Barbade

Interesting Facts About Barbade

• Barbados is the southern and easternmost island of the Caribbean region, located on the boundary of the South American and Caribbean plates.
• The introduction of sugar cane from Dutch Brazil in 1640 completely transformed Barbados's society, economy, and landscape, eventually creating one of the world's biggest sugar industries.
• Sephardic Jews, originally expelled from the Iberian peninsula, played an instrumental role in ensuring the early success of Barbados's sugar industry after arriving from Dutch Brazil.
• Large numbers of Irish indentured servants and transported labourers arrived in Barbados during the 17th century, with estimates suggesting approximately 10,000 Irish were deported to the West Indies and approximately 40,000 came as voluntary indentured servants.
• By 1660, Barbados had achieved near parity between its Black and White populations, with approximately 27,000 Black people and 26,000 White people on the island.
• Barbados enacted one of the first slave codes as a way of legislatively controlling its enslaved Black population, and this law's text became influential in similar laws enacted in other colonies.

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