Barbados National Holiday

Independence Day

The 30th of November is the Independence Day which Barbados gained from the United Kingdom in 1966.

Barbados is a sovereign island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is 34 kilometers (21 mi) in length and up to 23 kilometers (14 mi) in width, covering an area of 432 square kilometers (167 sq mi). It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometers (62 mi) east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about 168 kilometers (104 mi) east of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and 400 kilometers (250 mi) north-east of Trinidad and Tobago. Barbados is outside of the principal Atlantic hurricane belt. Barbados has a population of 277,821 people.

Barbados was discovered by Spanish navigators in the late 15th century and claimed for the Spanish Crown. It first appears on a Spanish map from 1511. The Portuguese visited the island in 1536, but they left it unclaimed, with their only remnants being an introduction of wild hogs for a good supply of meat whenever the island was visited. The first English ship, the Olive Blossom, arrived in Barbados in 1624. They took possession of it in the name of King James I. In 1627 the first permanent settlers arrived from England, and it became an English and later British colony. English is the official language of Barbados, and is used for communications, administration, and public services all over the island. In its capacity as the official language of the country, the standard of English tends to conform to the vocabulary, pronunciations, spellings, and conventions akin to, but not exactly the same as, those of British English.