1940s: Barbados is a colony of Britain.

1960s: Barbados gains independence from Britain in 1966, but remains a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The British monarch, represented by an appointed governor general, is the head of state and holds executive authority along with the prime minister and the cabinet. Today: In 1998, a constitutional commission recommends that Barbados become a republic and replace the British monarch with an elected head of state. However, Barbados remains a sovereign nation within the Commonwealth.

1940s: The mainstay of Barbados's economy is the sugar cane industry.

1960s: Toward the end of the 1960s, tourism becomes an important industry in Barbados, and in the following decade it surpasses the production of sugar cane as the nation's leading source of revenue.

Today: Tourism remains the top industry of Barbados, accounting for nearly 50 percent of the island's gross national product. Tourism...