Simple directory > Regional > Antigua and Barbuda

Country : Antigua and Barbuda Official name: Antigua and Barbuda Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II; Governor General Sir James B Carlisle (since 1993) Head of government: Prime Minister Winston Baldwin Spencer (UPP) (sworn in 24 Mar 2004) Ruling party: United Progressive Party (UPP) (elected 23 Mar 2004) Area: 280 square km (Antigua), 160 square km (Barbuda) Population: 70,700 (2004) Capital: St John's (Antigua); Codrington (Barbuda) Official language: English Currency: Eastern Caribbean dollar (EC$) = 100 cents Exchange rate: EC$2.70 per US$ (fixed) GDP per capita: US$11,000 (2003) GDP real growth: 2.50% (2003) Labour force: 30,000 (2003) Unemployment: 5.00% (2003) Inflation: 2.50% (2003) Balance of trade: -US$317.00 million (2003) Foreign debt: US$231.00 million (2003)

Historical profile

1493 Columbus sighted the island.

1632 Antigua and Barbuda was settled by the British.

1667 Control was passed to Great Britain after a brief period of French control.

1674 First sugar colony was set up in Antigua by Christopher Codrington.

1685 Codrington leased the island of Barbuda from the British crown and imported African slaves to help grow tobacco and sugar.

1834 The slaves of Antigua were freed.

1860 Barbuda reverted to the British crown.

1871–1956 Antigua and Barbuda were administered together as part of the Leeward Islands federation.

1946 Vere Bird formed the Antigua Labour Party (ALP).

1958–62 A member of the Federation of the West Indies.

1967 The island of Antigua and its two dependencies, Barbuda and the uninhabited islet of Redonda, entered into a free association with other British dependencies in the Windward and Leeward Islands.

1969 A Barbuda separatist movement was formed.

1972 The sugar industry was closed down.

1981 Antigua and Barbuda achieved full independence, remaining a monarchy. The ALP won the first post-independence elections with Bird becoming prime minister.

1990 Vere Bird Jr, son of the prime minister, was declared unfit for office by a judicial enquiry which uncovered links with money laundering.

1993 Vere Bird Snr resigned as prime minister and was replaced by his son, Lester.

1994 Lester Bird and the ALP won the general elections.

1995 Riots erupted over the imposition of new taxes. Prime Minister Bird's brother, Ivor, was convicted of smuggling cocaine into Antigua and Barbuda. Hurricane Luis hit the islands, destroying 75 per cent of homes.

1998 The government closed down six Russian banks accused of money laundering.

1999 The ALP won the elections. The US State Department warned that the country's democratic institutions were being undermined by money laundering and corruption. Hurricane José caused severe damage to the country's infrastructure.

2001 After an investigation by the UK and US into the island's banking sector and the government's subsequent adoption of a series of recommendations, the country was declared to be co-operative in fighting money laundering.

2002 The US$22 million Nevis Street pier was officially opened.

2003 Dickenson Bay in Antigua was rated the best beach in the Caribbean by the Sunday Mirror, a widely read British newspaper.

2004 The 23 March parliamentary elections were won by the opposition, the United Progressive Party (UPP), ousting the Antigua Labour Party (ALP), which had dominated Antigua and Barbuda since the 1950s. Lester Bird (ALP), prime minister since 1994, handed over to Winston Baldwin Spencer (UPP), who was sworn in on 24 March.

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