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 departments of the island's government are located within the Greater Bridgetown area.  The Public Buildings or parliament, which stand at the heart of the city directly north of Heroes Square, house the third oldest continuous parliament in the 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.