Anguilla

/ang gwil"euh/, n.

an island in the N Leeward Islands, in the E West Indies; a British dependency. 6500; 34 sq. mi. (88 sq. km). Cf. St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla.

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Anguilla

Introduction Anguilla -
Background: Colonized by English settlers from Saint Kitts in 1650, Anguilla was administered by Great Britain until the early 19th century, when the island - against the wishes of the inhabitants - was incorporated into a single British dependency along with Saint Kitts and Nevis. Several attempts at separation failed. In 1971, two years after a revolt, Anguilla was finally allowed to secede; this arrangement was formally recognized in 1980 with Anguilla becoming a separate British dependency. Geography Anguilla
Location: Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, east of Puerto Rico
Geographic coordinates: 18 15 N, 63 10 W
Map references: Central America and the Caribbean
Area: total: 102 sq km water: 0 sq km land: 102 sq km
Area - comparative: about half the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 61 km
Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 3 NM
Climate: tropical; moderated by northeast trade winds
Terrain: flat and low-lying island of coral and limestone
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Crocus Hill 65 m
Natural resources: salt, fish, lobster
Land use: arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (mostly rock with sparse scrub oak, few trees, some commercial salt ponds) (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: frequent hurricanes and other tropical storms (July to October) Environment - current issues: supplies of potable water sometimes cannot meet increasing demand largely because of poor distribution system
Geography - note: the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles People Anguilla -
Population: 12,446 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 25% (male 1,575; female 1,529) 15-64 years: 68.1% (male 4,356; female 4,124) 65 years and over: 6.9% (male 383; female 479) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.44% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 14.94 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 5.54 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: 15.02 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/ female total population: 1.03 male(s)/ female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 23.68 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 76.5 years female: 79.5 years (2002 est.) male: 73.6 years
Total fertility rate: 1.77 children born/woman (2002 est.) HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA% HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ NA
AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun: Anguillan(s) adjective: Anguillan
Ethnic groups: black (predominant), mulatto, white
Religions: Anglican 40%, Methodist 33%, Seventh-Day Adventist 7%, Baptist 5%, Roman Catholic 3%, other 12%
Languages: English (official)
Literacy: definition: age 12 and over can read and write total population: 95% male: 95% female: 95% (1984 est.) Government Anguilla -
Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: Anguilla
Dependency status: overseas territory of the UK
Government type: NA
Capital: The Valley Administrative divisions: none (overseas territory of the UK)
Independence: none (overseas territory of the UK)
National holiday: Anguilla Day, 30 May
Constitution: Anguilla Constitutional Order 1 April 1982; amended 1990
Legal system: based on English common law
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor Peter JOHNSTONE (since NA February 2000) elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; chief minister appointed by the governor from among the members of the House of Assembly head of government: Chief Minister Osbourne FLEMING (since 3 March 2000) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from among the elected members of the House of Assembly
Legislative branch: unicameral House of Assembly (11 seats total, 7 elected by direct popular vote, 2 ex officio members, and 2 appointed; members serve five- year terms) elections: last held 3 March 2000 (next to be held NA June 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UF 4, AUM 2, independent 1
Judicial branch: High Court (judge provided by Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court) Political parties and leaders: Anguilla United Movement or AUM [Hubert HUGHES]; The United Front or UF [Osbourne FLEMMING, Victor BANKS], a coalition of the Anguilla Democratic Party or ADP and the Anguilla National Alliance or ANA Political pressure groups and NA
leaders: International organization Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol
participation: (subbureau), OECS (associate), ECLAC (associate) Diplomatic representation in the US: none (overseas territory of the UK) Diplomatic representation from the none (overseas territory of the UK)
US:
Flag description: blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Anguillan coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts three orange dolphins in an interlocking circular design on a white background with blue wavy water below Economy Anguilla
Economy - overview: Anguilla has few natural resources, and the economy depends heavily on luxury tourism, offshore banking, lobster fishing, and remittances from emigrants. Increased activity in the tourism industry, which has spurred the growth of the construction sector, has contributed to economic growth. Anguillan officials have put substantial effort into developing the offshore financial sector, which is small, but growing. In the medium term, prospects for the economy will depend largely on the tourism sector and, therefore, on revived income growth in the industrialized nations as well as on favorable weather conditions.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $104 million (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 0% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,600 (2001 est.) GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4% industry: 18% services: 78% (1997 est.) Population below poverty line: NA% Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: NA%
percentage share: highest 10%: NA% Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.3% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 6,735 (1999) Labor force - by occupation: commerce 36%, services 29%, construction 18%, transportation and utilities 10%, manufacturing 3%, agriculture/fishing/forestry/mining 4%
Unemployment rate: 8% (1999)
Budget: revenues: $20.4 million expenditures: $23.3 million, including capital expenditures of $3.8 million (1997 est.)
Industries: tourism, boat building, offshore financial services Industrial production growth rate: 3.1% (1997 est.) Electricity - production: 45.85 million kWh (2000) Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: NA% hydro: NA% other: NA% nuclear: NA% Electricity - consumption: 42.6 million kWh
Agriculture - products: small quantities of tobacco, vegetables; cattle raising
Exports: $2.6 million (1999)
Exports - commodities: lobster, fish, livestock, salt, concrete blocks, rum
Exports - partners: UK, US, Puerto Rico
Imports: $80.9 million (1999)
Imports - commodities: fuels, foodstuffs, manufactures, chemicals, textiles
Imports - partners: US, Puerto Rico, UK
Debt - external: $8.8 million (1998) Economic aid - recipient: $3.5 million (1995)
Currency: East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
Currency code: XCD
Exchange rates: East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7000 (fixed rate since 1976)
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March Communications Anguilla - Telephones - main lines in use: 4,974 (2000) Telephones - mobile cellular: 1,629 (2000)
Telephone system: general assessment: NA domestic: modern internal telephone system international: microwave radio relay to island of Saint Martin (Guadeloupe and Netherlands Antilles) Radio broadcast stations: AM 5, FM 6, shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios: 3,000 (1997) Television broadcast stations: 1 (1997)
Televisions: 1,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .ai Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 16 (2000)
Internet users: 919 (2000) Transportation Anguilla - Railways: 0 km Highways: total: 105 km paved: 65 km unpaved: 40 km (1998 est.)
Waterways: none
Ports and harbors: Blowing Point, Road Bay
Merchant marine: none (2002 est.) Airports: 3 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2001)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 2 under 914 m: 2 (2001) Military Anguilla -
Military - note: defense is the responsibility of the UK Transnational Issues Anguilla - Disputes - international: none
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe

