Antigua and Barbuda with the capital city St. John's is located in North America (Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean). It covers some 443 square kilometres (2.5 times the size of Washington, DC) with 69,000 citizens.

About the flag and history of Antigua and Barbuda

Red, with an inverted isosceles triangle based on the top edge of the flag; the triangle contains three horizontal bands of black (top), light blue, and white, with a yellow rising sun in the black band; the sun symbolizes the dawn of a new era, black represents the African heritage of most of the population, blue is for hope, and red is for the dynamism of the people; the "V" stands for victory; the successive yellow, blue, and white coloring is also meant to evoke the country's tourist attractions of sun, sea, and sand.

The Siboney were the first people to inhabit the islands of Antigua and Barbuda in 2400 B.C., but Arawak Indians populated the islands when COLUMBUS landed on his second voyage in 1493. Early Spanish and French settlements were succeeded by an English colony in 1667. Slavery, established to run the sugar plantations on Antigua, was abolished in 1834. The islands became an independent state within the British Commonwealth of Nations in 1981.

National administrative regions of Antigua and Barbuda

• Antigua and Barbuda (general)
• Barbuda
• Redonda
• Saint George
• Saint John
• Saint Mary
• Saint Paul
• Saint Peter
• Saint Philip

Geography Quick-Facts

List of current world heritage sites