Located in the archipelago of the Caribbean, Barbados is part of the “Petites Antilles”. It is roughly 34km high and 23km wide. Its superficies is 416Km2, and is surrounded by 97km of coast. The closer islands are Saint Vincent, Grenadines and Saint-Lucie. The south-west coast is bordered by the Caribbean Sea, the north coast are wilder due to the Atlantic Ocean. Island relatively flat, the Mount Hillaby reaches 336m.
Tropical climate winded by the Atlantic breeze. Tropical forest and mangroves are the heart of the island. Rainy season is from June to October.
History
The first local people were the Indians Arawaks, who lived in the Caribbean. The name Barbados comes from the Portuguese explorer Pedro A. Campos who named the island in 1536 Os Bardudos (“the beard people”) when he saw the long air root of some ficus which made him think of beards. Since 1966, Barbados has been a parliamentary democracy and part of the Commonwealth.
There are 280,000 people living on the island, Bridgetown is the capital. The official language is English but the Barbadians speak also “Bajan” which is a mix of English and creoles.
Our hotels
Activities and leisure
The west coast has magnificent white sand beaches with coconut palms and palm trees; the south coast is ideal for sailboarders and the east coast for surfers on the Atlantic Ocean.
It is possible to practice all nautical sports and scuba diving on the island, fishing, hiking, 2 golf courses, parks and reserves… and also cricket and polo, which are national sport coming from the Britain patrimony. Many restaurants and animations
Special events
There are various festivals all year long.
« National Indépendance Festival of Créative Arts »: song , dance, theater… close on November, 30th for the independence Day.
« Crop-Over Festival » in July with the carnival de Kadooment Day……
The island also organizes many sport events: world cup of sailboard in January, international championship of surf in November
Administrative formalities
* Passport valid at least 6 months upon the arrival date. * Airport tax of EC$50 or US$20 is required when leaving the country for all passengers (except child under 16).
* The local currency is the Barbadian Dollar (BDS$). Exchange rate around: 1BDS = 0,37€ (March 2010) Traveler’s checks and USD dollars are accepted along with credit cards such Visa, MasterCard, American Express…
* Electricity : 110 V
Pay attention, we drive on the left side of the road !!
Ambassador of Barbados in Brussels. E-mail: brussels@foreign.gov.bb Tourism office website : http://www.barbados.org