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Island (pop., 2001: 11,300), Leeward Islands, West Indies.

A dependent territory of the United Kingdom, it is the most northerly of the Leeward Islands and covers about 35 sq mi (90 sq km). Its territory includes nearby Scrub, Seal, Dog, and Sombrero islands and Prickly Pear Cays. Most of its people are descendants of African slaves. The official language is English, and most of the population is Protestant. First colonized in 1650 by settlers from Saint Kitts, it was administered by the British. From 1825 it was closely associated with Saint Kitts, a situation Anguilla protested. It was united with Saint Kitts and Nevis in 1882. When a nation consisting of the three was formed in 1967, Anguilla proclaimed its independence. The British intervened, and Anguilla was separated in 1980; while retaining some autonomy, it consented to remain under British rule.

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▪ island, West Indies

Introduction

  island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, a British overseas territory. It is the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles and lies about 12 miles (19 km) north of the island of Saint Martin and 60 miles (100 km) northwest of Saint Kitts (Saint Kitts and Nevis). The Valley is the principal town and the administrative centre of the island. Noted for its easygoing atmosphere and magnificent beaches and waters, Anguilla is a popular tourist destination. Area 35 square miles (91 square km). Pop. (2006 est.) 14,254.

Land

  Anguilla is bare and flat and is fringed by white sand beaches. It is 16 miles (26 km) long and a maximum of 3.5 miles (6 km) wide; its long thin shape gave the island its name (French: anguille, “eel”). The territory includes several small uninhabited offshore islands, the largest of which are Dog, Scrub, and Sombrero islands and the Prickly Pear Cays.

