Antigua was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493, who named the island Antigua, after the Santa Maria La Antigua church in Seville, Spain. The British were the first Europeans to establish a settlement in 1632 and, except for a brief period when the settlement was occupied by the French, Antigua remained a British colony until 1967.
Similar to other Caribbean islands, sugar was Antigua's main crop from about 1674, when Christopher Codrington settled at Betty's Hope Estate. Codrington came from Barbados, bringing the latest sugar technology with him. Betty's Hope, Antigua's first full-scale sugar plantation, was so successful that other planters turned from tobacco to sugar, however the use of slavery was introduced to the island to address the production demands. The American War of Independence in the late eighteenth century led to a decline in the sugar industry, and at the same time public opinion in Britain gradually turned against slavery. The slave trade was finally abolished in 1808, and all existing slaves emancipated in 1834.
Today Antigua is a part of the Commonwealth of Nations and the 157th member of the United Nations. It is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization of American States (OAS), the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Caribbean Common Market (CCM), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
The system of Government which exists in Antigua is one of democracy based upon the British Parliamentary system. The Government consists of a Cabinet of Ministers which is headed by the Prime Minister. Antigua's democratic government is heavily influenced by the English parliamentary system. The Parliament is made up of two houses: the lower house and the upper house.
Legal System:
Antigua's legal system is strongly influenced by and based on the British system. Criminal cases are brought to the Assizes and civil cases to the High Court. In both cases, the right of appeal is allowed to the Court of Appeal with a final right of appeal to England's Privy Council.
Language:
The official language of the country is English, although natives speak a local dialect known as Creole.
Currency:
The Currency in use is the Eastern Caribbean Dollar which is linked to the United States dollar at the official exchange rate of US $1.00 = EC $2.70. Almost all merchants accept U.S. currency.
Agriculture:
There has been a substantial decrease in agriculture's contribution to the country's GDP, falling from 40% to 12% over the last three decades. However, the Ministry of Agriculture has been implementing policies to try to encourage farmers to increase their output in an effort to decrease the amount of imports of agricultural products.
Manufacturing:
In addition to local tax and duty concessions, manufacturers have access to the U.S., European, and Canadian and Caribbean markets through the Lome Convention, Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), Caricom and other agreements.
Tourism:
Although not the largest island, Antigua has the largest tourist sector in the Leeward and Windward Islands. With the decline of the sugar industry in the 1960's, tourism has been the main contributor to the economy, accounting for about sixty percent of the Gross Domestic Product. There has been a significant increase in both the number of hotels present on the island and the number of passenger arrivals. Frequent cruise ship arrivals at the St. John's and Deep Water Harbors also play a major part in boosting the tourism industry.
Antigua is a major yachting center and every year hosts one of the world's major yachting competitions. The annual Antigua Sailing Week Competition, which is held at the end of April each year, attracts hundreds of yachts and is a major source of revenue for the tourism industry.