Antigua and Barbuda

The Siboney were the first to inhabit the islands of Antigua and Barbuda in 2400 B.C., but Arawak Indians populated the islands when COLUMBUS landed on his second voyage in 1493. Early settlements by the Spanish and French were succeeded by the English who formed a colony in 1667. Slavery, established to run the sugar plantations on Antigua, was abolished in 1834. The islands became an independent state within the British Commonwealth of Nations in 1981.

total:

0.005 cu km/yr (60%/20%/20%)

per capita:

63 cu m/yr (1990)

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Antiguan(s), Barbudan(s)

adjective:

Antiguan, Barbudan

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.87 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.76 male(s)/female

total population:

0.9 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

definition:

age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling

total population:

85.8%

male:

NA

female:

NA (2003 est.)

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Antigua and Barbuda

name:

Saint John's

geographic coordinates:

17 07 N, 61 51 W

time difference:

UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

chief of state:

Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Louisse LAKE-TACK (since 17 July 2007)

head of government:

Prime Minister Winston Baldwin SPENCER (since 24 March 2004)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

• the monarchy is hereditary;
• governor general chosen by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister;
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the governor general

• Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court consisting of a High Court of Justice and a Court of Appeal (based in Saint Lucia; two judges of the Supreme Court are residents of the islands and preside over the Court of Summary Jurisdiction);
• Magistrates' Courts;
• member of the Caribbean Court of Justice

• Antigua Labor Party or ALP [Lester Bryant BIRD];
• Barbuda People's Movement or BPM [Thomas H. FRANK];
• Barbuda People's Movement for Change [Arthur NIBBS];
• Barbudans for a Better Barbuda [Ordrick SAMUEL];
• United Progressive Party or UPP [Baldwin SPENCER] (a coalition of three parties - Antigua Caribbean Liberation Movement or ACLM, Progressive Labor Movement or PLM, United National Democratic Party or UNDP)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Deborah Mae LOVELL

chancery:

3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016

telephone:

[1] (202) 362-5122

FAX:

[1] (202) 362-5225

consulate(s) general:

Miami, New York

• red, with an inverted isosceles triangle based on the top edge of the flag;
• the triangle contains three horizontal bands of black (top), light blue, and white, with a yellow rising sun in the black band;
• the sun symbolizes the dawn of a new era, black represents the African heritage of most of the population, blue is for hope, and red is for the dynamism of the people;
• the "V" stands for victory;
• the successive yellow, blue, and white coloring is also meant to evoke the country's tourist attractions of sun, sea, and sand

name:

"Fair Antigua, We Salute Thee"

lyrics/music:

Novelle Hamilton RICHARDS/Walter Garnet Picart CHAMBERS

note: adopted 1967; as a Commonwealth country, in addition to the national anthem, "God Save the Queen" serves as the royal anthem (see United Kingdom)

agriculture:

7%

industry:

11%

services:

82% (1983)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

good automatic telephone system

domestic:

fixed-line teledensity roughly 50 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity is some 190 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 1-268;
• landing points for the East Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS) and the Global Caribbean Network (GCN) submarine cable systems with links to other islands in the eastern Caribbean extending from the British Virgin Islands to Trinidad;
• satellite earth stations - 2;
• tropospheric scatter to Saba (Netherlands) and Guadeloupe (France) (2009)

• state-controlled Antigua and Barbuda Broadcasting Service (ABS) operates 1 TV station;
• multi-channel cable TV subscription services are available;
• 1 radio station operated by ABS;
• roughly 15 radio stations, some broadcasting on multiple frequencies (2007)

total:

1,165 km

country comparison to the world: 181

paved:

384 km

unpaved:

781 km (2002)

males age 16-49:

21,141

females age 16-49:

24,056 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

17,676

females age 16-49:

19,960 (2010 est.)

male:

806

female:

799 (2010 est.)