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.
Barbuda is an island located in the eastern Caribbean forming part of the twin-island state of Antigua and Barbuda as an autonomous entity. Barbuda is located approximately 30 miles (48 km) north of Antigua. The sole settlements on the island are Codrington and its surrounding localities. Barbuda is a flat island with the western portion being dominated by Codrington Lagoon, and the eastern portion being dominated by the low-lying Barbuda Highlands, with salty ponds and scrubland spread throughout the island. The climate is classified as tropical marine.
Antigua and Barbuda competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece from 13 to 29 August 2004.
The Antigua and Barbuda national football team is the national team of Antigua and Barbuda and is controlled by the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association, a member of the CONCACAF and the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). The team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Antigua, also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local 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.
Shermain Sunja Jeremy is an Antiguan singer and beauty pageant titleholder, winner of the Miss Antigua and Barbuda Carnival Queen Show competition in 2002 and Jaycee's Caribbean queen show that year. In the Miss World 2004 pageant, she won the Miss World Talent competition.
The Antigua and Barbuda Football Association is the governing body of football in Antigua and Barbuda. They control the Antigua and Barbuda national football team.
Antiguan and Barbudan passports are issued to nationals of Antigua and Barbuda for international travel. The passport is a CARICOM passport as Antigua and Barbuda is a member of the Caribbean Community.
Antigua and Barbuda competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, submitting a delegation that included athletes Daniel Bailey, Brendan Christian, James Grayman, and Sonia Williams in track and field events, and Kareem Valentine in swimming. Antigua and Barbuda's appearance in Beijing marked its eighth appearance at the Summer Olympics since the nation's debut at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montréal, Canada. There were no medalists from Antigua and Barbuda in 2008, although Bailey reached the quarterfinals and Christian the semifinals of their respective events.
Antigua and Barbuda maintains diplomatic relations with the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the People's Republic of China, as well as with many Latin American countries and neighbouring Eastern Caribbean states. It is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization of American States, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, Petrocaribe and the Eastern Caribbean's Regional Security System (RSS).
Amy Melissa Harris-Willock is an English long jumper of Antiguan descent competing as Amy Harris, and a former titleholder of the pageant Miss Caribbean UK.
The 4th Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships was held in Nassau, Bahamas, on 22–25 August 1980.
Antigua and Barbuda competed at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from July 10 to 26, 2015. The Chef de mission of the team was Howard Everton Cornelius.
Antigua and Barbuda competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's tenth appearance at the Summer Olympics.
Miss World 2016, the 66th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 18 December 2016, at the MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland, United States. 117 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown. Mireia Lalaguna of Spain crowned her successor Stephanie Del Valle of Puerto Rico at the end of the event. It was the second time that the Miss World pageant held in the United States. It was the second time where Puerto Rico won Miss World, after Wilnelia Merced in 1975.
The high commissioner of India in Georgetown, Guyana is concurrently accredited to Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Barbuda maintains an honorary consulate general in New Delhi.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Antigua and Barbuda was a part of the ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was confirmed to have reached Antigua and Barbuda on 13 March 2020. As of 6 July 2021, there are a total of 1,265 confirmed cases, of which 1,222 have recovered and 42 have died.
Squatting in the island country of Antigua and Barbuda in the West Indies is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. Historically, native Barbudans were seen as squatters and after Hurricane Irma in 2017, Prime Minister Gaston Browne offered people he termed squatters the chance to buy their land.
Antigua and Barbuda and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) are related through a long common history spanning from 1632 for Antigua, and 1678 for the smaller sister-isle of Barbuda through until 1981 for the joint-state. Antigua was one of the oldest English settlements in the West Indies, and served as a British hub of regional administration for the surrounding Leeward Islands.
