such as Moravian, Methodist, and Roman Catholic. Barbados was settled by English colonists and run under British control since 1624. Its house of Assembly, which began in 1639, is the third oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere. By the time that Britain left in 1966, the island was completely English in culture. The production of sugarcane and its by-products, molasses and rum, long a mainstay of the Barbadian economy, has been replaced by tourism as the chief industry. The development of light industry, offshore banking, and fishing and the diversification of agriculture have been encouraged by the government. To work the sugarcane plantations, slaves were brought from Africa, a practice abolished throughout the British Empire in 1834. Dominance by a small group of British landowners continued, and a political rights movement began, resulting in the founding of the Barbados Labor Party (BLP) in 1938 and an offshoot, the Democratic Labor Party (DLP), in 1955. Barbados became independent on Nov. 30, 1966. Errol Barrow of the DLP, the first premier, was succeeded by Tom Adams of the BLP, who held office from 1976 until his death in 1985. The DLP returned to power under Barrow (1986 - 87) and Lloyd Erskine Sandiford (1987 - 94). Owen Arthur of the BLP became premier after elections in 1994 and was returned to office in a landslide victory in 1999. In 1997, Barbados hosted a regional summit attended by the leaders of the English-speaking Caribbean nations and U.S. president Bill Clinton. Late the following year, a constitutional commission recommended that Barbados become a republic and replace the British monarch with an elected president as head of state. The head of state of Barbados is Queen Elizabeth II and she is represented by the Governor General Dame Nita Barrow. The island of Barbados has three general elections and one smooth transfer of power from the DLP to the BLP. Barbados carries on trade with other Caribb...
