Antigua and Barbuda

In the Caribbean, Antigua and Barbuda (UK: /aenˈtiːɡə … bɑːrˈbuːdə/, US: /ænˈtiː̡wə … bɑːrˈbjuːdə/) is an independent island nation. Situated in the Leeward Islands region of the Lesser Antilles, it is the meeting point of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

The nation is made up of various smaller islands, such as Great Bird, Green, Guiana, Long, Maiden, Prickly Pear, York, and Redonda, as well as two larger islands, Antigua and Barbuda, which are separated by around 40 km (25 mi). According to 2019 estimates, there are around 97,120 permanent residents, 97% of whom live in Antigua. The main port, largest city, and capital of Antigua is St. John’s. The biggest town in Barbuda is Codrington.

Christopher Columbus named the island of Antigua after the Church of Santa María La Antigua after surveying it in 1493. In 1632, Antigua was colonized by Great Britain, and in 1678, Barbuda. In 1958, Antigua and Barbuda became a member of the West Indies Federation after being a part of the Federal Colony of the Leeward Islands since 1871.

It became a member of the West Indies Associated States in 1967 following the dissolution of the federation in 1962. On November 1, 1981, after a phase of internal self-governance, it officially separated from the United Kingdom. Charles III is the head of state of Antigua and Barbuda, a Commonwealth nation and member. It is a constitutional monarchy.

Eighty percent of Antigua and Barbuda’s GDP comes from tourism, which is the main driver of the island nation’s economy. Antigua and Barbuda is susceptible, like other island nations, to the consequences of climate change, including rising sea levels and more extreme weather events like hurricanes. These lead to problems like water shortages and coastal erosion.

An investment-based citizenship scheme is available in Antigua and Barbuda. There is no personal income tax in the nation.

Meaning and Origin

The Spanish terms for “ancient” and “bearded” are respectively Antigua and Barbuda. The Arawaks gave the island of Antigua its original name, Wadadli, which it is still known locally. The Caribs may have been called Barbuda Wa’omoni. It’s possible that Christopher Columbus gave it the name Santa Maria la Antigua in 1493 while passing there, taking inspiration from an image in the Spanish Seville Cathedral. Barbuda’s “bearded” are believed to be either the bearded fig trees that grow there or the male residents of the island.

Past Events

Prior to colonization

The Ciboney, a primitive hunter-gatherer tribe of Native Americans, were the first to colonize Antigua. According to carbon dating, the first settlements appeared approximately 3100 BC. The Saladoid people, who came from the lower Orinoco River, were Arawak-speaking pre-Columbian pottery-age people, and they succeeded them.

They brought agriculture, cultivating cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, chiles, guava, cotton, and the well-known Antigua Black Pineapple (Ananas comosus). The more aggressive Caribs eventually inhabited the island as well, maybe by coercion.

The arrival of Europeans and Slavery

In 1493, Christopher Columbus became the first European to lay eyes on the islands. The majority of the indigenous people were finally driven from Antigua by a confluence of European and African illnesses, starvation, and enslavement; smallpox was arguably the worst of these. Only then did the Spanish begin to colonize the island.

Christopher Codrington landed in Barbuda in 1685, while the English established Antigua in 1632. Slaves brought from West Africa labored in the cultivation of tobacco and then sugar, eventually outnumbering the European settlers by a wide margin.

Colonial era

In 1666, the English repelled a French effort to seize possession of the islands and went on to hold them. Due to the harsh living circumstances that the slaves suffered, there were uprisings in 1701, 1729, and 1736. Prince Klaas led the final uprising, which was put down before it could start and resulted in the execution of the leaders.

The British Empire’s 1833 decision to outlaw slavery had an impact on the economy. Natural catastrophes like the 1847 storm and the 1843 earthquake made this worse. The island of Redonda was once home to mining, but this activity ended in 1929, and the island has remained deserted ever since.

Originally a part of the colony of the Leeward Islands, Antigua and Barbuda joined the short-lived West Indies Federation in 1958–1962. On February 27, 1967, Antigua and Barbuda was granted complete internal autonomy and joined the United Kingdom as an affiliated state.

The 1970s were characterized by debates about the future of the islands and the competition between George Walter’s Progressive Labour Movement (PLM) and Vere Bird of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) (Premier from 1967 to 1971 and 1976 to 1981). On November 1, 1981, Antigua and Barbuda attained complete independence; Vere Bird was appointed prime minister of the fledgling nation.

