Antigua and Barbuda is a sovereign island country in the Caribbean. It lies at the conjuncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles.
The history of Antigua and Barbuda covers the period from the arrival of the Archaic peoples thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Antigua and Barbuda were inhabited by three successive Amerindian societies. The island was claimed by England, who settled the islands in 1632. Under English/British control, the islands witnessed an influx of both Britons and African slaves migrate to the island. In 1981, the islands were granted independence as the modern state of Antigua and Barbuda.
The British West Indies (BWI) were colonised British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, British Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago. Other territories included Bermuda, and the former British Honduras.
Sir Lester Bryant Bird was an Antiguan politician and athlete who served as the second prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda from 1994 to 2004. He was chairman of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) from 1971 to 1983, then became prime minister when his father, Sir Vere Bird, the previous prime minister, resigned.
Sir Vere Cornwall Bird, KNH was the first Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. His son, Lester Bryant Bird, succeeded him as Prime Minister. In 1994, he was declared a "National Hero".
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 23 March 2004. The result was a victory for the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), which defeated the incumbent Antigua Labour Party. Baldwin Spencer, leader of the UPP, replaced Lester Bird as Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, with Bird being one of eight Labour MPs to lose his seat. Spencer became only the second Prime Minister from outside the Bird family or the Labour Party.
Elections in Antigua and Barbuda take place in the framework of a parliamentary democracy.
Antigua, also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Barbuda became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations on 1 November 1981.
The monarchy of Antigua and Barbuda is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Antigua and Barbuda. The current Antiguan and Barbudan monarch and head of state, since 8 September 2022, is King Charles III. As sovereign, he is the personal embodiment of the Crown of Antigua and Barbuda. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled King of Antigua and Barbuda and, in this capacity, he and other members of the Royal Family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of Antigua and Barbuda. However, the King is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role.
The British Leeward Islands was a British colony from 1671 to 1958, consisting of the English overseas possessions in the Leeward Islands. It ceased to exist from 1816 to 1833, during which time it was split into two separate colonies. It was dissolved in 1958 after the separation of the British Virgin Islands, and the remaining islands became parts of the West Indies Federation.
Education in Antigua and Barbuda is compulsory and free for children between the ages of 5 and 16 years. The system is modeled on the British educational system. The current Minister of Education, Sport & Creative Industries is Daryll Sylvester Matthew.
The Government of Antigua and Barbuda (GOAB), is a unitary constitutional monarchy, where the Monarch of Antigua and Barbuda serves as the head of state, represented by the Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda, and the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda serves as the head of government.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 11 February 1971. They were won by the Progressive Labour Movement. PLM leader George Walter was elected Premier of Antigua, defeating the incumbent Premier Vere Bird of the Antigua Labour Party. The PLM was founded in 1967 after a split in the leadership of the Antigua Trades and Labour Union; this was its first election, as well as its first and only electoral victory.
General elections were held for the first time in Antigua and Barbuda on 26 July 1946. The elections were held under a limited franchise and only those who owned property were permitted to stand for election to the legislature. The Antigua Trades and Labour Union (ATLU) chose five of its members who satisfied the property criteria to stand as labour representatives. All were elected as the union-backed candidates received 82% of the vote.
The Antigua Democratic Labour Party was a political party in Antigua and Barbuda. In the 1960 general elections it received only 66 votes (2.6%) and failed to win a seat. It was part of the Antigua and Barbuda Democratic Movement for the 1965 elections, in which it again failed to win a seat.
Sir Rodney Errey Lawrence Williams, is the current and 4th Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda.
The British West Indies Championships was an annual track and field competition between nations involved in the West Indies Federation and several other Caribbean nations with a British colonial history. Like the federation itself, the competition was short-lived: first held in 1957, it ceased after 1965. The competition was created at a time of much sporting co-operation within the region – a British West Indies team was sent to both the 1959 Pan American Games and the 1960 Summer Olympics.
The Ministry of Finance is a government ministry of Antigua and Barbuda responsible for the management of public finances, economic planning, revenue and budgeting.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 18 January 2023 to elect members of the House of Representatives. The Labour Party (ABLP) has held an absolute majority of 15 seats in the House of Representatives after the 2018 general election, with Gaston Browne remaining as prime minister. Browne initiated a constitutional referendum after the 2018 election, which was rejected by voters, and following the death of Elizabeth II in 2022, he announced his intention to organise a referendum for the transition of Antigua and Barbuda to a republican system. Besides ABLP, the United Progressive Party (UPP), Democratic National Alliance, Barbuda People's Movement (BPM), and three independent politicians filed candidacies for the 2023 general election.
Antigua, officially the Associated State of Antigua, was an associated state of the United Kingdom, which was established on 27 February 1967. The associated state was abolished on November 1, 1981 by the Antigua Order.
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