Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Each Endeavouring, All Achieving
Anthem: Fair Antigua, We Salute Thee Royal anthem: God Save the Queen1
Capital	Saint John's
Largest city	Saint John's
Official language	English
Government	Federal const. monarchy
- Head of State	Elizabeth II
- Governor-General	James Carlisle
- Prime Minister	Baldwin Spencer
Independence
- From the UK	November 1, 1981
Area
- Total	442 km² (198th) 171 sq mi
- Water (%)	negligible
Population
- 2005 estimate	81,479 (197th)
- Density	184/km² (57) 394/sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
- Total	US$750 million (170th)
- Per capita	US$11,523 (59th)
HDI  (2004)	0.808 (high) (59th)
Currency	East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
Time zone	AST (UTC-4)
- Summer (DST)	ADT (UTC-3)
Internet TLD	.ag
Calling code	+Area code 268
1 God Save The Queen is officially a national anthem but is generally used only on regal and vice-regal occasions.

Antigua and Barbuda is an island nation located in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. This country has two major islands: Antigua (IPA: [ænˈtiːgə]) and Barbuda (IPA: [bɑrˈbjuːdə]). They are located in the middle of the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean, roughly 17 degrees north of the equator. Antigua and Barbuda are part of the Lesser Antilles archipelago with the islands of Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago to the south, Montserrat to the southwest, Saint Kitts and Nevis to the west and Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin and Anguilla to the northwest.

History

Main article: History of Antigua and Barbuda

Pre-ceramic Amerindians were the first to inhabit the islands of Antigua and Barbuda in 2400 BC. Later Arawak and Carib Amerindian tribes populated the islands. The island of Antigua was originally named Wadadli by the natives. Christopher Columbus landed on his second voyage in 1493 and gave the island the name Antigua. Early settlement by the Spanish was replaced by English rule from 1632, with a French interlude in 1666. Subsequently Irish Catholic slaves were transported to Antigua. Slavery, established to run the sugar plantations on Antigua, was abolished in 1834.

The islands became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations on 1 November 1981, and Vere Bird became the first prime minister.

Politics

Politics of Antigua and Barbuda takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic monarchy, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the Parliament. The Bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (17-member body appointed by the governor general) and the House of Representatives (17 seats; members are elected by proportional representation to serve five-year terms). The last elections held were on 23 March 2004 for the House of Representatives (next to be held in 2009). The Antigua Labour Party got 4 seats, while the United Progressive Party got 13.

Government

Since 1949 the party system had been dominated by the personalist Antigua Labour Party. However the Antigua and Barbuda legislative election, 2004, saw the defeat of the longest-serving elected government in the Caribbean. The Prime Minister, Lester Bird, had been in office since 1994, when he succeeded his father, Vere Bird. The elder Bird had been Prime Minister from independence in 1981, and before independence had been Chief Minister of Antigua from 1960, except for the period 1971-76.

Structure

The Head of State is the Queen, who is represented by the Governor-General. A Council of Ministers is appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister. The Judicial Branch is the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (based in Saint Lucia; one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the Court of Summary Jurisdiction). Antigua is also a member of the Caribbean Court of Justice. The Supreme Court of Appeal was the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, up until 2001, when the nations of the Caribbean Community voted to abolish the right of appeal to the Privy Council in favour of a Caribbean Court of Justice. Some debate between member countries had repeatedly delayed the court's date of inauguration. As of March, 2005, only Barbados was set to replace the process of appeals of Her Majesty in Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice which then had come into operation.

Administrative divisions

The island of Antigua is divided into six parishes:-

1 Saint George (4,473) 2 Saint John (14,121) 3 Saint Mary (5,303)

4 Saint Paul (6,117) 5 Saint Peter (3,622) 6 Saint Philip (2,964)

The island of Barbuda (1,241) and the uninhabited island of Redonda each enjoy dependency status.

