Wayzata World Factbook 1995/World Factbook - 1995 Edition - Wayzata Technology (1995).iso/mac/text/Build/orig BACKGR/BNOT0002.TXT

Text File | 1994-11-21 | 11KB | 259 lines

National Trade Data Bank
ITEM ID     : ST BNOTES ANTIGUA
DATE        : Oct 28, 1994

AGENCY      : U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
PROGRAM     : BACKGROUND NOTES
TITLE       : Background Notes - ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Source key      : ST
Program key     : ST BNOTES
Update sched.   : Occasionally
Data type       : TEXT
End year        : 1993
Date of record  : 19941018
Keywords 3      :
Keywords 3      : | ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

BACKGROUND NOTES:  Antigua and Barbuda
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

January 1993
Official Name:  Antigua and Barbuda

PROFILE

Geography
Area:  Antigua--281 sq. km. (108 sq. mi.);  Barbuda--161 sq. km.
(62 sq. mi.).
Cities:  Capital--St. Johns (pop.  30,000).
Terrain:  Generally low-lying, with highest elevation 1,330 ft.
Climate:  Tropical maritime.

People
Nationality:  Noun and adjective--Antiguan(s), Barbudan(s).
Population (1991 est.):  Antigua 62,600; Barbuda 1,300.
Annual growth rate:  1%.
Ethnic groups:  Almost entirely of African origin; some of
British, Portuguese, Lebanese, and Syrian origin.
Religions:  Principally Anglican, with evangelical Protestant and
Roman Catholic minorities.
Language:  English (official), local dialects.
Education:  Years compulsory--9.  Literacy--about 90%.
Health:  Life expectancy--70 yrs.  Infant mortality
rate--20/1,000.
Work force:  32,000.

Government
Type:  Constitutional monarchy with Westminster-style parliament.

Constitution:  1981.  Independence:  November 1, 1981.

Branches:  Executive--governor general (representing Queen
Elizabeth II, head of state), prime minister (head of
government), and cabinet.  Legislative--a 17-member Senate
appointed by the governor general (mainly on the advice of the
prime minister and the leader of the opposition) and a 17-member
popularly elected House of Representatives.  Judicial--Court of
Appeal, chief justice, five justices.

Administrative subdivisions:  Six parishes and two dependencies
(Barbuda and Redonda).

Political parties:  Antigua Labor Party (ruling), United National
Democratic Party, Antigua Caribbean Liberation Movement.
Suffrage:  Universal at 18.

Flag:  An oblong sectioned into two red triangles, with one black
triangle at center.  Within the black triangle is a smaller
triangle of white, topped by a bright blue band from which erupts
a one-half gold sunburst.

Economy
GDP (1991 at market prices):  $411 million.
Annual growth rate (1991):  2.6%.
Per capita GDP:  $600.

Natural resources:  Negligible.

Agriculture (4% of GDP):  Products--cotton, livestock,
vegetables.

Industry:  Types--tourism 40%, transport 12%, construction 8.6%,
manufacturing 2.9%.

Trade:  Exports (1991 est.)--$32 million.  Major
markets--CARICOM, US.  Major trading partners--CARICOM, UK.
Imports--$353 million.

Official exchange rate:  Eastern Caribbean $2.70=US$1.


PEOPLE
Inhabited first by the Siboney ("stone people"), whose
settlements date at least to 2400 BC, Antigua was host to the
Arawak people between 35 and 1100 AD.  The Arawak originally
inhabited Venezuela and gradually migrated up the chain of
islands now called the Lesser Antilles.  The warlike Carib people
drove out the Arawak from strongholds on 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 successfully
colonized 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 village is
named for him.  Codrington and others brought slaves from
Africa's west coast to work the plantations.  Antiguan slaves
were emancipated in 1834 but remained bound to their plantation
owners.  Economic opportunities for the new freemen 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 Labour Party (ALP),
formed by Bird and other trade unionists, first ran candidates in
the 1946 elections, 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.  Prime Minister Bird's ALP
government has led the country since and won renewed mandates in
the general elections in 1984 and 1989.


GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
As head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II is represented in
Antigua and Barbuda by a governor general who acts on the advice
of the prime minister and the cabinet.  The prime minister is the
leader of the majority party of the House, and the cabinet
conducts affairs of state.  Antigua and Barbuda has a bicameral
legislature:  a 17-member Upper House or Senate appointed by the
governor general (mainly on the advice of the prime minister and
the leader of the opposition) and a 17-member popularly elected
House of Representatives.  The prime minister and the cabinet are
responsible to the parliament, which has a normal life of 5
years. Antiguans have enjoyed a long history of free and fair
elections with peaceful changes of government.  In the March 1989
elections, the ruling Antigua Labor Party won all but two of the
17 seats. Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech,
press, worship, movement, and association.  Like its neighbors in
the English-speaking Caribbean, Antigua and Barbuda has an
outstanding human rights record.  Its judicial system is modeled
on British practice and procedure and its jurisprudence on
English Common Law.

