The culture of Barbados can be summarized in 3 sentences: The people of Barbados speak English with a local Bajan dialect and their traditional cuisine features flying fish and cou cou, a polenta-like side dish made with cornmeal and okra. Music from Barbados includes traditional Bajan styles, while the economy has diversified from its historical dependence on sugarcane to include tourism and offshore financial services, resulting in one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean region.

1. Culture of Barbados
Cassidy Dankert

2. Language
• They speak English but with a dialect called Bajan
• Bajan is broken English and a few other rules
– "th" is said as "d“
– some words are cut short (happened to happen)
– some words are mixed "moboton" which is a mix of
"mob", "of" and "ton" and means a whole lot
– instead of saying “very” saying the adjective more than
once (she is pretty, pretty, pretty)
– cutting word endings off ("what happened?" becomes
"whahappen?") (T. B. Inc.)

3. Food
• A local dish which is synonymous with Barbados is
flying fish and cou cou, traditionally served on Fridays.
• The skillfully boned flying fish is rolled and stewed
down in gravy made with herbs, tomatoes, garlic,
onions and butter.
• Cou cou is similar to polenta, made with yellow corn
meal but cooked with finely chopped okras, water and
butter.
– Cou cou can also be made with breadfruit and green
bananas and is served with salt fish or beef stew.
• local food is made with a variety of ingredients, most of
which will be familiar to you, but are enhanced with
local herbs and spices to create a distinct Bajan flavour.
(T. B. Inc.)

4. Music
• http://www.dhingana.com/hindi/pradeep-bhajan-so
• Examples of traditional Bajan music

5. Economic Aspect
• Historically, the Barbadian economy was dependent on
sugarcane cultivation and related activities.
• In recent years the economy has diversified into light industry
and tourism with about three-quarters of GDP and 80% of
exports being attributed to services.
• The country enjoys one of the highest per capita incomes in
the region.
• Offshore finance and information services are important
foreign exchange earners and thrive from having the same
time zone as eastern US financial centers and a relatively
highly educated workforce. (CIA)
• Barbados' principal industries are now tourism and off-shore
financial services. Sugar cane and rum are no longer "king"
but still bring substantial revenue to Barbados. (S. C. Inc.)

6. Standard of Living
• "The Barbados standard of living is the highest in
the Caribbean. (S. C. Inc.)
• Barbados is often called the 'Switzerland of the
Caribbean' ". (S. C. Inc.)
• "literacy rate: 99.7% (CIA)
• life expectancy: 74.52" (CIA)
• 100% of the people have safe water and sanitation
facilities (CIA)