Barbados has acquired the   nickname "Little England" because,   through the centuries, it has   remained the most British of the   Caribbean islands.

  The island was uninhabited when   first settled by the British in 1627.   Slaves worked the sugar plantations   established on the island until 1834   when slavery was abolished. The   economy remained heavily   dependent on sugar, rum, and   molasses production through most of   the 20th century. The gradual   introduction of social and political   reforms in the 1940s and 1950s led   to complete independence from the   UK in 1966. In the 1990s, tourism   and manufacturing surpassed the   sugar industry in economic   importance.

  Historically, the Barbadian economy   had been dependent on sugarcane   cultivation and related activities, but   production in recent years has   diversified into manufacturing and   tourism. Offshore finance and   information services are important   foreign exchange earners, and there   is also a light-manufacturing sector.   The government continues its efforts   to reduce unemployment, to   encourage direct foreign investment,   and to privatize remaining state-  owned enterprises. The economy   contracted in 2002 mainly due to a   3% decline in tourism. Growth   should be positive in 2003, the   precise level largely dependent on   economic conditions in the US and   Europe.