Old and bearded

Antigua and Barbuda (in English, Antigua and Barbuda) is one of the thirteen countries that make up the Insular America, Antilles or Islands of the Caribbean Sea, one of the thirty-five that make up the American continent. Its capital and most populous city is Saint John, located on the island of Antigua.

It is located to the north of the Lesser Antilles, bounded by Guadeloupe to the south, Montserrat to the southwest, Saint Kitts and Nevis to the west, and Saint Martin to the northwest.

Etymology

The islands were named by Christopher Columbus in 1493: the first in honor of the Virgen de la Antigua (whose image is venerated in the Cathedral of Seville) and the second for the aerial roots of the fig trees that looked like beards. The idea that it was an allusion to bearded Indians lacks documentary basis, but has been mentioned occasionally.

Antigua was called 'Wadadli' and Barbuda, 'Wa'omoni' by the Arawaks.

History

The first inhabitants of the islands of Antigua and Barbuda in 2400 B.C. C. were pre-ceramic Amerindians. Later, the Arawak and Carib Amerindian tribes populated the islands. The island of Antigua was originally called Wadadli by the natives. Christopher Columbus landed on his second voyage in 1493 and gave the island the name of Santa María la Antigua —corresponding to Santa María la Redonda, today Redonda. Barbuda later received its strange name from the lichen "beards" that adorned its palm trees.

Cathedral of San Juan, Anglican cult.

The first Spanish and French settlers were succeeded by the English, who formed a colony in 1667 by transporting Irish Catholics to Antigua. Slavery, established to run the sugar plantations in Antigua, was officially abolished in 1838 in all British colonies, but in Antigua and Barbuda it persisted until the advent of trade unions in 1939. Vere Bird was the founder of the Antigua Labor Party (PLA), the first political party created in the country, and also the first union leader of the nascent nation. After decades of struggle, he managed to win the 1960 elections and become prime minister.

In 1960 a constitution was promulgated according to which Antigua and Barbuda began to govern itself through a democratically elected parliament, but the hidden power of England was evidenced in the fact that London exercised the Antiguan ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense.

The islands became a British crown state in 1967, when Vere Bird was re-elected, beginning a long period as the politician's family in and out of government. Bird's first electoral loss was in 1971 to George Walter, but he returned to power after winning again in 1976.

The country gained independent Commonwealth status on November 1, 1981, when Vere Bird became Prime Minister for the umpteenth time. Finally a sovereign, unitary and democratic country, Antigua and Barbuda was admitted to CARICOM and the UN. Despite the opposition, which did not recognize Bird's character as a social fighter and accused him of various alleged episodes of corruption, the leader managed to remain in power until 1994. His son Lester Bird replaced him in the leadership of the ALP party, assuming also the leadership of the country for two successive periods, 10 years as prime minister.

A year earlier, Antigua and Barbuda entered into an alliance with the United States, through which it allows it to use its territory for military purposes in exchange for the payment of an annual rental fee. During the 1983 invasion of Granada, Antiguan troops accompanied the Americans.

Currently the Prime Minister is Gaston Browne since June 2014.

While the country's beautiful beaches have made it one of the most prosperous in the region, its sugar industry (which should be the main one) has been uneven throughout its history, and of late it has been accused of Antigua and Barbuda as one of the world's largest havens for drug traffickers and money launderers.^{[citation needed]}

House of Government of Antigua and Barbuda (Saint John ́s).

Government and politics

King Charles III is the head of State of Antigua and Barbuda, where he is known as King of Antigua and Barbuda (in English, King of Antigua and Barbuda).

Antigua and Barbuda is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the head of state is King Charles III, whose representative in Antigua and Barbuda is a Governor General. This position is currently held by Governor Louise Lake-Tack, succeeding James B. Carlisle who held it from June 1993 to July 2007.

