is a sovereign island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is 34 kilometres (21 mi) in length and up to 23 kilometres (14 mi) in width, covering an area of 432 square kilometres (167 sq mi). It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea;[5] therein, it is about 168 kilometres (104 mi) east of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and 400 kilometres (250 mi) north-east of Trinidad and Tobago. Barbados is outside of the principal Atlantic hurricane belt. 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.[6] 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. In 1966, Barbados became an independent state and Commonwealth realm
é o país mais oriental das Caraíbas (Caribe), situado no Oceano Atlântico, a leste de Santa Lúcia e de São Vicente e Granadinas, na área conhecida como Índias Ocidentais. A capital é Bridgetown. Descoberta pelos espanhóis em 1492, foi visitada pelos portugueses de 1536 até 1625. Nesta data foi reclamada pelos britânicos em nome de Jaime VI da Escócia e I de Inglaterra, que lhe iniciaram a colonização em 1627-1628. Manteve-se como colónia britânica até 1966, ano de sua independência política