Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region next to North America and north of South America, and is the most easterly of the Caribbean islands. It lies on the boundary of the South American and Caribbean plates. Its capital and largest city is Bridgetown.
Barbados is an island country in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, situated about 100 miles (160 km) east of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Roughly triangular in shape, the island measures some 21 miles (34 km) from northwest to southeast and about 14 miles (23 km) from east to west at its widest point. The capital and largest town is Bridgetown, which is also the main seaport.
Owen Seymour Arthur was a Barbadian politician who served as the fifth prime minister of Barbados from 6 September 1994 to 15 January 2008. He is the longest-serving Barbadian prime minister to date. He also served as Leader of the Opposition from 1 August 1993 to 6 September 1994 and from 23 October 2010 to 21 February 2013.
Dame Billie Antoinette Miller, DA, OCC is a Barbadian politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister. Miller is a member of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP).
Dame Ruth Nita Barrow, GCMG DA was the first female governor-general of Barbados. Barrow was a nurse and a public health servant from Barbados. She served as the fifth governor-general of Barbados from 6 June 1990 until her death on 19 December 1995. She was the older sister of Errol Barrow, the first prime minister of Barbados.
The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the nation of Barbados.
Combermere School is a school in Barbados, notable as one of the oldest schools in the Caribbean, established in 1695. Its alumni include several leading cricketers, David Thompson, sixth prime minister of Barbados and other politicians, several authors and the singer Rihanna. In its first 75 years, the school "provided the Barbadian community with the vast bulk of its business leaders and civil servants" and it is "perhaps the first school anywhere to offer secondary education to black children".
On 30 November 2021, Barbados transitioned from a parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the hereditary monarch of Barbados to a parliamentary republic with a ceremonial indirectly elected president as head of state. The prime minister remained head of government while the last governor-general, Dame Sandra Mason, was elected as the country's first president on 20 October 2021, and took office on 30 November 2021.
The monarchy of Barbados was a system of government in which a hereditary monarch was the sovereign and head of state of Barbados from 1966 to 2021. Barbados shared the sovereign with the other Commonwealth realms, with the country's monarchy being separate and legally distinct. The monarch's operational and ceremonial duties were mostly delegated to her representative, the governor-general of Barbados.
Mia Amor Mottley, is a Barbadian politician and attorney who has served as the eighth prime minister of Barbados since 2018 and as Leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) since 2008. Mottley is the first woman to hold either position. She is also Barbados' first prime minister under its republican system, following constitutional changes she introduced that abolished the country's constitutional monarchy.
Education in Barbados is based primarily on the British model.
Harrison College is a co-educational grammar school in Bridgetown, Barbados. Founded in 1733, the school takes its name from Thomas Harrison, a Bridgetown merchant, who intended it to serve as "A Public and Free School for the poor and indigent boys of the parish".
The following is the Barbadian Table of Precedence.
- The President of Barbados
- The Prime Minister
- The Chief Justice
- The Members of the Cabinet
- The Attorney-General of Barbados, as the first minister to be sworn in after the Prime Minister.
- Other cabinet ministers, their own order unknown.
- The former Governors-General
- The National Heroes
- The President of the Senate
- The Speaker of the House of Assembly
- The Leader of the Opposition
- The former Prime Ministers, and the former Chief Justices
- The Members of the President's Privy Council of Barbados
- The Chairman of the Barbados Christian Council
- The Ambassadors and High Commissioners
- The Justices of the Court of Appeals, and the Judges of the High Court
- The Parliamentary Secretaries
- The Deputy President of the Senate
- The Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly
- The Members of the Senate
- The Members of the House of Assembly
- The spouses of deceased dignitaries such as: Governors-General, Prime Ministers, and National Heroes
- The Chairmen of the Commissions established under the Constitution
- The Head of the Civil Service
- The Ombudsman, Director of Public Prosecutions, and Auditor General
- The Director of Finance and Economic Affairs, the Solicitor General, the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, the Permanent Secretaries, and the Governor of the Central Bank
- The Ambassadors/High Commission (Overseas)
- The Chief of Staff for the Barbados Defence Force, and the Commissioner of Police
- 1. The Chancellor, University of the West Indies; 2. The Chairman;The Cave Hill Campus Council, University of the West Indies; 3. The Principal, Cave Hill Campus; and the Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies.
- The former Ministers
- The Members of The Order of the Caribbean Community, and the holders of knighthoods conferred under the monarchy of Barbados.
- The holders of the Companion of Honour of Barbados
- The holders of the Companions of the Order of St. Michael and St. George
- The Heads of the regional bodies with diplomatic status.
- The Related grades, and the Clerk of Parliament
- The Chargé d'affaires and Acting High Commissioners, Deputy High Commissioners, Counsellors in Embassies, High Commissions and Legations, Consul-General - Chefs de Poste
- The Consuls - Chefs de Posts
- The Members of the Commissions established under the Constitution
- The Chairmen of Statutory Boards
- The Heads of Government Departments, including the Chief Technical Officers of departments integrated in Ministries, The Chief Magistrate, and the Chief Executive Officers of Statutory Boards
- Honorary Consuls, Vice-Consuls in Embassies, and High Commissions and Legations
Dame Sandra Prunella Mason is a Barbadian politician, lawyer, and diplomat who is serving as the first president of Barbados since 2021. She was previously the eighth and final governor-general of Barbados from 2018 to 2021, the second woman to hold the office. On 20 October 2021, Mason was elected by the Parliament of Barbados to become the country's first president, and took office on 30 November 2021, when Barbados ceased to be a constitutional monarchy and became a republic.
Dame Elsie Payne was a teacher and following independence she became the first Barbadian-born principal of Queen's College in Bridgetown. She was the first woman to receive a damehood in Barbados, for her long dedication to education and nation.
The Erdiston Teachers' Training College is located in Pine Hill, Bridgetown, Barbados. It is affiliated with the School of Education of the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus.
University of the West Indies at Cave Hill is a public research university in Cave Hill, Barbados. It is one of five general campuses in the University of the West Indies system.
The president of Barbados is the head of state of Barbados and the commander-in-chief of the Barbados Defence Force. The office was established when the country became a parliamentary republic on 30 November 2021. Prior to that date, the head of state was Elizabeth II, Queen of Barbados, who was represented on the island by a governor-general. The final person to hold that position, Sandra Mason, is currently serving as Barbados' first president.
The 2021 Barbadian presidential election was held on 20 October 2021 to choose the first president of Barbados, an office established as part of Barbados becoming a republic. Sandra Mason, the incumbent governor-general of Barbados, was elected president, and she replaced Queen Elizabeth II as head of state of Barbados when she was sworn in on 30 November 2021.
Gabriel Abed is a Barbadian diplomat. He is the Ambassador of Barbados to the United Arab Emirates.
