ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
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LAND
280km2;54% arable, 5% pasture, 14% forested, 9% unused but potentially productive, 18% wasteland and built on; the islands of Redonda (less than 2.6 km 2 and uninhabited) and Barbuda (161 km2) are dependencies
WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 3 nm (fishing 12 nm)
Coastline: 153 km
PEOPLE
Population: 77,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.3%
Nationality: noun—Antiguan(s); adjective—Antiguan
Ethnic divisions: almost entirely African Negro
Religion: Church of England (predominant), other Protestant sects, and some Roman Catholic
Language: English
Literacy: about 88%
Organized labor: 18,000, 18% unemployment (est.)
GOVERNMENT
Official name: Antigua and Barbuda
Type: independent state since 1 November 1981; recognizes Elizabeth II as Chief of State
Capital: St. Johns
Political subdivisions: 6 parishes, 2 dependencies (Barbuda, Redonda)
Legal system: based on English law; British Caribbean Court of Appeal has exclusive original jurisdiction and an appellate jurisdiction, consists of Chief Justice and five justices
Branches: legislative, 21-member popularly elected House of Representatives; executive, Prime Minister and Cabinet
Government leaders: Prime Minister Vere C. BIRD, Sr.; Deputy Prime Minister Lester BIRD; Governor Sir Wilfred Ebenezer JACOBS
Suffrage: universal suffrage age 18 and over
Elections: every five years; last general election 24 April 1980
Political parties and leaders: Antigua Labor Party (ALP), Vere C. Bird, Sr., Lester Bird; Progressive Labor Movement (PLM), George Herbert Walter; Antigua People's Party (APP), J. Rowan Henry
Voting strength: (1980 election) House of Representatives; ALP, 13 seats; PLM, 3 seats; independent, 1 seat
Communists: negligible
Other political or pressure groups: Antigua Caribbean Liberation Movement (ACLM), a small leftist nationalist group led by Timothy Hector
Member of: CARICOM, ISO
ECONOMY
GDP: $73 million (1978 est.), $1,000 per capita; 3% real growth in 1980
Agriculture: main crop, cotton
Major industry: tourism
Electric power: 28,000 kW capacity (1981); 55 million kWh produced (1981), 714 kWh per capita
Exports: $21 million (f.o.b., 1980 est.); clothing, rum, lobsters
Imports: $76 million (c.i.f., 1980 est.); fuel, food, machinery
Major trade partners: 30% UK, 25% US, 18% Commonwealth Caribbean countries (1975)
Aid: economic—bilateral commitments, ODA and OOF (1970-79) from Western (non-US) countries, $20 million; no military aid
Budget: (current) revenues, $24 million (1980 prelim.); current expenditures, $33 million (1980 prelim.)
Monetary conversion rate: 2.70 East Caribbean (EC) dollar=US$l (1980)
Fiscal year: 1 April-30 March
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 78 km narrow gauge (0.760 m), employed almost exclusively for handling cane
Highways: 380 km total; 240 km main, 140 km secondary
Ports: 1 major (St. Johns), 1 minor
Civil air: 10 major transport aircraft, including 2 leased in
Airfields: 3 total, 2 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m
Telecommunications: automatic telephone system; 4,000 telephones (5.4 per 100 popl); tropospheric scatter links with Tortola and St. Lucia; 3 AM, 2 FM, and 2 TV stations; 1 coaxial submarine cable
