Antigua and Barbuda is an island nation located in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Antigua (Template:IPA2) and Barbuda (Template:IPA2) 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, Trinadad 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.
Antigua and Barbuda | |
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| Motto: Each Endeavouring, All Achieving | |
| Anthem: Fair Antigua, We Salute Thee Royal anthem: God Save the Queen1 | |
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| Capital and largest city | Saint John's |
| Official languages | English |
| Government | Federal const. monarchy |
| Elizabeth II | |
| James Carlisle | |
| Baldwin Spencer | |
| Independence | |
• From the UK | November 1, 1981 |
• Water (%) | negligible |
| Population | |
• 2005 estimate | 81,479 (197th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2005 estimate |
• Total | 938 (170) |
• Per capita | 11,523 (59) |
| HDI (2005) | 0.797 high (60) |
| Currency | East Caribbean dollar (XCD) |
| Time zone | UTC-4 (AST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-3 (ADT) |
| Calling code | Area code 268 |
| ISO 3166 code | AG |
| Internet TLD | .ag |
1 God Save The Queen is officially a national anthem but is generally used only on regal and vice-regal occasions. | |
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 settlements by the Spanish and French were succeeded by the English who formed a colony in 1667 by transporting Irish Catholic slaves 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
Template:Morepolitics 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:-
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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.
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 descendants of the slaves that used to work in the sugar plantations, but there are also groups of Europeans, notably Irish, British and Portuguese. While the official language is English, most of the locals speak patois, a form of Creole English.
Almost all Antiguans are Christians, with the Anglican Church (about 44%) being the largest denomination.
Culture
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 and in its season, it seems to be the topic on everyones' mind. 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. Janelle 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.
Cuisine
The national dish is fungi (pronounced foon-gee) and pepper pot. Fungi 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 a 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." And also in: "Ent it?" meaning "Ain't it?" which is in itself dialect and means "isn't it?"
Famous Antiguans
- Shermain Jeremy - Singer, Beauty Queen
- Sir Issac Vivian Richards - Cricketer
- Curtly Ambrose - Cricketer
- Richie Richardson - Cricketer
- Andy Roberts - Cricketer
- Jamaica Kincaid - Author
- 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 - Govenor 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)
- Burning Flames - Soca Band, (Official Web site [1])
- Conrad Roberts - Actor
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
See also
References
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.