Saint Michael, Barbados in the context of "Cunard Line"

Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The City", but the most common reference is simply "Town". As of 2014, its metropolitan population stands at roughly 110,000.

The Bridgetown port, found along Carlisle Bay (at 13°06′22″N 59°37′55″W / 13.106°N 59.632°W / 13.106; -59.632 (Bridgetown port)) lies on the southwestern coast of the island. Parts of the Greater Bridgetown area (as roughly defined by the Ring Road Bypass or more commonly known as the ABC Highway), sit close to the borders of the neighbouring parishes Christ Church and St. James. The Grantley Adams International Airport for Barbados, the only airport on the island, is located 16 kilometres (10 mi) southeast of Bridgetown city centre. It has daily flights to major cities in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and the Caribbean. There is no longer a local municipal government, but it is a constituency of the national Parliament. During the short-lived 1950s-1960s Federation of the British West Indian Territories, Bridgetown was one of three capital cities within the region being considered to be the Federal capital of the region.

Sugar plantations in the Caribbean were a major part of the economy of Caribbean islands in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Most islands were covered with sugarcane fields and mills for refining the crop. The main source of labor, until the abolition of chattel slavery, was enslaved Africans. After the abolition of slavery, indentured laborers from India, China, Portugal and other places were brought to the Caribbean to work in the sugar industry. The plantations produced 80 to 90 percent of the sugar consumed in Western Europe, later supplanted by European-grown sugar beet.

The ABC Highway is the main urban highway in Barbados. Opened in 1989, it is named after three famous Barbadian politicians: John Michael Geoffrey Manningham ("Tom") Adams, Errol Barrow, and Hugh Gordon Cummins. From the east, the highway stretches from the Grantley Adams International Airport in Christ Church, to the western end at Cave Hill Road and University Drive, Cave Hill Campus, University of the West Indies, in Saint Michael. It roughly encircles the Parish of Saint Michael and the wider metropolitan area of Bridgetown.

The City of Bridgetown constituency is one of eleven (11) electoral districts in the Parish of St. Michael, and one thirty (30) nationally in Barbados. The Constituency covers a portion of the capital city Bridgetown. The district formed in 1843 is the first electoral district formed after the original eleven in the country. The first representative for the constituency was the national hero the Right Excellent Samuel Jackman Prescod. The member of parliament since 2022 is Corey Lane from the Barbados Labour Party. Before then it was held by Lt.Col. Jeffrey Bostic (Ret.) from 2013. The seat is usually won by a slim margin.

The Parliament of Barbados is the national legislature of Barbados. It is accorded legislative supremacy by Chapter V of the Constitution of Barbados. The Parliament is bicameral in composition and is formally made up of two houses, an appointed Senate (Upper house) and an elected House of Assembly (Lower house), as well as the president of Barbados who is indirectly elected by both. Both houses sit in separate chambers in the Parliament Buildings (commonly known as "The Public Buildings"), in the national capital Bridgetown in Saint Michael.

The Senate is made up of twenty-one Senators, while the House consists of thirty Members of Parliament (MPs) in addition to the Honourable Speaker of the House. Members to serve in the Cabinet of Barbados may be chosen by the Prime Minister from either the House of Assembly or Senate, (the Prime Minister alone who must be chosen by the President must come from the House of Assembly.)