      Anguilla was formed from coral and limestone. The land is fairly flat but undulating. The highest point, Crocus Hill, has an elevation of 210 feet (64 metres). The northern coast is characterized by short slopes and steep cliffs; the southern coast has a longer and more gradual slope that drops gently to the sea. The soil layer is thin, but there are small pockets of red loam, mainly in the shallow valleys that are called bottoms. As with most coral islands, fresh water is scarce. The island has no rivers, but there are several surface saltwater ponds, mostly near the coasts, that supplied Anguilla's salt industry until its collapse in the 1980s.

      The climate is tropical; the average temperature is in the low 80s °F (about 28 °C), and rainfall averages about 35 inches (900 mm) per year. Hurricanes can occur from June to November and occasionally are highly destructive, such as those of 1995 and 1999. The storms have greatly contributed to the erosion of the island's beaches. Significant erosion is also caused by indiscriminate sand mining, which has resulted in the disappearance of some beaches. The island's vegetation consists primarily of small trees and low scrub inland and sea grape along the coasts. There are some plantations of fruit trees. Wildlife on Anguilla includes land reptiles, sea turtles, lobsters, and goats, the latter of which are ubiquitous. There are many bird species, including the national bird, the turtledove; the island is also a popular stop for migratory birds.

People

      The majority of the population of Anguilla is of African descent. English is the official language. Most of the population is Christian, and the main religious denominations are Anglican and Methodist. The island has experienced steady population growth, and Anguillans live relatively long lives.

Economy

      Agriculture is of minor importance; only a small fraction of the land is under cultivation. The main economic activities revolve around tourism and financial services. The steady increase in tourism has bolstered the construction industries and stimulated the improvement of transport facilities. Anguilla has a small number of labour unions. Since the 1980s offshore banking has become increasingly important but also led to allegations that the island's banks were being used for money laundering; in 2000 the government began introducing legislation to combat the problem.

      Fishing is the traditional livelihood, and both deepwater fishing and aquaculture have expanded. Other traditional industries, especially shipbuilding and the raising of livestock, also continue. Anguilla imports almost all of its food supplies and other consumer items. The export of fish and lobster is an important source of foreign exchange, as are remittances from émigrés working abroad. To further its economic growth, Anguilla became an associate member of the Caribbean Community and Common Market in 1999.

      The island's central bank is the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, which is also the bank of issue for several other Caribbean islands; Anguilla's official currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar, although the U.S. dollar is also readily accepted. The island's main trading partners are the United States, the United Kingdom, and Puerto Rico. There is no sales or income tax in Anguilla. Instead, the government relies on import duties, taxes on services, corporate registrations, and various licensing fees. The distribution of incomes is fairly equal, and there are few signs of extreme poverty and no discernible slum areas.

      Many people own cars, and Anguilla has no bus service, unlike other Caribbean islands, where buses are an integral part of the transportation system. Frequent ferry service takes travelers to and from Marigot, Saint Martin. Wallblake Airport, near The Valley, provides connections to international airports on other islands in the region.

Government and society

      Executive power is in the hands of a governor appointed by the British monarch. The governor is in charge of external affairs, defense, internal security (including police), and public services. The governor presides over the Executive Council, which comprises a chief minister, other ministers, and ex officio members. The unicameral House of Assembly has 11 seats plus a speaker; seven members are directly elected by universal adult suffrage to five-year terms, two are appointed by the governor after consultation with the chief minister and leader of the opposition, and two are ex officio. Voting is open to individuals age 18 and older. The highest judicial body in Anguilla is the High Court; its judge is provided by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Final appeals are heard by the Privy Council in Britain. The island has no military; the United Kingdom is responsible for Anguilla's defense.

      Education is free and compulsory between ages 5 and 17. Both primary and secondary education are provided in government-run schools. Degree programs through distance learning are offered by the University of the West Indies, but further higher education must be pursued at one of the university's campuses elsewhere in the Caribbean or at overseas institutions, mainly in the United States or the United Kingdom. The Anguilla government provides some students with full scholarships or other financial assistance. More than nine-tenths of the population is literate. Health conditions are generally good, but health services on the island are limited. There is a small hospital on Anguilla as well as several district clinics; specialist care, however, must be sought from larger islands nearby.