The nation chose to stay a member of the Commonwealth, keeping Queen Elizabeth as head of state and Sir Wilfred Jacobs as governor-general. Sir James Carlisle (June 10, 1993 – June 30, 2007), Dame Louise Lake-Tack (July 17, 2007 – August 14, 2014), and the current governor, Sir Rodney Williams (August 14, 2014 – present) were the men who succeeded Sir Wilfred Jacobs.

The Age of Independence

The Bird family and the ABLP controlled Antigua’s politics throughout the first twenty years of the country’s independence. Vere Bird ruled from 1981 to 1994, and his son Lester Bird ruled from 1994 to 2004. Even while the Bird regimes increased tourism and offered some political stability, they were often accused of financial mismanagement, cronyism, and corruption.

The oldest son, Vere Bird Jr., was driven out of the government in 1990 after an incident involving allegations that he had smuggled Israeli weaponry to drug dealers in Colombia. In 1995, Ivor Bird, another son, was found guilty of distributing cocaine.

Hurricane Luis severely damaged Barbuda in 1995.

With the victory of Winston Baldwin Spencer’s United Progressive Party (UPP) in the 2004 Antiguan general election, the ABLP’s hegemony over Antiguan politics came to an end. From 2004 to 2014, Winston Baldwin Spencer led Antigua and Barbuda as prime minister. Nevertheless, the ABLP, led by Gaston Browne, returned to power in the 2014 general election in Antigua, and the UPP was defeated. In the 2018 snap election, the ABLP, led by Prime Minister Gaston Browne, won 15 of the 17 seats.

Nelson’s Dockyard received the UNESCO World Heritage Site designation in 2016.

Hurricane Irma, which hit Barbuda in early September 2017, destroyed much of the island with winds as high as 295 km/h (185 mph). Prime Minister Gaston Browne said that Barbuda was “barely habitable” after the hurricane destroyed or severely damaged 95% of the island’s infrastructure and structures.

Almost all island residents were evacuated to Antigua. The administration announced intentions to repeal a century-old regulation of community property ownership by enabling citizens to purchase land, a move that has been criticized as encouraging “disaster capitalism” amid the crisis anticipated to cost at least $100 million in reconstruction efforts on Barbuda.

Geography

Both the relatively low-lying islands of Antigua and Barbuda have comparatively low-lying terrain due to limestone deposits rather than volcanic activity. Boggy Peak, which was the highest peak in Antigua and Barbuda from 2008 to 2016, was sometimes referred to as Mt. Obama. Rising to a height of 402 meters, it is the remains of a volcanic crater. Boggy Peak (1,319 feet) is situated southwest of Antigua.

The coasts of these two islands are widely formed and are littered with beaches, lagoons, and natural harbors. The islands are surrounded on all sides by reefs and shoals. There are hardly many streams due to the little rainfall. It is impossible to locate adequate supplies of fresh groundwater on either of these islands.

A small, deserted island called Redonda is situated around 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Antigua. The island of Redonda is rocky.

Towns and Villages

Saint John’s, All Saints, Piggotts, and Liberta are the main cities in Antigua and Barbuda in terms of population. Codrington is the most populated city on Barbuda. 25% of people are thought to reside in metropolitan areas, which is far less than the 55% global average.

Islands

The two namesake islands, Antigua and Barbuda, make up the majority of Antigua and Barbuda. Apart from that, the largest islands in Antigua and Barbuda include Redonda island, which is located far from the two major islands, and Guiana Island and Long Island, all of which are off the coast of Antigua.

Climate

Rainfall varies greatly from season to season, with an average of 990 mm (39 in) falling annually. The wettest months are typically September through November. Drastic droughts and often low humidity are experienced by the islands. In winter, temperatures vary from 23 °C (73.4 °F) to 29 °C (84.2 °F), while in summer and autumn, they range from 25 °C (77.0 °F) to 30 °C (86.0 °F). On average, temperatures are 27 °C (80.6 °F). The months of December through February are the coldest.

Hurricanes, such as the strong Category 5 Hurricane Irma that hit Barbuda on September 6, 2017, destroy 95% of the island’s infrastructure, occur once a year on average. They evacuated around 1,800 people to Antigua.

Over $100 million would be needed, according to officials cited by Time, to reconstruct infrastructure and housing. “All critical infrastructure and utilities – food supply, medicine, shelter, electricity, water, communications, waste management – are non-existent,” stated Philmore Mullin, Director of Barbuda’s National Office of Disaster Services. He provided the following summary of the circumstances: “Public utilities must be completely repaired. To believe that anything can be restored in six months is overly optimistic. I have worked in disaster management for 25 years, and I have never seen anything like this.”