The capital is the city of Saint John's (21,514)

Geography

The country consists of a number of islands, of which Antigua is the largest one, and the most populated. Barbuda, just north of Antigua is the other main island. The islands have a warm, tropical climate, with fairly constant temperatures year round. Redonda – annexed in the 1860s when Phosphate reserves were noted, unoccupied since 1930 also belongs to the nation of Antigua and Barbuda.

The islands are mostly low-lying, with the highest point being Boggy Peak, at 402 metres (1,319 ft). The small country's main town is the capital Saint John's on Antigua; Barbuda's largest town is Codrington. The local people like to say that Antigua has 365 beaches.

Economy

Tourism dominates its economy, accounting for more than half of its GDP. Weak tourist arrival numbers since early 2000 have slowed the economy, however, and pressed the government into a tight fiscal corner. The dual-island nation's agricultural production is focused on the domestic market and constrained by a limited water supply and a labour shortage stemming from the lure of higher wages in tourism and construction work.

Manufacturing comprises enclave-type assembly for export with major products being bedding, handicrafts, and electronic components. Prospects for economic growth in the medium term will continue to depend on income growth in the industrialised world, especially in the United States, which accounts for about one-third of all tourist arrivals.

Demographics

Most of the population are either descendants of the slaves that used to work on the sugar plantations, or of mixed African and European ancestry. There are also groups of Europeans, notably Irish, British and Portuguese, and Levantine Arabs. While the official language is English, many of the locals speak a form of Creole English.

Almost all Antiguans are Christians, with the Anglican Church (about 44%) being the largest denomination. Catholicism is another significant denomination. Non-Christian religions practiced on the islands include Rastafarianism, Islam, and Baha'i.

Places of interest

St. John's Catherdral

Culture

Media

There are two daily newspapers: Daily Observer, and Antigua Sun which also publishes newspapers on other Caribbean islands.

Sport

Cricket is very popular in Antigua and Barbuda, along with most Commonwealth nations. The 2007 Cricket World Cup will be hosted in the West Indies from 11 March to 28 April 2007. Antigua hopes to host some matches at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, which is still under construction, and will hold 20,000 people at full capacity.

Football (Soccer) is also a very popular sport. Antigua has a national football team but because of lack of experience not much has come out in that sector.

Athletics is also big in Antigua. In the schools from a young age, talented athletes are trained and Antigua has produced one or two fairly adept athletes. Janill Williams, a young athlete with much promise hails from Grey's Farm, Antigua. Also, there is Sonia Williams and Heather Samuel who have represented Antigua at the Olympic Games. Others to watch are Brendan Christian (100 m, 200 m), Daniel Bailey (100 m, 200 m) and James Grayman (High Jump).

Cuisine

The national dish is fungie (pronounced foon-gee) and pepper pot. Fungie is a dish very similar to the Italian Polenta being made mainly of cornmeal. Other local dishes include ducana, season rice, Saltfish and lobster (from Barbuda). There are also local confectionaries which include: sugarcake, fudge, raspberry and tamarind stew and peanut brittle.

Although these foods are indigenous to Antigua and Barbuda and to some other Caribbean countries, the local diet has diversified and now include the local dishes of Jamaica (e.g. jerk pork), Guyana (e.g. Roti) and other Caribbean countries. Chinese restaurants have also begun to become more mainstream. The supermarkets sell a wide variety of food, from American to Italian. Meals also vary depending on social class.

• A typical breakfast in Antigua might include cereal or a sandwich and tea/chocolate milk.
• Lunch might be anything that can be easily bought from a nearby shop, especially a bakery.
• Dinner is definitely the most varied, as it differs depending on taste, social class and education on nutrition. But it will typically include a starch, like rice/macaroni/pasta, vegetables/salad, an entree (fish, chicken, pork, beef etc.) and a side dish like macaroni pie, scalloped potatoes or plantains. Local drinks are mauby, seamoss, tamarind juice, raspberry juice, mango juice, lemonade, coconut milk etc. Adults favor beers and rums, many of which are made locally.

