Island country, Lesser Antilles, Caribbean Sea. It consists of three islands: Antigua, Barbuda, and Redonda. Area: 171 sq mi (442 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 77,800. Capital: St. John's (on Antigua). The majority of the population are descendants of African slaves brought in during colonial times. Language: English (official). Religion: Christianity (mostly Protestant; also Roman Catholic). Currency: Eastern Caribbean dollar.
The largest of the islands is Antigua (108 sq mi [280 sq km]), which lacks forests, mountains, and rivers and is subject to droughts. The main anchorage is the deepwater harbour of St. John's. Barbuda—25 mi (40 km) north of Antigua, 62 sq mi (161 sq km) in area, and mostly uninhabited—is home to a large bird sanctuary; its only human settlement is Codrington, on the western coast. Redonda, an uninhabited rock (0.5 sq mi [1.3 sq km]), lies southwest of Antigua. Tourism is the mainstay of the country's economy; offshore banking is growing. Christopher Columbus visited Antigua in 1493 and named it after a church in Sevilla, Spain. It was colonized by English settlers in 1632, who imported African slaves to grow tobacco and sugarcane. Barbuda was colonized by the English in 1678. In 1834 the islands' slaves were emancipated. Antigua (with Barbuda) was part of the British colony of the Leeward Islands from 1871 until that colony was defederated in 1956. The islands achieved full independence in 1981.
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