Environmental Problems

Similar to other island states, Antigua and Barbuda have particular environmental problems brought on by their tiny size and close proximity to the ocean. These include stresses on natural ecosystems, supplies of potable water, and overall deforestation.

Climate change exacerbates already-existing problems on the island. Similar to other island nations experiencing similar challenges, rising sea levels and more unpredictable weather put more strain on the island’s communities and the surrounding land through processes like coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion.

These problems not only pose a threat to the island’s citizens, but they also have an impact on the economy, since tourism accounts for 80% of GDP. Hurricanes Maria and Irma repeatedly damaged Antigua and Barbuda’s susceptible infrastructure during the very devastating 2017 hurricane season.

Demographics

Groups of ethnic people

The majority of Antigua’s 93,219 residents are of Portuguese, British, and West African ancestry. Ninety-one percent of the population is Black, four percent is mixed race, one percent is White, and two percent is other (mostly East Indian). The majority of White people are British. The rest of the population consists of Christian Levantine Arabs plus a tiny number of East Asians and Sephardic Jews.

The population is expatriating itself in greater numbers, with the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom being the most popular destinations for Antiguan Britons. Immigrants from other nations make up a minority of Antiguan citizens; they are mostly from Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, and, on the rise, the Dominican Republic, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Nigeria.

One of the biggest American communities in the English-speaking Eastern Caribbean is found in Antigua and Barbuda, where 4,500 American citizens are reported to reside. The birthplace of 68.47% of the populace is Antigua and Barbuda.

Languages

English is the language that is most frequently used in business. The Antiguan and Barbudan accents are clearly different from one another.

Standard English was the preferred language in the years preceding Antigua and Barbuda’s independence, as opposed to Antiguan Creole. The bourgeoisie and higher classes often despise the Antiguan Creole language. The educational system discourages the use of Antiguan Creole and substitutes Standard (British) English for instruction.

The British and African languages are the sources of a large number of terms used in the Antiguan dialect. Phrases that directly translate to “Isn’t it?” like “Innit?” make this clear. Africa is the source of many popular island proverbs, including the pidgin language.

Ten thousand or so people can communicate in Spanish.

Education

Children in Antigua and Barbuda between the ages of five and sixteen are required to attend free public schools. The British educational system serves as the model for the system. Daryll Sylvester Matthew is the Minister of Education, Sport, and Creative Industries at the moment.

In Antigua and Barbuda, the adult literacy rate is around 99%.

Religion

Christians make up the majority of Antiguans (77%) and the largest denomination is Anglicans (17.6%). Other Christian denominations represented include the Methodist Church (5.6%), Wesleyan Holiness Church (4.5%), Church of God (4.1%), Baptists (3.6%), Mormonism (<1.0%), Seventh-day Adventist Church (12.4%), Pentecostalism (12.2%), Moravian Church (8.3%), Roman Catholics (8.2%), and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Economy

With more than half of the GDP coming from tourism, the sector leads the economy. Antigua, a popular vacation spot for the wealthiest tourists, is renowned for having a large number of five-star establishments.

However, since the year 2000, there has been a decline in tourism in the lower and medium market groups, which has slowed the economy and put the government in a precarious financial situation. In an effort to draw in wealthy individuals, Antigua and Barbuda has implemented measures such as a 0% personal income tax rate in 2019.

Another major sector of the economy is the supply of financial services and investment banking. Scotiabank and the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), two significant global financial organizations, both have offices in Antigua.

Other financial services organizations with offices in Antigua include PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Pannell Kerr Forster, and KPMG. The Texas billionaire Allen Stanford owns the Antigua-based Stanford International Bank, which has come under fire from the US Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly masterminding a major scam that may have stolen as much as $8 billion from investors.

The country, which is made up of two islands, focuses the majority of its agricultural output on its domestic markets. This is carried out in spite of the country’s restricted water supply and manpower constraint brought on by the greater pay in the travel and construction sectors.

The manufacturing sector, which accounts for 2% of GDP, mostly produces electronic components, handicrafts, and bedding as well as enclave-style assembly for export. The medium-term outlook for economic growth will remain contingent upon income growth in the industrialized world, particularly in the United States, where between one-third and half of all visitors originate.

There is less access to biocapacity than the global average. With 0.8 global hectares of biocapacity per person on its territory in 2016, Antigua and Barbuda has far less biocapacity per person than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person.

