Antigua and Barbuda
Government, Economy, and Foreign Relations
Antigua was first inhabited by the Siboney (“stone people), whose settlements date to at least to 2400 B.C. The Arawaks — who originated in Venezuela and gradually migrated up the chain of islands now called the Lesser Antilles — succeeded the Siboney. The warlike Carib people drove the Arawaks from neighboring islands but apparently did not settle on either Antigua or Barbuda. ChristopherColumbus landed on the islands in 1493, naming the larger one “Santa Maria dela Antigua. The English colonized the islands in 1632. Sir ChristopherCodrington established the first large sugar estate in Antigua in 1674 andleased Barbuda to…
