Bridgetown, Barbados

Bridgetown is the capital of the island nation of Barbados. It is the economic, political, and social center of the island. The city is significant economically for its commercial activity, its tourism industry, and its position as an international port. Bridgetown is home to the beautiful parliament buildings of Barbados as well as several colleges and universities, including the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies.

Landscape

Unlike many Caribbean islands, Barbados has both a Caribbean and an Atlantic coast. The island is actually a large coral growth which was thrust up out of the water by a shifting of the earth's plates. For this reason, much of Barbados is relatively flat. The city of Bridgetown sits on the low-lying coral reef on the southeastern Caribbean coast of the island.

The entire island of Barbados is only 34 kilometers (21 miles) long and 23 kilometers (14 miles) wide, with a total area of 430 square kilometers (166 square miles). Bridgetown is the largest city on the island. In 2018, according to the Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook, it had an estimated population of 89,000. Like the rest of Barbados, Bridgetown has a tropical climate, with a rainy season from June to October.

People

Barbados is one of the world's most densely populated islands. With a population of roughly 303,431 as of 2023, according to the World Factbook, its population density was nearly 668 people per square kilometer in 2020, according to the World Bank. This number is even higher in Bridgetown, as the city is home to approximately one-third of the island's population but is only a fraction of the size of the island. More than 92 percent of Barbadians are of African descent; of the remainder, 2.7 percent are White, 3.1 percent are of mixed ethnicity, and 1.3 percent are East Indian.

Although the people of Barbados are officially known as Barbadians, they typically refer to themselves and products from their nation as "Bajan." With influences from both England and Africa, Barbados has a very diverse blend of cultures. While music and art demonstrate the island's African heritage, the most popular sport in Barbados is cricket, a reminder of the prominent English presence in the island's history. Likewise, the national language is English, but the local dialect, an English-based creole known as Bajan, reveals African influences.

The most popular type of music in Barbados is a unique form of calypso known as tuk, which uses just three instruments: the kettle drum, the bass drum, and the pennywhistle. Tuk bands are particularly popular around the Christmas holiday.

As on most of the island, a typical meal in Bridgetown includes fish, particularly flying fish or mahi-mahi (known in Barbados as "dolphin" but having no relation to the mammalian dolphin). The most commonly sold beer in Bridgetown is the island-brewed Banks beer. While Banks has a limited export business, Barbados is known internationally for its rum, particularly Mount Gay and Malibu rums.

The largest cultural event of Barbados takes place in Bridgetown during the annual island festival of Crop Over. The summer festival celebrates the sugar cane harvest and the end of the sugar season. The celebration begins and ends in Bridgetown, with smaller local festivities taking place throughout the island. Popular singer Rihanna, who was born in Barbados and raised in Bridgetown, has attracted greater attention to the event by attending several years and posting pictures on social media.

Economy

Bridgetown is the center of industry, services, education, and government for Barbados. Its major industries include banking, retail sales, tourism, natural resources, and the offshore market. Bridgetown is fully modern in its use of high-tech telecommunications, wireless services, and the internet. The city also provides a regulated stock exchange for native and Caribbean industries.

The city of Bridgetown is home to a variety of colleges and universities, including the Barbados Community College and one of three campuses of the University of the West Indies.

The Bridgetown Port is essential to the island's export trades of sugar, rum, and molasses. It also services the tourism industry and the international import and export trade for the entire eastern Caribbean, with its ability to berth both cruise and cargo ships.

All of the island's major transportation systems begin in or near Bridgetown. This includes the seven primary highways of Barbados and the nation's public bus system.

Landmarks

One of the most popular landmarks in Bridgetown is the Barbados Museum. The museum contains over 250,000 well-preserved artifacts detailing the history of the island.

The parliamentary buildings of Barbados are part of the third-oldest parliament in the Commonwealth. At the time of their establishment, the only other nations with parliaments were Great Britain and Bermuda. The oldest building of the parliament was constructed in 1640, and was rebuilt after a fire in 1668.

Near the parliamentary buildings is National Heroes Square, formerly known as Trafalgar Square. It was renamed in April 1999 in honor of the national heroes of Barbados. The square includes three famous sculptures, including the dolphin fountain that was built in 1865 to celebrate the city's technological advancement of piped-in water. The other statues honor British Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died in the Battle of Trafalgar, and the Barbadians killed in the first and second world wars.

Due to the long British influence in Barbados, Bridgetown's churches are predominantly Anglican and Catholic. Saint Michaels and All Angels, St. Mary's Anglican Church, and St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral are all significant landmarks. The Jewish synagogue in Bridgetown is one of the oldest in the Western hemisphere. Originally constructed in 1654, it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1831 and rebuilt in 1833.

The oldest part of the harbor of Bridgetown is known as the Careenage. This is the original location of the Indian bridge from which the city takes its name. The Careenage itself is the water that stretches inland from the sea and is passable by two bridges: an old drawbridge called the Chamberlain Bridge, and the Charles Duncan O'Neal Bridge, which connects the bridge to the Bridgetown bus terminal hub.

Carlisle Bay, which offers catamaran tours, boat tours, snorkeling and diving, is located just outside of the city proper off of Bay Street. The premiere sporting arena for Barbados, Kensington Oval, is also located in Bridgetown and is used primarily for cricket matches.

History

Bridgetown was first established by British colonizers in 1628. The city was originally called "Indian Bridge" based on the discovery of a primitive bridge, likely constructed by the Arawak people. After the bridge was replaced in 1654, the city became known as the Town of Saint Michael, the parish in which it is located, and was eventually renamed Bridgetown.

During the seventeenth century, Bridgetown grew as the port city served the island's sugar industry and subsequent slave trade. Through this port, Barbados played a key role in the slavery triangle. African slaves in Barbados worked the sugar crops, which were used to produce white sugar as well as rum. The sugar and rum were exported to Britain, and the rum was sold in western Africa to buy more slaves to work the sugar cane fields in Barbados. This cycle resulted in the island's dominant African population.

In 1816, a slave named Bussa inspired a revolt in Barbados. Although the revolt was reportedly caused by false rumors of a British vote to abolish slavery, the revolt itself represented a move toward freedom for the Africans of Barbados. Slavery was abolished in Barbados in 1834, and a four-year apprenticeship followed for the former slaves. When the period of apprenticeship ended in 1838, seventy thousand former slaves celebrated in the streets throughout the island. As freed men and women, some slaves pursued education and attained prominent positions on the island, while others continued to work in the sugar fields.

As the sugar industry declined in the nineteenth century, tourism took over as the primary industry of Barbados. Bridgetown continued to serve the island as the central port for the tourism business, and grew proportionately as the supporting hospitality industry developed within the city.

Barbados remained under British rule until 1961, when the island was granted internal autonomy. Barbados gained full independence from Great Britain in November 1966, and was governed by a parliamentary democracy while remaining a part of the Commonwealth. The first prime minister of the independent nation of Barbados was Errol Walton Barrow. In 2021, Barbados broke ties with the British Commonwealth and officially became a parliamentary republic.

In 2017, to honor Rihanna as a Barbadian icon and recognize her success in the music industry, a street in Bridgetown was renamed from Westbury New Road to Rihanna Drive.

Bibliography

"Barbados." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 20 Feb. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/barbados/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

"Barbados Country Profile." BBC News, 4 Aug. 2023, www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-18723928. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

Elias, Marie Louise, and Josie Elias. Barbados. 2nd ed., Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2010.

"Historic Bridgetown and Its Garrison." UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO, whc.unesco.org/en/list/1376. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

Marley, David F. Historic Cities of the Americas: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2005.