Background

 

The Siboney were the first to inhabit the islands of Antigua and Barbuda in 2400 B.C., but Arawak Indians populated the islands when Columbus landed on his second voyage in 1493. Early settlements by the Spanish and French were succeeded by the English who formed a colony in 1667. Slavery, established to run the sugar plantations on Antigua, was abolished in 1834. The islands became an independent state within the British Commonwealth of Nations in 1981.

 

Transportation

Airports 

Airports - with paved runways

total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2009)

 

Roadways

total: 1,170 km
country comparison to the world: 183 
paved: 386 km
unpaved: 784 km (2002)

 

Merchant marine

total: 1,257
country comparison to the world: 9 
by type: barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 50, cargo 651, carrier 4, chemical tanker 5, container 392, liquefied gas 12, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 9, roll on/roll off 20
foreign-owned: 1,113 (Australia 1, Colombia 2, Cyprus 18, Denmark 19, Estonia 23, France 1, Germany 941, Greece 3, Iceland 12, Italy 1, Latvia 13, Lithuania 5, Netherlands 20, NZ 2, Norway 8, Poland 2, Russia 4, Slovenia 6, Sweden 1, Switzerland 8, Turkey 6, UK 9, US 8) (2008)

 

Ports and terminals

Saint John's

 

Government

 

Country name

conventional long form: none 
conventional short form: Antigua and Barbuda

 

Government type

constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government and a Commonwealth realm

 

Capital

name: Saint John's
geographic coordinates: 17 07 N, 61 51 W
time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

 

Administrative divisions

6 parishes and 2 dependencies*; Barbuda*, Redonda*, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mary, Saint Paul, Saint Peter, Saint Philip

 

Independence

1 November 1981 (from the UK)

 

National holiday

Independence Day (National Day), 1 November (1981)

 

Constitution

1 November 1981

 

Legal system

based on English common law