Antigua and Barbuda

The Siboney were the first people 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 Spanish and French settlements were succeeded by an English 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:

0.01 cu km/yr (63%/21%/15%)

per capita:

97.67 cu m/yr (2005)

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

0-14 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.84 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.9 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.76 male(s)/female

total population:

0.9 male(s)/female (2014 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 Gaston BROWNE (since 13 June 2014)

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 appointed 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

highest court(s):

• the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is the itinerant superior court of record for the 9-member Organization of Eastern Caribbean States to include Antigua and Barbuda;
• the ECSC - headquartered on St. Lucia - is headed by the chief justice and is comprised of the Court of Appeal with 3 justices and the High Court with 16 judges;
• sittings of the Court of Appeal and High Court rotate among the 9 member states;
• 2 High Court judges reside on Antigua and Barbuda

;

• note - Antigua and Barbuda replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London as the final appellate court;
• also a member of the Caribbean Court of Justice

judge selection and term of office:

• Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Chief Justice appointed by the Her Majesty, Queen ELIZABETH II;
• other justices and judges appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission;
• Court of Appeal justices appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 65;
• High Court judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 62

subordinate courts:

Industrial Court; Magistrates' Courts

Antigua Labor Party or ALP [Gaston BROWNE]

Barbuda People's Movement or BPM [Trevor WALKER]

Barbuda People's Movement for Change [Arthur NIBBS]

Barbudans for a Better Barbuda [Ordrick SAMUEL]

United Progressive Party or UPP [W. 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 (since 8 March 2005)

chancery:

3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016

telephone:

[1] (202) 362-5122

FAX:

[1] (202) 362-5525

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

agriculture:

7%

industry:

11%

services:

82% (1983)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

good automatic telephone system

domestic:

fixed-line teledensity roughly 40 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity is some 200 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) (2011)

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

total:

1,170 km

country comparison to the world: 182

paved:

386 km

unpaved:

784 km (2011)

• 18 years of age for voluntary military service;
• no conscription;
• Governor-General has powers to call up men for national service and set the age at which they could be called up (2012)

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.)