March 15, 1997

(CNN) -- Imagine England's Trafalgar Square. Now picture tropical temperatures, brilliant sunshine and relaxed tourists in tank tops and shorts. A cheery futuristic vision of global warming in London? No, it exists. It's the "other" Trafalgar Square, on the island of Barbados.

In fact, the eastern Caribbean paradise is known as "Little England" -- not because of its weather, certainly, but for its architectural, social and historical influences.

Those factors have combined with traditions brought by African slaves in colonial times to create a unique island flavor, simmered in the tropical sun.

"We've got a nice mix of cultures here, with the British influence and the African influence," says Earlyn Shuffler, the president of the Barbados Tourism Authority.

"The African influence, we see that in our language, the kind of dialect we have here. We see it in the African rhythms we have in our music. We see it in some of the foods that we've become accustomed to."

Barbados basics: Sun, sand and sugar

Weather plays a major role in Barbados' two major industries: tourism and sugar farming.

Barbados is part of the Lesser Antilles, and the most eastern island of the Caribbean. For tourists worried about hurricanes, it has a remarkable track record.

"We've not had a hurricane since 1955," says Deputy Prime Minister Billie Miller, the Minister of Tourism. "We are off the direct path. ... Sometimes even a near-miss brings a lot of rain to us, but we don't have a lot of the devastation that unfortunately befalls the others."

The island is coral and limestone, which makes for beautiful white sand beaches, a major tourist draw.

It's a crowded piece of rock, with almost 300,000 people living in an area 21 miles long and 14 miles wide. Bridgetown, the capital, is the island's biggest and busiest city.