Executive power is in the hands of the prime minister, who is also the head of government. The prime minister is normally the leader of the party that wins the elections for the House of Representatives (17 elected members), held every five years. The other chamber of parliament, the Senate, has 17 members who are appointed by the Governor-General. Its current prime minister is Gaston Browne who was elected in the legislative elections held in June 2014. The main political parties in the country are the Antigua Labor Party and the United Progressive Party. Antigua and Barbuda has entered in June 2009 as a full member of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA).

The Social Security Board of Antigua and Barbuda has been a full member of the Inter-American Conference on Social Security (CISS) since 1985.

Human Rights

In terms of human rights, regarding membership of the seven bodies of the International Bill of Human Rights, which include the Human Rights Committee (HRC), Antigua and Barbuda has signed or ratified:

Status of major international human rights instruments

Antigua and Barbuda	International treaties
	CESCR		CCPR			CERD	CED	CEDAW		CAT		CRC			MWC	CRPD
	CESCR	CESCR-OP	CCPR	CCPR-OP1	CCPR-OP2-DP			CEDAW	CEDAW-OP	CAT	CAT-OP	CRC	CRC-OP-AC	CRC-OP-SC		CRPD	CRPD-OP
Pertenence
Signed and ratified, signed, but not ratified, neither signed nor ratified, without information, it has agreed to sign and ratify the body concerned, but also recognizes the competence to receive and process individual communications from the competent bodies.

Political-administrative organization

Parishs of Antigua

The island of Antigua is divided into six parishes or parishes:

Both the island of Barbuda and the uninhabited island of Redonda each enjoy dependency status.

Antigua

Saint George

Saint John

Saint John

SaintMary

Saint Paul

SaintPeter

SaintPhilip

Barbuda

Codrington

Redonda

MarCaribe

Geography

Map of Antigua and Barbuda.

The country consists of several islands of which Antigua, with an extension of 280 km², is the largest and the most populated; Barbuda, north of Antigua, has 161 km². Round Island, in the southwest of the country, covers 1.5 km². The islands have a warm tropical climate, with constant mild temperatures throughout the year. Both Antigua and Barbuda belong to the Windward Islands group. In addition, there are several small islands around Antigua, including Bird Island, Long Island, Guyana Island, Green Island, among other small rock formations, which make Antigua a very attractive place for sailing at sea.

The islands are mostly lowland, with the highest point being Boggy Peak, (named Mount Obama since 2009), at 470m a.s.l. no. m., located in Antigua. The main town of the small country is the capital Saint John's in Antigua; Barbuda's largest town is Codrington.

Antigua is limestone and sandy, with beautiful beaches that attract international tourism. Barbuda, called Dulcina by the old Spanish conquerors, is located 40 km north of the previous one. It has become a large hunting reserve inhabited by deer, wild boar and a wide variety of volatile animals such as pigeons and ducks. Round Island is rocky and uninhabited but has phosphate deposits.

There are no rivers on any of the islands that make up the countries.

The climate is tropical, with little thermal amplitude. Between the months of February and May it is cool and dry.

In September 2017, Category 5 Hurricane Irma caused 97% devastation on the island of Barbuda.

Northwest: San Bartolomé	North: Atlantic Ocean	Northeast: Atlantic Ocean
West: San Cristóbal y Nieves		This: Atlantic Ocean
Southwest: Montserrat	South: Guadalupe (France)	Sureste: Atlantic Ocean

Ecology

The arable land of the islands represents only 18.1% of the surface and almost no cultivation by artificial irrigation (1999).

The ecological problems are droughts and the increasing clearing of forests.

Antigua and Barbuda is subject to periodic severe droughts, frequent hurricanes, and numerous tropical storms.

Wildlife

The Antigua racer snake (Alsophis portoricensis can reach up to 90 cm long); It is one of the rarest snakes in the world, known for only two centuries. It lives on Bird Island, an island near the coast of Antigua. Currently it has disappeared from Puerto Rico.

