巴贝多(Barbados)

西印度群岛的岛国，位於加勒比海群岛的最东端，委内瑞拉东北部430公里处。面积430平方公里。人口约269,000（2001）。首都︰桥镇。90%以上的人口是黑人。语言︰英语（官方语）。宗教：基督教。货币：巴贝多元（BDS$）。巴贝多为珊瑚堆积而成，除了中北部之外，地势低平；最高点为希拉比山，海拔336公尺。地表水很少。由於几乎为珊瑚礁所包围，缺乏天然良港。经济以旅游和蔗糖业为主，沿海地区的金融活动也开始发展。为君主立宪制国家，两院制。国家元首是总督（代表英国君主），政府首脑为总理。来自南美洲的阿拉瓦克人很可能曾在此居住。西班牙人可能在1518年登陆，1536年显然搜刮了印第安人。1620年代英国人来此定居。奴隶被带入此地甘蔗种植园，17、18世纪是种植园最繁荣的时期。1834年英国废除奴隶制，1838年所有当奴隶的巴贝多人获得解放。1958年加入西印度联邦，1962年联邦解散後，巴贝多人试图脱离英国独立。1966年取得国协会员国的地位。

English version：

Barbados

Island nation, West Indies. The most easterly of the Caribbean islands, it lies about 270 mi (430 km) northeast of Venezuela. Area: 166 sq mi (430 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 265,000. Capital: Bridgetown. More than 90% of the population is black. Language: English (official). Religion: Christianity. Currency: Barbados dollar. Composed of coral accumulation, Barbados is low and flat except in its northern central part; its highest point is Mount Hillaby, at 1,104 ft (336 m). There is little surface water. It is almost encircled by coral reefs and lacks good natural harbors. The economy is based on tourism and sugar, while the offshore financial sector is growing. It is a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses; its chief of state is the British monarch, represented by a governor-general, and the head of government is the prime minister. The island was probably inhabited by Arawaks who originally came from South America. Spaniards may have landed by 1518, and by 1536 they had apparently wiped out the Indian population. Barbados was settled by the English in the 1620s. Slaves were brought in to work the sugar plantations, which were especially prosperous in the 17th-18th century. The British empire abolished slavery in 1834, and all the Barbados slaves were freed by 1838. In 1958 Barbados joined the West Indies Federation. When the latter dissolved in 1962, Barbados sought independence from Britain; it achieved Commonwealth status in 1966.