Barbados is a relatively flat island of 1,116 square kilometers (431 square miles), three times the size of the U.S. District of Columbia) with a population of more than 275,000. Ninety percent of the population is of African origin. Its population growth has been quite small, chiefly due to a high emigration rate.

The British, who landed on Barbados in the early 1600s, found no inhabitants. British settlers arrived in 1627, and Barbados was a British colony until gaining its independence in 1966. British planters eventually adopted sugar cane as their cash crop, and this decision led to the consolidation of small farms into large plantations and the importation of slaves from Africa. It also made Barbados vulnerable to the vagaries of the global sugar market. Since gaining independence, Barbados has moved from dependence on sugar to an economy based on tourism.

While long a British colony, Barbados was always self-funding, with...