Antigua and Barbuda is a sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua,Barbuda,and numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2,making it one of the smallest countries in the Caribbean. The country is mostly flat,with the highest points on Antigua being in the Shekerley Mountains and on Barbuda the Highlands. The country has a tropical savanna climate,with pockets of tropical monsoon in Antigua's southwest. Its largest city is St. John's.
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.
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.
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.
Charlesworth Theophilus Samuel was an Antiguan politician.
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.
President of the Senate of Antigua and Barbuda is the presiding officer in the Senate of Antigua and Barbuda. Prior to conducting any other business,the Senate must elect a senator to serve as president when it convenes following a general election.
Sir Molwyn Joseph,KGCN,is an Antiguan politician and Chairman of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP). First entering politics in 1984 when he was made a Minister without Portfolio in the government of Vere Bird,Joseph became Minister of Finance seven years later,renegotiating the Antiguan national debt and introducing fiscal reforms. After a 1996 scandal in which it was discovered he had used his position to import a 1930s Rolls-Royce for a friend,bypassing normal import duties and taxes,he was dismissed from the Bird administration,returning 14 months later to serve as Minister for Planning,Implementation and the Environment. Following the 1999 general election,he became Minister of Heath and Social Improvement before being made Minister of Tourism and the Environment a few months later. As Minister,Joseph attempted to improve the perception of Antigua as a tourist destination and invest in the industry,spending 2 million US dollars increasing the number of hotel rooms on the island and providing money for both Air Jamaica and Air Luxor to provide flights to the island.
Dame Bernice Lake was an Anguillan-born jurist and legal scholar whose career spanned more than forty years. In 1985,she became the first woman from the Eastern Caribbean to be appointed Queen's Counsel. Lake was also the first graduate of the University of the West Indies to receive the honor.
Gaston Alphonso Browne is an Antiguan politician serving as the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda and leader of the Labour Party since 2014. Before entering politics,he was a banker and businessman.
Sir Rodney Errey Lawrence Williams,is an Antiguan former politician who is the current and 4th Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda,having previously severed as Minister for Education,Culture and Technology and as a Member of Parliament until 2004.
Charles “Max”Fernandez is a Labour Party politician from Antigua and Barbuda who was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade from June 2014 to 2018. He currently serves as Minister of Tourism,Investment and Economic Development.
Sir Ronald Michael Sanders is an Antiguan Barbudan diplomat,academic,former broadcast-journalist,and the current Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States and to the Organization of American States (OAS) since 2015. He holds the unique distinction of being the first person,since the OAS enlarged its membership in 1962,to serve as Chairman of the Permanent Council of the OAS for an unprecedented three terms. He completed his highly successful third term on December 31,2023,having played a widely recognized role in guiding the work of the Permanent Council in the peaceful transition of government in Guatemala on 14 January 2024.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 21 March 2018 to elect members to House of Representatives of the 15th Antigua and Barbuda Parliament. Each of the 17 constituencies elected one Member of Parliament (MP).
The University of the West Indies at Five Islands is a public research university in Five Islands,Antigua and Barbuda. It is the newest of 5 general campuses in the University of the West Indies system.
Maria Vanessa Bird-Browne is a politician in Antigua and Barbuda. She was elected as a member of the House of Representatives for St. John's Rural East in the Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda in 2018,becoming the youngest lawmaker in the country. She is the country's minister for housing,lands,and urban renewal.
Daryll Sylvester Matthew is an Antiguan and Barbudan politician,representing St. John's Rural South in the Antigua and Barbuda House of Representatives.
Trevor Myke Walker is a Barbudan politician,current member of parliament for Barbuda,and former Cabinet Minister under the Baldwin Spencer administration. He is a member of the Barbuda People's Movement,a party that seeks the independence of Barbuda from Antigua and Barbuda.
The Ministry of Finance,Corporate Governance and Public Private Partnerships 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.
