This post will provide facts about Antigua, highlight a brief history of Antigua and Barbuda and also provide answers to questions regarding Antigua as a country.
Antigua and Barbuda is a sovereign island country in the West Indies in the Americas, lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major islands, Antigua and Barbuda separated by 63 km (39 mi), and smaller islands (including Great Bird, Green, Guiana, Long, Maiden, Prickly Pear, York Islands, Redonda). The permanent population number is about 97,120 (2019 est.), with 97% being resident on Antigua. The capital and largest port and city is St. John's on Antigua, with Codrington being the largest town on Barbuda. Lying near each other, Antigua and Barbuda are in the middle of the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser Antilles, roughly at 17°N of the equator. The island of Antigua was explored by Christopher Columbus in 1493 and named for the Church of Santa María La Antigua. Antigua was colonized by Britain in 1632; Barbuda island was first colonised in 1678. Having been part of the Federal Colony of the Leeward Islands from 1871, Antigua and Barbuda joined the West Indies Federation in 1958. With the breakup of the federation, it became one of the West Indies Associated States in 1967. Following self-governance in its internal affairs, independence was granted from the United Kingdom on 1 November 1981. Antigua and Barbuda is a member of the Commonwealth and Elizabeth II is the country's queen and head of state. The economy of Antigua and Barbuda is particularly dependent on tourism, which accounts for 80% of GDP. Like other island nations, Antigua and Barbuda are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as sea level rise, and increased intensity of extreme weather like hurricanes, which have direct impacts on the island through coastal erosion, water scarcity, and other challenges. As of 2019, Antigua and Barbuda has a 0% individual income tax rate, as does neighboring St. Kitts and Nevis. Antigua was first settled by archaic age hunter-gatherer Amerindians called the Ciboney. Carbon dating has established the earliest settlements started around 3100 BC. They were succeeded by the ceramic age pre-Columbian Arawak-speaking Saladoid people who migrated from the lower Orinoco River. They introduced agriculture, raising, among other crops, the famous Antigua black pineapple (Ananas comosus), corn, sweet potatoes, chiles, guava, tobacco, and cotton. Later on the more bellicose Caribs also settled the island, possibly by force. Christopher Columbus was the first European to sight the islands in 1493. The Spanish did not colonise Antigua until after a combination of European and African diseases, malnutrition, and slavery eventually extirpated most of the native population; smallpox was probably the greatest killer. The English settled on Antigua in 1632; Christopher Codrington settled on Barbuda in 1685. Tobacco and then sugar was grown, worked by a large population of slaves from West Africa who soon came to vastly outnumber the European settlers. The first two decades of Antigua's independence were dominated politically by the Bird family and the ALP, with Vere Bird ruling from 1981 to 1994, followed by his son Lester Bird from 1994 to 2004. Though providing a degree of political stability, and boosting tourism to the country, the Bird governments were frequently accused of corruption, cronyism and financial malfeasance. Vere Bird Jr., the elder son, was forced to leave the cabinet in 1990 following a scandal in which he was accused of smuggling Israeli weapons to Colombian drug-traffickers. Another son, Ivor Bird, was convicted of selling cocaine in 1995. In 1995 Hurricane Luis caused severe damage on Barbuda. The ALP's dominance of Antiguan politics ended with the 2004 Antiguan general election, which was won by Baldwin Spencer's United Progressive Party (UPP). However the UPP lost the 2014 Antiguan general election, with the ALP returning to power under Gaston Browne. Most of Barbuda was devastated in early September 2017 by Hurricane Irma, which brought winds with speeds reaching 295 km/h (185 mph). The storm damaged or destroyed 95% of the island's buildings and infrastructure, leaving Barbuda "barely habitable" according to Prime Minister Gaston Browne. Nearly everyone on the island was evacuated to Antigua. Amidst the following rebuilding efforts on Barbuda that were estimated to cost at least $100 million, the government announced plans to revoke a century old law of communal land ownership by allowing residents to buy land; a move that has been criticised as promoting "disaster capitalism".
There are no states in Antigua, it consists of two major islands, Antigua and Barbuda separated by 63 km (39 mi), and smaller islands (including Great Bird, Green, Guiana, Long, Maiden, Prickly Pear, York Islands, Redonda).
Antigua and Barbuda, islands that form an independent state in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean Sea, at the southern end of the Leeward Islands chain. There is one dependency, the small island of Redonda. The capital is St.
There are 12 cities in Antigua and Barbuda. The largest city is Carlisle with a population of 75 306.
The Antiguans speak English language
Saint John's, city and capital of Antigua and Barbuda. It lies on the northwest coast of Antigua and is a resort community and the island's main port (handling sugar, cotton, foodstuffs, machinery, and lumber).
Antigua and Barbuda is an independent country, which is divided into two islands, Antigua and Barbuda and it is part of the commonwealth.
It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Barbuda became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations on 1 November 1981.