Caricom Associate Members5

Anguilla

Caricom associate members5 - Anguilla's Motto is "Strength and Endurance"

The Island's location is the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean. Latitude 18 degrees North, Longitude 63 degrees West.

Caricom associate members5 - History

Anguilla was first settled by Amerindian tribes who migrated from South America. The earliest Amerindian artefacts found on Anguilla have been dated to around 1300 BC, and remains of settlements date from 600 AD.

The date of European discovery is uncertain: some sources claim that Columbus sighted the island in 1493, while others state that the island was first discovered by the French in 1564/1565.

The name Anguilla derives from the word for "eel" in any of various Romance languages (modern Spanish: Anguila; French: Anguille; Italian: Anguilla), probably chosen because of the island's eel-like shape.

Caricom associate members5 - Anguilla was first colonised by English settlers from Saint Kitts, beginning in 1650. Other early arrivals included Europeans from Antigua and Barbados.

It is likely that some of these early Europeans brought enslaved Africans with them. Historians confirm that African slaves lived in the region in the early seventeenth century. For example, Africans from Senegal lived in St. Christopher (today St. Kitts) in 1626.

By 1672 a slave depot existed on the island of Nevis, serving the Leeward Islands. While the time of African arrival in Anguilla is difficult to place precisely, archive evidence indicates a substantial African presence (at least 100) on the island by 1683.

The island was administered by England, and later the United Kingdom, until the early nineteenth century when – against the wishes of the inhabitants – it was incorporated into a single British dependency along with Saint Kitts and Nevis.

After two rebellions in 1967 and 1969 and brief period as a self-declared independent republic headed by Ronald Webster, British rule was fully restored in 1969. Anguilla became a separate British dependency (now termed a British overseas territory) in 1980.

Caricom associate members5 - summary

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 has spurred the growth of the construction sector, contributing to economic growth

Caricom associate members5 - 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.

Airport:            Wall Blake Airport

Status:              Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom

Capital:            The Valley

Area:                35 square miles 

Population:        13,477 (2006 est.)

Caricom associate members5 - National Holidays

New Year's Day (1 January), Good Friday*, Easter Monday*, Labour Day ( 1 May), Whit Monday, Anguilla Day (30 May),  Queen's Birthday*, August Monday, August Thursday, Constitution Day, Separation Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day

Favourite Dish: Rice and Peas and Fish

Government website: https://www.gov.ai

Source: Courtesy of caricom.org

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