Climate

Barbados lies within the tropics. Its generally pleasant maritime climate is influenced by northeast trade winds, which moderate the tropical temperature. Cool, northeasterly trade winds are prevalent during the December to June dry season. The overall annual temperature ranges from 24°C to 28°C; slightly lower temperatures prevail at higher elevations. Humidity levels are between 71 percent and 76 percent year round. Rainfall occurs primarily between July and December and varies considerably with elevation. Rainfall may average 187.5 centimeters per year in the higher central area as compared with 127.5 centimeters in the coastal zone.

ST. Michael

ST. Michael – a parish in south-west of Barbados. The largest city is Bridgetown – the capital of Barbados. Bridgetown is the center of commercial, industrial and service the island. The parish is the seat of several schools, including the prestigious Combermere and Harrison College, various government institutions such as the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Industries and Trade.

In St. Michael is an international seaport Barbados Deep-Water Harbor. Great part tourism comes at a Barbade by the port, the ships cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Cunard. The port is also a number of cranes to load sugar produced on the island and a crane for loading flour.

* Area – 39 km ²
* Population – 89.840 inhabitants (1990)

Island

Island, in contrast to other islands of the archipelago, there is no building eruptions, and lime. Top of the island have coral reefs, which are still surrounded by its water. There are hills from which the highest (Mount Hillaby) does not exceed 340 m above sea level. No major inland waters, but there are karst developed.

Island surrounded on all sides by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean has a tropical climate podrównikowym. In summer the island nawiedzają cyclones.

Bathsheba

Bathsheba is located on the east coast of Barbados with beautiful beaches and pools. The east coast is particularly popular with surfers.

Early history

The first indigenous people were Amerindians who arrived from Venezuela around approximately 350-400 B.C. The Arawak people were the second wave of migrants, arriving from South America around 800. In the thirteenth century, the Caribs arrived from South America in the third wave, displacing both the Arawak and the Salodoid-Barrancoid . For the next few centuries, the Caribs — like the Arawak and the Salodoid-Barrancoid — lived in isolation on the island.

The Portuguese then briefly claimed Barbados from the mid 1500s to the 1600s; and may have seized the indigenous Caribs on Barbados and used them as slave labour. Other Caribs are believed to have fled the island to neighbouring islands. Apart from possibly displacing the Caribs, the Portuguese left little impact and by the 1610s, they left for South America leaving the island uninhabited.

Etymology

According to accounts by descendants of the aboriginal Arawak tribes on other local islands, the original name for Barbados was Ichirouganaim.

The origin of the name “Barbados” is controversial. The Portuguese, en route to Brazil are credited as the first Europeans to discover and name the island. It is a matter of conjecture whether the word “bearded” refers to the long, hanging roots of the bearded fig-tree (Ficus citrifolia), indigenous to the island, to bearded Caribs inhabiting the island, or to the foam spraying over the outlying reefs giving the impression of a beard. In 1519, a map produced by the Genoese mapmaker Vesconte de Maggiola showed and named Barbados in its correct position north of the island of Dominica.

When to Go

The best time to go to Barbados is during the cooler, drier months of late winter and early spring (December through May). Mid-December to Mid-April is also the peak tourist season when prices are higher and hotels most crowded.

The City of Bridgetown

The City of Bridgetown, metropolitan pop 96,578 (2006), is the capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados. Formerly, the Town of Saint Michael the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. The Bridgetown port is located at 13°7′N, 59°37′W, on the southwestern coast of the island along Carlisle Bay. Parts of the Greater Bridgetown area lie along the borders of the neighbouring parishes Christ Church and St. James.

The present day location of the city was established by the British in 1628 following their settlement at James Town. Bridgetown is a major West Indies tourist destination, and the city acts as an important financial, informatics and convention centre in the Caribbean region.

Barbados

Barbados (Portuguese for bearded-ones, pronounced /bɑrˈbeɪdoʊz, -dɒs/^[1]), situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent island nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. At roughly 13° North of the equator and 59° West of the prime meridian, the country lies in the southern Caribbean region, where it is considered a part of the Lesser Antilles island-chain. Its closest island neighbours are Saint Vincent & the Grenadines and Saint Lucia to the west. To the south lies Trinidad and Tobago—with which Barbados now shares a fixed official maritime boundary—and also the South American mainland. Barbados’s total land area is about 430 square kilometres (166 square miles), and is primarily low-lying, with some higher regions in the country’s interior. The geological composition of Barbados is thought to be of non-volcanic origin and is predominantly composed of limestone-coral formed by subduction of the South American plate colliding with the Caribbean plate. The island’s climate is tropical, with constant trade winds off the Atlantic Ocean serving to keep temperatures mild. Some more undeveloped areas of the country contain tropical woodland and scrubland. Other parts of the interior which contribute to the agriculture industry are dotted with large sugarcane estates and wide, gently sloping pastures, with views down to the coast.

Barbados has one of the highest standards of living and literacy rates worldwide. Barbados’s human development index ranking is consistently among the top 50 in the world. For example, in 2006, it was ranked 31st in the world, and third in the Americas, behind Canada and the United States.