Sunday is the main Sabbath of the country and is the day when the culture is mostly reflected in the food. For breakfast one might have saltfish, eggplant, eggs, bacon, sausages, or lettuce. Dinner on Sundays is eaten earlier (around 2:00 pm) because parents are usually off from work and can stay home and cook. It may include pork, baked chicken, stewed lamb, or turkey, alongside rice (prepared in a variety of ways), macaroni pie, salads, and a local drink. Dessert may be ice cream and cake or an apple pie (mango and pineapple pie in their season) or Jello.

Antiguan Creole (Dialect)

Antiguan Creole is a dialect spoken on the small Caribbean island of Antigua and Barbuda although the Barbudan accent is slightly different.

Persons of higher social status find it easier to switch between Standard English and Antiguan English (dialect) mainly because of better education. The Dialect gets more raw the lower down the socio-economic ladder one moves.

In the years before Antigua and Barbuda's independence (in 1981), Standard English was widely spoken, but after independence, perhaps as an avenue of defiance Antiguan's taught themselves that speaking dialect was a part of their culture and that nothing at all was wrong with it.

Many of the words used in the Antiguan dialect are derived from English and also African origins. The dialect was formed when slaves owned by English planters imitated the English of their masters but failed to pronounce it correctly. This can be easily seen in some phrases like: "Me nah go" meaning "I am not going." Another example is: "Ent it?" meaning "Ain't it?" which is in itself dialect and means "isn't it?" Common island proverbs often can be traced to Africa.

Education

The people of Antigua & Barbuda have a high level of education with over 90% of the people being literate. The island of Antigua currently has two medical schools: American University of Antigua College of Medicine (AUA), which was founded in early 2000, is an offshore school which accepts students mainly from the US and Canada. The other is The University of Health Sciences Antigua (UHSA), a privately endowed institution founded in 1982. The University is chartered by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda.

There is also a government owned state college in Antigua as well as an IT college called ABIIT (Antigua and Barbuda Institute of Information Technology).

The University of the West Indies has a branch in Antigua for locals to continue University studies.

With the onset of the internet more Antiguans are completing Online degrees.

Famous Antiguans

• Jan-Eric Ahlfors - Stem cell research scientist
• Paget Henry - Intellectual/Sociologist
• Joanne C. Hillhouse - Writer/Journalist
• D. Giselle Isaac - Speaker of the House/Author/Screenwriter
• Marie Elena John
• Shermain Jeremy - Singer, Beauty Queen
• Sir Issac Vivian Richards - Cricketer
• Curtly Ambrose - Cricketer
• Richie Richardson - Cricketer
• Andy Roberts - Cricketer
• Jamaica Kincaid - Author
• Claudette "CP" Peters - Soca Artist
• Ledley King - Footballer
• Craig Speedy Claxton - Basketball player (of Antiguan descent)
• Maurice Hope - Boxer
• Bert Williams - Actor, Singer, Writer
• Anna Maria Horsford - Actress (of Antiguan descent)
• Emile Heskey - Football player (of Antiguan descent)
• Colin Kazim-Richards - Football Player (of Antiguan descent)
• Gregory Abbott - Singer
• Tim Hector - Intellectual, journalist and politician
• Basil Hill - Author
• Vere Cornwall Bird - Former Prime Minister (1981-1994)
• Lester Bird - Former Prime Minister (1994-2004)
• Baldwin Spencer - Prime Minister (2004 - )
• Sir James Carlisle - Governor General/Queen's representative
• William Harper - US Senator (South Carolina) in the 1800s.
• Josiah Martin - Colonial governor of the Province of North Carolina (1771-1775)
• Gregson Davis - Intellectual/Classicist
• King Short Shirt - Calypsonian
• Swallow (Calypsonian) - Calypsonian
• King Obstinate - Calypsonian
• Burning Flames - Soca Band, (Official Web site [1])
• Conrad Roberts - Actor

