Profile
Background and figures as recorded in the CIA World Factbook.
The Siboney were the first people to inhabit the islands of Antigua and Barbuda in 2400 B.C., but the Arawaks populated the islands when Christopher COLUMBUS landed on his second voyage in 1493. Early Spanish and French settlements were succeeded by an English colony in 1667. Slavery, which provided labor on the sugar plantations on Antigua, was abolished in 1834. The islands became an independent state within the British Commonwealth of Nations in 1981. In 2017, Hurricane Irma passed over the island of Barbuda, devastating the island and forcing the evacuation of the population to Antigua.
- Capital
- Saint John's
- Government
- parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
- Population
- 102,634
- Area
- 443 sq km (Antigua 280 sq km; Barbuda 161 sq km)
- Location
- Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east-southeast of Puerto Rico
- Climate
- tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation
- Natural resources
- NEGL; pleasant climate fosters tourism
- Languages
- English (official); Antiguan Creole (an English-based creole)
- Religions
- Protestant 68.3% (Anglican 17.6%; Seventh Day Adventist 12.4%; Pentecostal 12.2%; Moravian 8.3%…
- Independence
- 1 November 1981 (from the UK)
- Administrative divisions
- 6 parishes and 2 dependencies*; Barbuda*, Redonda*, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mary, Saint Paul, Saint Peter, Saint…
- Currency
- East Caribbean dollars (XCD)
- Export partners
- Suriname 29%; Poland 21%; USA 8%; Dominican Republic 7%…
- Import partners
- USA 43%; Poland 6%; China 5%; UK 4%…
Source: CIA World Factbook — a work of the US government, in the public domain