ANTIGUA & BARBUDA FACTS AND FIGURES

ANTIGUA & BARBUDA FACTS & FIGURES    


POLITICAL


Date of Independence: 1 November 1981
Head of State: HM The Queen
Governor General: HE Louise Lake-Tack
Governor General’s Deputy: Mrs. Yvonne Maginley
Political System: Parliamentary Democracy
Political Orientation: Social/Democratic
 
Principal Political Parties:
 
Antigua Labour Party (ALP)
United Progressive Party (UPP)
Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM)
 
Head of Government and Party: Hon. Winston Baldwin Spencer, United Progressive Party (UPP)
 
Leader of Opposition: Steadroy Benjamin MP (ALP)
 
State of Parties: (20th April 2004)
 
United Progressive Party (UPP) 12 seats
 
Antigua Labour Party (ALP) 4 seats
 
Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM) 1 Seat


DEMOGRAPHY

Population: 68,600 (1996)
 
Religion:
 
45 % Anglican
 
17 % Moravian
 
11 % Methodist
 
10 % Roman Catholic
 
6 % 7th Day Adventist
 
11 % Others
 
Language: English


GEOGRAPHY

Area: 180 sq. miles (Antigua 108, Barbuda 72) (442 square kilometres). Located at latitude 17 degrees 5’ North and longitude 61 degrees 45’ in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean.
 
Antigua is 9 by 12 miles across with a coastline peppered with numerous coves and bays, many with beautiful white sand beaches. The south west corner is quite hilly, rising to 402 metres at BoggyPeak, the islands highest point.
 
Barbuda, a low lying coral island is located 32 miles north of Antigua and has a land area of approximately 64 square miles. Barbuda encompasses the expansive Codrington lagoon, which is bound by a long undeveloped beach.
 
The countries boundaries also include Redonda, an uninhabited rocky islet about 1 sq. km in size which lies 32 miles south-west of Antigua.

Neighbours:
 
St. Kitts & Nevis (West)
Montserrat (South West)
Guadeloupe (South)
 
Capital: St. John’s
Parishes: St. Mary’s, St. John’s, St. Paul, St. Phillip’s, St. Peter, St. George
Principal Towns: Parham, Liberta, Codrington (Barbuda), St. John’s (Deepwater Harbour)
 
Twinned with London Borough of Waltham Forest: Antiguan Waltham Forest Twinning Association headed by Undeen George


TIME ZONE
 
Atlantic Standard Time, GMT -4.
 
 

ECONOMY


Basis: Tourism, Banking and Light Industry
 
GDP: EC$ 1,270.72 (1996p) *
 
GDP per capita: US$ 7,932 (1996p) *
 
GNP per capita: US$ 7,324 (1995) *
 
External Debt:EC$ 1,007.18 mil (1996p) *
 
Balance of Trade: -EC$ 706.85 mil (1996p) *
 
Current Account Balance: US$ 96.2 mil (1996p) *
 
Budget Surplus: -US$ 27,053 mil (current)
 
Real Growth in GDP: 5.79 % (1996) *
 
Inflation Rate: 4 % (1996p) *
 
Unemployment Rate: 7 % (1996p) *
 
External Payment Arrears: US$ 400 million on 70 % of EDP
 
P = provisional
 
* Source = ECCB 12.6.97


TRADE

Principal Exports: Tourism, Cotton, small amounts of fruits and vegetable
 
Principal Imports: Petroleum Products, Food, machinery, Manufactured Goods
 
Tourism accounts for more than 80 % of foreign exchange earnings and contributes directly and indirectly more than half of GDP
 
 

 


 
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