Principal Government Officials
Chief of State--Queen Elizabeth II
Governor General--Sir Wilfred Ebenezer Jacobs
Prime Minister and Minister of Defense--Vere Cornwall Bird, Sr.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development,
External Affairs, Tourism, and Energy--Lester Bird
Ambassador to the US and the OAS--Patrick Albert Lewis
Ambassador to the United Nations--Lionel A. Hurst

Antigua and Barbuda maintain an embassy in the United States in
the INTELSAT Building, 3400 International Dr. NW., Suite 4M,
Washington, DC 20008-3098 (tel. [phone]).


ECONOMY
Sugar cultivation was Antigua and Barbuda's major export earner
until 1960, when prices fell dramatically and crippled the
industry.  By 1972, the industry was largely dismantled.  The
agricultural pattern in Antigua has shifted to a multiple
cropping system.  Fruit and vegetable production predominates,
but the Antiguan Government has encouraged investment in
livestock, cotton, and export-oriented food crops. Currently, the
economy is based on services rather than manufacturing.  Tourism
is the backbone of the economy, and the major source of visitors
is the United States.  Tourism, the principal source of foreign
exchange for the country,  directly contributes about 17% of the
gross domestic product and indirectly at least 40%.  Antigua and
Barbuda have more than 3,300 hotel rooms to accommodate tourists.
For the most part, the environment for private sector investment
and business activity in Antigua is excellent.  The government
encourages both domestic and foreign private investment.
Government policies provide liberal tax holidays, duty-free
import of equipment and materials, and subsidies for training
provided to local personnel.  Private business also benefits from
a stable political environment, good transportation to and from
the island, a relatively low-cost work force, and a pleasant
climate.  The country also has a reasonably sound infrastructure.
Non-traditional exports have grown in importance in recent years.
Foreign investors, lured by Antigua's good transportation
connections to North America and Europe, have set up light
manufacturing industries on the island, primarily in the finished
textile and electronic component assembly sectors.

Antigua and Barbuda are beneficiaries of the US Caribbean Basin
Initiative.  They are also members of the 12-nation Caribbean
Economic Community and Common Market, which has signed a
framework agreement with the United States to promote trade and
investment under the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative.


FOREIGN RELATIONS
Antigua maintains diplomatic relations with the United States,
Canada, the United Kingdom, and China, as well as with many Latin
American countries, and neighboring Eastern Caribbean states.  It
is a member of the Commonwealth, the United Nations, the
Organization of American States, the Organization of Eastern
Caribbean States, the Caribbean Regional Security System, and the
Caribbean Common Market.


US-ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA RELATIONS
Since Antigua's independence in 1981, US relations with the
island nation have been very friendly.  In 1979, the US
Government established a consulate in Antigua which was upgraded
to an embassy in 1981 upon Antigua's independence.  Antigua
affords US citizens the same legal protections that its own
citizens enjoy.  It is visited by more than 170,000 tourists from
the United States and elsewhere each year and has become
increasingly popular with US retirees. The United States seeks to
help Antigua develop economically and to help strengthen its
democratic political system.  Antigua and Barbuda is
strategically placed in the Leeward Islands, near maritime
transport lanes of major importance to the United States.
Antigua has long hosted a US military presence. Currently, a US
air force tracking facility and a naval training facility provide
useful services for the United States, as well as jobs and income
for Antiguans.  Antigua also benefits from a number of regional
USAID (Agency for International Development) programs.

Principal US Official
Charge--Bryant Salter

The US embassy in Antigua is located on Queen Elizabeth Highway,
St. John's (tel. [phone]).


Travel Notes
Entry requirements:  A US passport and visa are not required for
US citizens to enter Antigua and Barbuda as temporary visitors
for periods up to 6 months, but the Department of State
recommends that US citizens always carry a valid passport as
proof of citizenship.  Antigua immigration authorities require
some proof of citizenship upon entry; for example, a birth
certificate and a valid driver's license with photo.  They also
will require a return ticket or proof of onward travel.


Published by the United States Department of State -- Bureau of
Public Affairs -- Office of Public Communication -- Washington,
DC -- January 1993 -- Editor:  Jo Brooks

Department of State Publication 9439
Background Notes Series -- This material is in the public domain
and may be reprinted without permission; citation of this source
is appreciated.

For sale by the Superindendent of Documents, US Government
Printing Office, Washington , DC 20402.