The beaches of Antigua and Barbuda are an excellent tourist resort for the country.

Cruise port of Saint John's, one of the main foreign exchange sources in the country.

Economy

Tourism dominates the economy of Antigua and Barbuda, producing nearly 60% of GDP and attracting 40% of investment. The decline in tourists since 2000 led the government to transform the country into a tax haven.

The agricultural production of sugar cane, cotton and fruit is also important; as well as oil refining and textile manufacturing, cabinetmaking and rum production. Some beer, clothing, cement, local handicrafts, and furniture are also produced.

Among its agricultural products, in addition to those mentioned, are papaya, guava, orange, pineapple, lemons and carrots. Its livestock consists of cattle and sheep.

The official currency is the East Caribbean Dollar, with a parity of 2.7:1 with the United States dollar (2009). The gross domestic product was $11,000 per capita in 2003 and the annual inflation rate is very low (0.4% in 2000). The country has an external debt of 231 million dollars (2002) and an unemployment rate of 11% (2001).

Antigua and Barbuda exports petroleum derivatives, machinery, transport equipment and food to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (16%), Barbados (15%), Guyana (4%), Trinidad and Tobago (2%) and United States (0.3%) (2000).

It imports mainly from the United States (27%), the United Kingdom (16%), Canada (4%), the OECS (3%) and other countries (50%) agricultural and petroleum products.

The issuance of postage stamps intended mainly for philatelic collecting is also a source of income.

Demographics

Population growth since 1961 (in thousands of inhabitants).

Antigua and Barbuda has an estimated population of 92,436 as of 2015. The population is 87.3% Black, 4.7% Mixed Race, 2.7% Hispanic, 1.6% White and 2.7% correspond to other ethnic groups. Life expectancy is 76.3 years. The average number of children per woman is 2.02. The population growth rate is 1.24% per year. Hurricane Irma, which almost completely destroyed the island of Barbuda, caused the evacuation of the entire population to Antigua.

The main religion of the country is Christianity. According to 2011 estimates, 68.3% of the population is Protestant, 8.2% Catholic, and 12.2% corresponds to other religions. Likewise, 5.9% do not profess any religion and 5.5% do not specify it.

The official language is English, although most of the islanders use a Creole English that combines words of African origin and native expressions. The accent between the inhabitants of Antigua and the residents of Barbuda is not very different. In addition, there is a community of about 10,000 people who speak Spanish.

According to estimates made in 2012, of the most populous towns in Antigua and Barbuda, four exceeded 3,000 residents. These are: the capital Saint John's (pop. 21,993), All Saints (pop. 5,125), Potters Village (pop. 3,331) and Liberta (pop. 3,301).

In 1998, Antigua and Barbuda adopted a national mandate to become the leading provider of medical services in the Caribbean. As part of this mission, the country built the most technologically advanced hospital in the region, the Mt. St. John Medical Center. The island of Antigua has two medical schools, the American University of Antigua (AUA), founded in 2004, and the University of Health Sciences of Antigua (UHSA), founded in 1982.

Culture

St. John.

British culture predominates, influencing various aspects of society. An example is their national sport, cricket. This country was the birthplace of several famous players such as Sir Vivian Richards, Anderson "Andy" Roberts and Richard "Richie" Richardson. After cricket, there is soccer, surfing, among others.

Also influenced by American popular culture and fashion. Most of the major media outlets are American. Great attention is paid to trends in the United States, going to North America, the Island of San Martin, or the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan.

Corn and sweet potatoes play an important role in the cuisine of Antigua and Barbuda. For example, a popular dish is Dukuna, a dumpling made of grated sweet potato, flour and spices, steamed.

Sports

Their soccer team, nicknamed the Benna Boys, have never qualified for the Concacaf Gold Cup or the Soccer World Cup, they are a lower-middle level team in Concacaf. Within the country, there is the First Division, which was founded in 1962 and the most successful team is Empire FC with 13 victories.