It’s not quite as small as Washington D.C., but the island of Barbados is close – at 166 square miles, it is crossable by foot from shore to shore within a day. The Portugese were the European explorers to find the island, naming it after the “bearded” fig trees that grew plentifully on the island, but the British were its first settlers. There was no indigenous population – likely they were all wiped out in a previous war – and the entire area was converted for sugar cane plantation. Barbados always enjoyed a great amount of self-rule, which grew towards full independence in by the middle of the 20th century.

On this day, November 30, in 1966, the democratic movements for equal rights for all citizens of the island-nation, which led to a more autonomous government, culminated in self-rule for Barbados

The island is now government by a parliamentary democracy, but still maintains ties to the British  crown. Barbados is a member of the Commonwealth, and counts among members of its government the Governor General, the symbolic representation of the British monarch on the island. The head of state of Barbados is the King or Queen of Britain.