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Antigua
Quick Overview:
Antigua, which at 108 square miles (280 sq km) is the largest of the British Leeward Islands, is renowned among sailors for its incomparable air of nautical history. For Anglophiles and history buffs, English Harbour and the surrounding villages and sites are also immensely rewarding. And Antigua seduces landlubbers and sailors alike with its sensuous beaches, 366 in all - one for every day of the year and one left over, as locals like to boast. All are public, some are absolutely deserted, and others are lined with resorts that offer sailing, diving, windsurfing, and snorkeling. The original inhabitants of Antigua were the Ciboney. They lived here 4,000 years ago and disappeared mysteriously, leaving the island unpopulated for about 1,000 years. When Columbus arrived in 1493, the Arawaks had set up housekeeping. The English took up residence in 1632, and after 30-odd years of bloody battles involving the Caribs, the Dutch, and the French, gained full control in 1667. Antigua remained British until November 1, 1981, when it achieved full independence along with its sister island, Barbuda, 26 miles (42 km) to the north. Those in search of beaches, nightlife, shopping, and restaurants should head to the island's northwestern end, where resorts and hotels are scattered from Five Islands Harbour to Dickenson Bay and points north. One of the least developed areas is the southwest, in the shadow of Antigua's highest mountain, Boggy Peak. Friar's Bay and Darkwood Beach hold long, unspoiled scimitars of sand. Tourism is the leading industry here, and building has been widespread. Still, Antigua maintains a strong sense of national identity to match its rich historic inheritance. Its cricketers, like the legendary Viv Richards (arguably the greatest batsman the game has ever seen), are famous throughout the world. Its people are known for their sharp commercial spirit (a typically revealing - and disarming - sign reads DIANE'S BOUTIQUE AND CAR PARTS) and their wit.
Geography:
Antigua was first inhabited by the Siboney ("stone people") whose settlements date at least to 2400 BC. The Siboney were succeeded by the Arawaks who originated in Venezuela and gradually migrated up the chain of islands now called the Lesser Antilles. The warlike Carib people drove the Arawaks from neighboring islands but apparently did not settle on either Antigua or Barbuda. Christopher Columbus landed on the islands in 1493 naming the larger one "Santa Maria de la Antigua." The English colonized the islands in 1632. Sir Christopher Codrington established the first large sugar estate in Antigua in 1674, and leased Barbuda to raise provisions for his plantations. Barbuda's only town is named after him. Codrington and others brought slaves from Africa's west coast to work the plantations. Antiguan slaves were emancipated in 1834 but remained economically dependent on the plantation owners. Economic opportunities for the new freedmen were limited by a lack of surplus farming land, no access to credit, and an economy built on agriculture rather than manufacturing. Poor labor conditions persisted until 1939 when a member of a royal commission urged the formation of a trade union movement. The Antigua Trades and Labor Union, formed shortly afterward, became the political vehicle for Vere Cornwall Bird who became the union's president in 1943. The Antigua Labor Party (ALP), formed by Bird and other trade unionists, first ran candidates in the 1946 elections and became the majority party in 1951 beginning a long history of electoral victories. Voted out of office in the 1971 general elections that swept the progressive labor movement into power, Bird and the ALP returned to office in 1976; the party won renewed mandates in the general elections in 1984 and 1989. In the 1989 elections, the ruling ALP won all but two of the 17 seats. During elections in March 1994, power passed from Vere Bird to his son, Lester Bird, but remained within the ALP, which won 11 of the 17 parliamentary seats. In the last elections in March 1999, the ALP gained another seat resulting in a distribution of 12 seats to the ALP, four seats to the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) led by Baldwin Spencer, and one seat to the Barbuda People's Movement (BPM).
Related Links:
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News News from Antigua |
Offical Sites Antigua and Barbuda |
Country Guides Department of tourism |
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