kingdom · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean

Antigua and Barbuda

1981 CE – present · capital St John's

Two-island Leeward state independent since 1981, long dominated by the Bird family and now reliant on tourism.

Origins

The Colony of Antigua, with Barbuda and Redonda, became independent on 1 November 1981. Vere Bird, the trade unionist who had led the Antigua Labour Party since the 1940s, became the first prime minister, with the British monarch as head of state. Barbudans had sought separate status and remained uneasy partners.

Rule and society

The Antigua Labour Party under Vere Bird and then his son Lester Bird governed until 2004, amid scandals including the shipment of Israeli arms through Antigua to the Medellín cartel in 1989 to 1990. Tourism, with beaches and the restored Nelson's Dockyard, replaced sugar, and the country also developed offshore finance and online gambling. The collapse of Allen Stanford's banking empire in 2009 was a severe blow.

To the present

Baldwin Spencer's United Progressive Party ruled from 2004 to 2014, and Gaston Browne has led governments since 2014. Hurricane Irma forced the evacuation of Barbuda in 2017, and disputes over communal land on Barbuda have continued.

Lineage

Colony of Antigua 1632 CE – 1981 CEAntigua and Barbuda

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Antigua and Barbuda. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/antigua-and-barbuda
MLA
“Antigua and Barbuda.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/antigua-and-barbuda. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Antigua and Barbuda.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/antigua-and-barbuda.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Antigua and Barbuda’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/antigua-and-barbuda (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