Cultural life

Cultural milieu

      The evolution of Anguilla's society was, as elsewhere in the Caribbean, a legacy of plantation sugar and slavery, although conditions in Anguilla were somewhat anomalous for the region. The island's thin soil and inadequate rainfall adversely affected the quantity and quality of its sugar crop; these factors made production less profitable than on other Caribbean islands, where large areas of fertile soil and adequate rainfall created lucrative sugar plantations that evolved into societies with a large labouring class. On those islands, after emancipation was declared in the British and French colonies in the first half of the 19th century, the plantation remained the dominant economic and social institution. Most of the ex-slaves were left landless and dependent on wage labour for a large portion of their incomes. On Anguilla, however, once the slaves were emancipated, the European-descended planters migrated elsewhere, and their lands were either taken over or bought by the ex-slaves. Thereafter, Anguilla evolved into a society of small farmers, sailors, and fishermen with much personal independence.

      Anguilla's smallness, in terms of both its geographical area and population, contributed to the creation of a close-knit society. Indeed, Anguillans are renowned for their habit of greeting other people, whether they know them or not, either verbally or by at least raising a hand in salutation.

Daily life and social customs

      The day-to-day life of Anguilla's people is similar to that of North Americans. Presumably this is a consequence of the island's close proximity to the United States (and its Caribbean territories) and of the heavy dependence of the Anguillan economy on U.S. tourists. The impact of the United States's cultural influence is reinforced by the prevalence of American music, television, and other media. Computer use is relatively widespread in businesses, schools, and homes. A significant number of people are computer literate and have access to Internet services. Cellular phones are popular among the young and middle-aged.

      Family ties in Anguilla tend to be strong. Even though the nuclear family is dominant, single-parent families are common, generally headed by a mother and, on average, comprising two or three children. As mothers have become more economically active during the late 20th and early 21st centuries, their younger children have been either left under the care of older siblings or, in the case of wealthier mothers, placed in day-care centres. The extended role of mothers has changed the pattern and significance of traditional family meals. Dining arrangements are scattered. The main meal, consisting of some form of meat, along with peas and rice (a staple dish) and vegetables, is usually cooked early in the morning, and family members eat when it is convenient.

The arts

Cultural institutions

      The island's cultural showpiece is the annual Summer Festival, or Carnival, which takes place in late July–early August. Its main events include beauty pageants, a Calypso Monarch competition, musical performances, and a Parade of Troupes, in which costumed teams of dancers perform in the streets. The Summer Festival is a cultural potpourri highlighting the art, artistry, innovation, and imagination of the people. Holidays that involve notable public festivities include Anguilla Day (May 30, commemorating the high point of the 1967 revolution in which Anguilla severed its constitutional ties with Saint Kitts), August Monday (the first Monday in August, celebrated as a holiday marking the emancipation of the slaves in the former British Caribbean), August Thursday (the traditional boat-racing holiday following August Monday), and Boxing Day.

Sports and recreation

      Anguilla's national sport is boat racing, which had its beginning in the late 1800s and in the early days of the 20th century when fishermen raced their boats on the return journey from the day's trip. These fishing boats were the immediate forerunners of those now built specifically for racing, which became an organized sport in the 1930s. Boat races draw large crowds and are held mainly on public holidays. They are significant and colourful cultural events at which people meet friends, make merry to the beat of popular calypso music, eat barbecue, and sample the strong drinks of the Caribbean. Other sports and games in which Anguillans engage are cricket (a legacy from the early colonial days), football (soccer), volleyball, draughts, and dominoes. Lawn tennis is also popular.

History

      Long before the arrival of Christopher Columbus (Columbus, Christopher) in the Caribbean, Anguilla had been settled by Arawakan (Arawakan languages)-speaking Indians (Central American and northern Andean Indian) who called it Malliouhana. They were originally from the Orinoco River basin of South America and arrived on the island about 2000 BCE.

      Anguilla was colonized in 1650 by British (British Empire) settlers from Saint Kitts (Saint Kitts and Nevis) and thereafter remained a British territory, administered as part of the Leeward Islands colony. The British did not encounter any Arawaks on the island, but in 1656 a raid by Indians from one of the neighbouring islands wiped out their settlement. The early years were difficult for the colonists. In 1666 a French expedition attacked the island, and in 1688 a joint Irish-French attack forced most of the colonists to seek refuge on Antigua.

