Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea.
The island is 21 x 14 miles in size and is the most eastwardly island and fronts the Atlantic on the east.
It was populated by the Kalinago peoples in the 13th century.
Spanish and Portugeuese navigators both visited the island before the English later claimed it as a British Colony.
Barbados became an independent state on November 30, 1966, but remains in the Commonwealth with Queen Elizabeth II as official head of state.