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parliamentary
democracy; independent sovereign state within the Commonwealth
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Elements of History :
The
island was uninhabited when first settled by the British in
1627. Slaves worked the sugar plantations established on the
island until 1834 when slavery was abolished. The economy
remained heavily dependent on sugar, rum, and molasses production
through most of the 20th century. The gradual introduction
of social and political reforms in the 1940s and 1950s led
to complete independence from the UK in 1966. In the 1990s,
tourism and manufacturing surpassed the sugar industry in
economic importance.
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Climate :
tropical;
rainy season (June to October)
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