      During the latter part of the 17th century, the poor yield from tobacco (the island's principal cash crop) and from cotton created economic hardship. However, in response to the increasing demand for sugar in Europe, the settlers began producing sugarcane, using enslaved (slavery) Africans, in the early 18th century. Sugar, which yielded better returns than tobacco or cotton, transformed an economy made up primarily of European small farmers into one in which the labouring class was composed mostly of African slaves working on sugar estates.

      Anguilla's economic and social development was frequently disrupted by European political conflicts that spilled over into the Caribbean. The French attacked the island in 1745 but were repelled by the local militia. They attacked again in 1796, causing much destruction, but were eventually forced to withdraw with great loss.

      Conditions in Anguilla were influenced not only by European conflicts but also by political expediency. The British government thought it convenient to have Saint Kitts (Saint Kitts and Nevis) make laws for Anguilla and therefore created a legislative union between them (1825), although the Anguillan freeholders who owned the sugar estates protested strongly. Anguilla was ruled directly from Saint Kitts. Britain ended slavery in the colonies in 1834, and over the next few years many of the plantation owners sold their land to former slaves and returned to the United Kingdom. The lack of any meaningful economic development on the island heightened Anguillan discontent with the union. In 1872 the islanders petitioned the British government to dissolve the union and administer the island directly from Britain. The petition was ignored, and in 1882 a British Federal Act united Saint Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla as a constituent part of the Leeward Islands Federation.

      During the early 1890s, Anguillans endured much suffering when prolonged droughts led to severe famine. Such conditions and the Great Depression of the 1920s and '30s—which affected the entire Caribbean but hit poverty-stricken Anguilla particularly hard—caused many Anguillan workers to migrate to the Dominican Republic to work in the sugarcane fields. Others found work in Aruba and Curaçao.

      A series of labour disturbances throughout the British West Indies in the 1930s spurred the creation of a royal commission (popularly known as the Moyne Commission) to examine social and economic conditions in the islands. The commission advocated political and social reforms, and its findings hastened the democratization of the political process. Anguilla was granted universal adult suffrage in 1952. Further changes occurred in 1956—with the dissolution of the Leeward Islands Federation and the designation of Saint Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla as a crown colony—and in 1958, when the three islands formed a single political unit within the West Indies Federation. After the federation's collapse in 1962, the British government attempted a federation of the smaller territories; when that, too, failed, most of the islands were granted new constitutions that provided for statehood in association with Britain. In 1967 Anguilla became part of an associated state with Saint Kitts and Nevis, again contrary to the wishes of Anguilla, which ejected the Saint Kitts police, set up its own government, and proclaimed an independent republic.

      Negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the conflict failed, and British troops intervened in March 1969. British rule was restored and a temporary commissioner was installed. Subsequently, the Anguilla Act of July 1971 placed the island directly under British control. A new constitution in 1976 gave the island a ministerial system of government and provided a larger measure of internal autonomy under the Crown. In 1980 Anguilla formally became a dependent territory (from 2002, overseas territory) of the United Kingdom, and a new constitution became effective in 1982; it was amended in 1990. Anguilla has developed into a stable parliamentary democracy with a growing economy, a consequence of massive injections of foreign capital, mainly from the United States, during the early years of the 21st century.

Colville L. Petty

Additional Reading

Brenda Carty and Colville L. Petty, Anguilla: Tranquil Isle of the Caribbean, rev. ed. (2000), provides an overview of Anguillan life. A general guidebook is Harriet Greenberg, St. Martin, St. Barts & Anguilla Alive!, 2nd ed. (2003). General histories include S.B. Jones, Annals of Anguilla, British West Indies, 1650–1923 (1936, reissued 1976); Colville L. Petty, Anguilla: Where There's a Will, There's a Way (1984); William J. Brisk, The Dilemma of a Ministate: Anguilla (1969); and Brian Dyde, Out of the Crowded Vagueness: A History of the Islands of St. Kitts, Nevis, & Anguilla (2005). Probyn Inniss, Whither Bound, St. Kitts–Nevis? (1983), focuses on the constitutional and political history of Saint Kitts and Nevis, which included Anguilla until 1980. Also of interest are Colville L. Petty and Nat Hodge, Anguilla's Battle for Freedom, 1967 (1987); and Kathleen D. Manchester, Historic Heritage of St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla (1971), which has a chapter on the early history of Anguilla.Colville L. Petty

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