Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It is 34 kilometres in length and up to 23 km (14 mi) in width, covering an area of 432 km2 (167 sq mi). It is in the western part of the North Atlantic, 100 km (62 mi) east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea. Barbados is located roughly 13°N of the equator. It is about 168 km (104 mi) east of both the countries of Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and 180 km (110 mi) south-east of Martinique and 400 km (250 mi) north-east of Trinidad and Tobago. Barbados is outside the principal Atlantic hurricane belt. Its capital and largest city is Bridgetown.
The Government of Barbados (GoB), is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic, where the President of Barbados represents as the head of state and the Prime Minister of Barbados represents as the head of government.
The governor-general of Barbados was the representative of Queen Elizabeth II in her capacity as Barbadian monarch from independence in 1966 until the establishment of a republic in 2021. Under the government's Table of Precedence for Barbados, the governor-general of Barbados was regarded as being the most important of all personnel of the Barbados government.
The Parliament of Barbados is the national legislature of Barbados. It is accorded legislative supremacy by Chapter V of the Constitution of Barbados. The Parliament is bicameral in composition and is formally made up of two houses, an appointed Senate and an elected House of Assembly, as well as the President of Barbados who is indirectly elected by both. Both houses sit in separate chambers in the Parliament Buildings, in the national capital Bridgetown in Saint Michael.
The Senate of Barbados is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Barbados. The Senate is accorded legitimacy by Chapter V of the Constitution of Barbados. It is the smaller of the two chambers. The Senate was established in 1964 to replace a prior body known as the Legislative Council. Besides creating and reviewing Barbadian legislation, the Senate generally reviews approved legislation originating from the House of Assembly. One main constraint on the Senate is that it cannot author monetary or budget-related bills. Most of the non-political appointees to the Senate have been selected by the President from civil society organisations, labour collectives and public associations in Barbados.
The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the nation of Barbados.
Knight or Dame of St Andrew is an award within the Order of Barbados and forms part of the national honours system of Barbados.
Barbados transitioned from a parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the hereditary monarch of Barbados to a parliamentary republic with a ceremonial elected president as head of state. The prime minister remains head of government. The last governor-general, 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. Barbados shared the Sovereign with the other Commonwealth realms, with the country's monarchy being separate and legally distinct. The Barbadian monarch's operational and ceremonial duties were mostly delegated to her representative, the Governor-General of Barbados.
David John Howard Thompson QC was the sixth prime minister of Barbados from 15 January 2008 until his death from pancreatic cancer on 23 October 2010.
Mia Amor Mottley, is a Barbadian politician and attorney, and leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP). She has been the Prime Minister of Barbados since 2018. Mottley is the eighth person to hold the position of Prime Minister in Barbados and the first woman to hold either position. She is also Barbados' first prime minister under a republic system.
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".
Freundel Jerome Stuart, OR, PC, QC is a Barbadian politician who served as seventh prime minister of Barbados and the leader of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) from 23 October 2010 to 21 February 2013; and from 21 February 2013 to 25 May 2018. He succeeded David Thompson, who had died in office on 23 October 2010 from pancreatic cancer.
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, 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
- 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
- The Chancellor, University of the West Indies;
- The Chairman;
- The Cave Hill Campus Council, University of the West Indies;
- 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
- 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
Sir Elliott Fitzroy Belgrave, GCMG, KA, CHB, QC is a retired Barbadian High Court Judge who served as the seventh governor-general of Barbados from 1 June 2012 to 30 June 2017. He previously served as Acting Governor-General from 1 November 2011 to 1 June 2012. On 22 May 2012, the prime minister of Barbados announced that Belgrave would be appointed as the 7th Barbadian Governor-General of Queen Elizabeth II. In preparation, Justice Sandra Mason was appointed as acting Governor-General on 30 May 2012 pending Belgrave's preparation for his own oath-taking ceremony on 1 June.
Dame Sandra Prunella Mason is a Barbadian politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving as the first president of Barbados since 30 November 2021, when Barbados was declared a Commonwealth republic. Previously the eighth and final governor-general of Barbados from 2018 to 2021, she was elected by the Parliament of Barbados on 20 October 2021 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 (1927–2004) was a teacher and following independence she became the first Barbadian-born principal of Queen's College in Bridgetown. She was the first woman knighted in Barbados for her long dedication to education and the nation.
The President of Barbados, sometimes referred to as the President of the Republic 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. Before, the head of state was Elizabeth II, Queen of Barbados, who was represented on the island by a governor-general. Dame Sandra Mason, the last governor-general, is also the 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. Dame 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.