Antigua and Barbuda’s ecological footprint of consumption in 2016 was 4.3 global hectares per person or biocapacity. This indicates that their biocapacity use exceeds that of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Barbuda is experiencing a biocapacity shortage as a result.

All applications for agent licenses and all applications for citizenship by investment submitted by candidates and their families are handled by the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU), a government agency. The Citizenship by Investment Unit is this unit, which was founded by the Prime Minister.

Culture

Antigua and Barbuda’s music is predominantly African in nature, with very little influence from European music. When Christopher Columbus discovered Antigua and Barbuda in 1493, the island country was still inhabited by the Arawak and Carib people.

This is when the island nation’s earliest musical recordings are thought to have been made. Nonetheless, not much study has been done on early island music. African laborers are known to have danced outside in the 1780s to the banjar (later bangoe, which may be linked to the banjo), a drum ornamented with tin and shell jingles, and the toombah (later tum tum). Benna, the native music of Antigua, originated with the abolition of slavery.

Benna is a call-and-response program whose audience is mostly interested in vulgar rumors and gossip. By the early 1900s, Benna was being used extensively as a popular means of communication, spreading knowledge throughout the island.

The Arawak people were the first to create art in Antigua and Barbuda. They used petroglyphs and pictographs in their artwork. It is said that these artworks featuring geometric designs, animals, and plants were utilized for religious or ceremonial purposes.

Among the cultural traditions that European settlers brought to Antigua and Barbuda were painting, sculpture, and pottery. Local artists created Antiguan and Barbudan art in their own distinctive ways by utilizing European art forms. This artwork explored social themes, nature, and Caribbean identity. The traditional arts and crafts of Antigua and Barbuda comprise photographs, sculptures, ceramics, ethnic dolls, and scrimshaw.

The Antigua Carnival is an annual celebration of people’s independence from slavery on the island of Antigua. There are musical performances, talent shows, beauty pageants, and vibrantly colored costumes spread throughout thirteen days. Late July to Carnival Tuesday, the first Tuesday in August, is when the festivities take place. Carnival Monday and Tuesday are both recognized as public holidays on the island.

The Antiguan Carnival took the place of the Old Time Christmas Festival in 1957 in an attempt to increase tourism to Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua Sailing Week is another yearly celebration that takes place in Antigua. A week-long yacht regatta known as Sailing Week takes place in English Harbor. Founded in 1967, Sailing Week is regarded as one of the world’s premier regattas.

Caribana is the primary celebration celebrated in Barbuda. Every year, on Whit Monday weekend, Caribana is held. It includes a variety of pageants, calypso contests, and beach parties across the weekend.

There are eleven official holidays in Antigua and Barbuda. Other holidays may also be declared by the Governor-General on the Cabinet’s recommendation. In the past, carol singers would tour the several towns three weeks before to Christmas Day while holding lamps and carol trees. “John Bulls” are imitations of the “masked African witch doctors” who frequently controlled the nation’s Christmas celebrations. Clown outfits in red and green were also a typical sight, as were jazz ensembles.

Food

The national foods include pepperpot and fungee (pronounced “foon-jee”). Italian polenta is similar to the cornmeal-based dish known as fungee. Other local specialties include seasoned rice, ducana, lobster (from Barbuda), and saltfish.

There are also local sweets including sugar cake, fudge, peanut brittle, and stew made with raspberries and tamarind. Prized for its juicy, sweet flesh that is said to taste distinct from other pineapple varieties is the Antigua black pineapple. It is a popular fruit here and is used in a lot of local candies and delicacies. It is reputed to be the sweetest pineapple kind.

Antigua Sunday bread is a staple of the Antiguan and Barbudan breakfast. It is produced using lard rather of butter and sold in a lot of bakeries on both islands. The bread’s crust frequently has beautiful twists. Another famous traditional bread around Easter is Antiguan raisin buns, sometimes known as “bun and cheese.” These buns are delicious. Sometimes, spices like nutmeg are used to make it.

Sport

The most popular sport on the islands is cricket. Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards KNH OBE OOC, one of the most renowned batters in history, was born in Antigua and played cricket for the West Indies from 1974 until 1991. While Antiguan cricketers play for the West Indies national team internationally and the Leeward Islands cricket team domestically, they also represent Antigua and Barbuda in the 1998 Commonwealth Games. In the Parish League, teams from different villages and parishes participate.

The national football team of Antigua and Barbuda was established in 1928, making association football the second most popular sport in the nation.

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