Caribbean Islands

Antigua & Barbuda

Often simply called Antigua, this is a group of three islands in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean at 17°5'N and 61°45'W. The two bigger islands are inhabited.

Antigua is the largest and the most populated island with the country capital Saint John's. It has a population of about 68,000, more than 24,000 live in the capital. The local name is Wadadli, which means approximately our own. The circumference is 86 km, the area is 280 km². Most of the island is flat, but there are some hills in the south with the highest peak called Boggy Peak (402 m asl).

Barbuda lies north of Antigua and is the other populated island with about 1,500 inhabitants and an area of about 160 km². Christopher Columbus landed on the island in 1493 on his second voyage. It was inhabited sind about 2,800 B.C. by the Siboney, later Arawak and Carib Indians. After Columbus there was Spanish settlement, then a French and English one.

Redonda is the thrid island, lying about 50 km west of Antigua. It was annexed in the 1860s because of its phosphate reserves, but is unoccupied since 1930.