None of the original Arawaks who lived in Barbados have remained. It is believed that these Arawaks inhabited Barbados around 600BC but were driven out by Caribs who themselves did not settle in Barbados.

Barbados was known to the Europeans since the sixteenth century. However, it was not until 1627 that a formal colony was established by a group of Englishmen who planted tobacco and cotton for export to England.

After 1645 these crops were replaced by sugar which fostered the development of the plantation system.

In the one hundred and fifty-four years since the abolition of slavery, in 1834, the descendants of the African slaves who were imported into the island to underpin the plantation system grew into a thriving and industrious population which has contributed greatly to the economic and political development of Barbados, largely from a monoculture dependency on sugar to a more diversified economy which now includes a large tourist industry, manufacturing, financial and other services.

In 1966 after almost 350 years of unbroken British colonial status, Barbados became a fully independent sovereign nation. The country has continued since that time to display the same social, economic and political stability as had been a feature of its colonial past.