Parts of the Greater Bridgetown area (as roughly defined by the Ring Road Bypass or more commonly known as the ABC Highway),[3] sit close to the borders of the neighbouring parishes Christ Church and St. James.

The Grantley Adams International Airport for Barbados, is located 16 kilometres (10 mi) southeast of Bridgetown city centre.

[5][6] The present-day location of the city was established by English settlers in 1628; a previous settlement under the authority of Sir William Courten was at St. James Town.

Bridgetown is a major West Indies tourist destination, and the city acts as an important financial, informatics, convention centre, and cruise ship port of call in the Caribbean region.

Scholars widely believe that the Tainos were driven from Barbados to the neighbouring island of Saint Lucia, during an invasion by the Kalinagos, another indigenous people of the region.

[10] English settlement of Bridgetown began on 5 July 1628[11] under Charles Wolverstone, who brought with him 64 settlers to these lands formally claimed by James Hay, the Earl of Carlisle.

Wolverstone granted each of the settlers 100 acres (40 ha) of land on the northern side of the Careenage waterway for the purpose of general settlement.

In 1631, many acres of land directly facing Carlisle Bay were passed to Henry Hawley, the new Governor; but after reports of his dishonest behaviour he was arrested and forcibly returned to England in 1639.

[citation needed] In December 1925, a committee sought to petition the King for a Royal Charter of Incorporation to provide local government in the city, proposed to consist of a mayor, 8 aldermen, 12 common councillors, a town clerk, a head-borough or chief constable, and such other officers as would be deemed necessary.

The Corporation of Bridgetown thus ceased to exist, and its records and paraphernalia were deposited in both the Government Department of Archives and Barbados Museum and Historical Society.

[citation needed] As established in the early 17th century, Bridgetown's centre was originally composed of a swamp, which was drained and filled in to make way for development.

[16] The earliest boundaries of Bridgetown are contained by way of an Act passed on 4 April 1660 called, "to prevent the danger which may happen by fire, in or about any of the seaport towns of the Island".

The above portion for the Road Traffic Act also omits much of the 90 acres of new land originally formed by completion of the Port of Bridgetown in 1961.

The Careenage can be considered a marina for boaters entering or exiting the inner basin located directly in front of the Parliament buildings of Barbados.

During the rainy season the Constitution River flows into the Careenage area and acts as an outflow for water from the country's interior storm drainage network.

[citation needed] Bridgetown features a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw), with relatively constant temperatures throughout the course of the year.

[citation needed] Another major traffic artery into the city is Bay Street (which turns into Highway 7) and leads toward the South Coast of Barbados and the Parish of Christ Church.

[citation needed] The Harbour port acts as one of the major shipping and transhipment hubs from international locations for the entire Eastern Caribbean.

[citation needed] Bridgetown serves as a principal centre of commercial activity in Barbados, as well as a central hub for the island's public transport system.

[citation needed] The City of Bridgetown also played host to the 1994 United Nations Global Conference on Sustainable Development of Small Islands States.

Bridgetown has branches of some of the largest banks in the world and English-speaking Caribbean and is internationally recognised as an emerging financial domicile.

The city underwent considerable redevelopment in preparation for the 2007 World Cricket Cup Finals held at the historic Kensington Oval.

When on the island, to call anywhere in the United States or Canada simply dial +1 (area code) + seven digit phone number.

The Airport is in the final stages of an expansion project, which will also include the construction of an aviation museum to house the retired Concorde aircraft.

[citation needed] All seven of Barbados's primary highways begin close to the City of Bridgetown, in the Parish of Saint Michael.

Buses for points east and south leave from the Fairchild Street Bus Terminal, which is on the eastern edge of the city centre, near to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).