Editing Bridgetown (section)

== Society and culture ==
[[File:High street Barbados.jpg|thumb|right|Colourful Bridgetown street]]
[[File:Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison-115165.jpg|thumb|St. Michael's Cathedral]]
Bridgetown serves as a principal centre of commercial activity in Barbados, as well as a central hub for the island's public transport system. Many of the [[Ministries and Agencies of the Barbados Government|ministries and departments]] of the island's government are located within the Greater Bridgetown area. The Public Buildings or [[Parliament of Barbados|parliament]], which stand at the heart of the city directly north of Heroes Square, house the third oldest continuous parliament in the [[British Empire|British Commonwealth]]. Indeed, at one point in the city's early history, Bridgetown was the most important city of all [[British possessions]] in the New World due to the city's easterly location in the Caribbean region.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

The headquarters of the [[National Library Service of Barbados]] is located in Bridgetown. The main branch is found on Coleridge Street, in a coral-stone building, built in the style of the [[English Renaissance]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

[[File:Barbados Mutual Life Assurance Society building, Bridgetown.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The iconic Barbados Mutual Life Assurance Society building from Broad Street]]
For a city of its size, the Greater Bridgetown area is home to several prestigious educational institutions. The city serves as the seat of one of the three campuses of the [[University of the West Indies]] in the northern suburb of [[Cave Hill, Saint Michael, Barbados|Cave Hill]]. The campus sits on a bluff offering views of Bridgetown and its port. The [[Barbados Community College]] is located {{convert|3|mi|km|spell=in}} east of the Central Business District in a suburb known as "The Ivy", while the sprawling campus of the [[Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic]] is located just beyond the eastern limits of the city in a suburb known as "[[The Pine, Saint Michael, Barbados|The Pine]]". In addition, the city houses such distinguished secondary schools as [[Harrison College (Barbados)|Harrison College]], [[Combermere School|Combermere]] and The St. Michael School. The [[American University of Barbados]], School of Medicine located in [[Wildey, Barbados|Wildey]] area of the Parish of [[Saint Michael, Barbados|Saint Michael]] located roughly 4&nbsp;km east of Bridgetown, it lies on the border with the Parish of Christ Church.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

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 Cricket World Cup|2007 World Cricket Cup]] Finals held at the historic [[Kensington Oval]]. The stadium was renovated to a state-of-the-art sports facility accommodating 30,000 spectators. Live viewership for the 2007 event was estimated to be over 100 million people worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web
| last= Mukherjee|first= Sharmistha
| work= Business Standard 
|date=25 March 2011|title=ICC Cricket World Cup draws record viewership|url=http://www.sify.com/finance/icc-cricket-world-cup-draws-record-viewership-news-equity-ldzbb5gebaf.html|access-date=2023-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828112820/http://www.sify.com/finance/icc-cricket-world-cup-draws-record-viewership-news-equity-ldzbb5gebaf.html |archive-date=28 August 2011 }}</ref>

=== Utilities and local services ===
[[File:Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison-115163.jpg|thumb|Barbados Museum and Historical Society at the military prison at St. Ann's Garrison]]
Today, Bridgetown is a fully modern and thriving city, with access to many modern services including a piped water supply (said to be naturally among the purest in the world), electricity, natural gas supply, cutting-edge telecommunications, wireless services, internet cafes, and a good overall infrastructure. The city is also served by an impressive conference facility known as the [[Sherbourne Conference Centre]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

*Electricity – [[Barbados Light and Power Company]] Ltd. (BL&P)
*Natural Gas – National Petroleum Corporation
*Water – [[Barbados Water Authority]] (BWA)
*Telecommunications –   [[Digicel]], [[Flow (brand)|FLOW]], and [[WIISCOM]]
*Television – [[CBC TV 8 (Barbados)|CBC TV 8]], [[Multi-Choice TV (Barbados)]], and [[DirecTV]]
*Radio – [[List of radio stations in Barbados]]
*[[Barbadian media]]