Trivia

• Antigua was an important port to Great Britain in the sailing ship days. Because of its unique position in relation to the trade winds, it was hard for ships to leave the port and easy for ones to come in. Therefore, when enemy ships tried to retreat back out to sea, it was very difficult for them, and they could more easily be caught by the British Navy.
• The Antigua Racer Snake is the rarest snake in the world, with only about two hundred living. It is found on Great Bird Island, an island off the coast of Antigua.
• Dickenson Bay Beach, and Half-moon Bay, two beaches in Antigua have been named by wikipedia.co.uk as Two of the Best Beaches in the World.
• Antigua and Barbuda claim to collectively have 365 beaches, one for every day in the year. This has never been tested and is taken lightly as humour.
• Vere Cornwall Bird Antigua and Barbuda's first Prime Minister is accredited to have brought Antigua & Barbuda and the Caribbean into a new era of independence.
• Antigua and Barbuda has been named the best Island Wedding Destination in the 12th annual International Caribbean World Awards, and has been cited by the Guinness World Records as having the most marriages per capita.
• Antigua's English Harbour Rum has been named one of The Best Rums in the World by Forbes Magazine.
• Claudette Peters, Antigua & Barbuda's Soca princess has been awarded Best New Female Artist at the International Soca Awards 2006.
• Young Destroyer, an Antiguan calypsonian is now crowned the Calypso King of the World after winning the CARIFESTA Calypso Competition in September 2006 in Trinidad.
• Eric Clapton, musician, has founded a Rehabilitation Clinic, the The Crossroads Centre, in Antigua which has had celebrity visitors like Whitney Houston.
• Giorgio Armani, fashion designer, has a million dollar mansion in Antigua.
• Duran Duran English Pop Band, Shot the music video for their 80's Hit "Rio" in Antigua

Foreign relations

Antigua and Barbuda is a member of the Caribbean Community, United Nations, World Trade Organization, Commonwealth of Nations, Organization of American States, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, and the Eastern Caribbean's Regional Security System.

Antigua and Barbuda is also a member of the International Criminal Court with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military (as covered under Article 98).

Miscellaneous topics

• Antigua Racer Snake Rarest snake in the world.
• Antigua ground lizard
• West Indian Whistling Duck
• Hawksbill turtle
• Chickenhawk (bird)
• Communications in Antigua and Barbuda
• Music of Antigua and Barbuda
• Military of Antigua and Barbuda
• Transportation in Antigua and Barbuda
• Antigua and Barbuda Branch of The Scout Association

See also

• Antigua
• Caribbean Community
• Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
• 2007 Cricket World Cup
• Commonwealth of Nations
• Lesser Antilles
• List of sovereign states
• Antiguan Creole
• Antigua Carnival
• VC Bird International Airport
• St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda

References

• CIA World Factbook entry on Antigua and Barbuda

External links

• The Official Website of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda
• Antigua & Barbuda, its Department of Tourism website
• Antigua and Barbuda, United States Library of Congress Portals on the World
• Governments on the WWW: Antigua and Barbuda
• The High Commission of Antigua and Barbuda. Tourism, business, history and culture, politics - an up to date website.
• Antigua Carnival - with great photo galleries.

Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Antigua and Barbuda | Bahamas¹ | Barbados | Belize | Dominica | Grenada | Guyana | Haiti¹ | Jamaica | Montserrat² | Saint Kitts and Nevis | Saint Lucia | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Suriname | Trinidad and Tobago
Associate members: Anguilla | Bermuda | Cayman Islands | British Virgin Islands | Turks and Caicos Islands
Observer status: Aruba | Colombia | Dominican Republic | Mexico | Netherlands Antilles | Puerto Rico | Venezuela
¹ member of the community but not the CARICOM (Caribbean) Single Market and Economy. ² territory of the United Kingdom awaiting British instruments of entrustment to join the CSME

Commonwealth Realms
Antigua and Barbuda | Australia | Bahamas | Barbados | Belize | Canada | Grenada | Jamaica | New Zealand | Papua New Guinea | Saint Kitts and Nevis | Saint Lucia | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Solomon Islands | Tuvalu | United Kingdom

Coordinates: