寄左省杜拾遺

安地瓜與巴布達(Antigua and Barbuda)

小安地列斯群島中的獨立島國，包括三個島嶼︰安地瓜、巴布達和雷東達島。面積443平方公里。人口約71,500（2001）。首都︰聖約翰斯（安地瓜島上）。居民多為殖民時期帶來此地的非洲黑奴後裔。語言︰英語（官方語）。宗教：基督教。貨幣︰東加勒比元（EC$）。最大島為安地瓜島（280平方公里）缺乏山嶽、森林和河流，易導致乾旱。主要錨地為聖約翰斯的一深水港。巴布達位於安地瓜以北40公里處，為面積161平方公里的保留區，有各式各樣野生動物居於其中，包括野鹿；唯一的居住地為西岸的科德林頓。雷東達位於安地瓜西南，為無人居住的岩石區（1.3平方公里）。旅遊業是經濟最大支柱；近海漁業正發展中。1493年哥倫布曾到過安地瓜，其名取自西班牙塞維爾的教堂。1632年英國殖民者在此開拓移民；引進非洲奴隸種植菸草和蔗糖。巴布達於1678年被英國拓居移民，1834年解放奴隸。1871年起安地瓜與巴布達成為英國背風群島殖民地的一部分，1956年該殖民地解散。1981年終獲獨立。

English version：

Antigua and Barbuda

Island state,Lesser Antilles. It consists of three islands,Antigua,Barbuda,and Redonda. Area: 171 square miles (443 square km). Population (2001 est.): 71,500. Capital: St. John's (on Antigua). The majority of the population are descendants of African slaves brought in during colonial times. Language: English (official). Religion: Christianity. Currency: Eastern Caribbean dollar. The largest of the islands is Antigua (108 square miles,or 280 square km),which lacks forests,mountains,and rivers and is subject to droughts. The main anchorage is the deepwater harbor of St. John's. Barbuda,25 miles (40 km) north of Antigua,is a 62-square-mile (161-square-km) game reserve inhabited by a variety of wildlife,including wild deer; its only settlement is Codrington,on its western coast. Redonda,an uninhabited rock (0.5 square mile,or 1.3 square km),lies southwest of Antigua. Tourism is the mainstay of the country's economy; offshore banking is growing. Christopher Columbus visited Antigua in 1493 and named it after a church in Sevilla,Spain. It was colonized by English settlers in 1632,who imported African slaves to grow tobacco and sugarcane. Barbuda was colonized by the English in 1678. In 1834 the islands' slaves were emancipated. Antigua (with Barbuda) was part of the British colony of the Leeward Islands from 1871 until that colony was defederated in 1956. The islands achieved full independence in 1981.