditions for black Barbadians were miserable. Riots in 1937 led to reforms and also greatly increased black political consciousness. As a result, Barbadians, such as Grantley Adams and Errol Barrow, became prominent in Caribbean politics. Barbados became independent in 1966.</span></text>