Anguilla is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly
of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
and directly north of Saint Martin. The territory consists of the main island of Anguilla itself,
approximately 16 miles long by 3 miles wide at its widest point, together with a number
of much smaller islands and cays with no permanent population. The island's capital is The Valley.
The total land area of the territory is 35 square miles, with a population of approximately
13,500. Anguilla has become a popular tax haven, having
no capital gains, estate, profit or other forms of direct taxation on either individuals
or corporations. In April 2011, faced with a mounting deficit, it introduced a 3% "Interim
Stabilisation Levy", Anguilla's first form of income tax.
Etymology The name Anguilla derives from the word for
"eel" in any of various Romance languages, probably chosen because of the island's eel-like
shape. History
Anguilla was first settled by Amerindian tribes who migrated from South America. The earliest
Native American 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 or 1565.
Anguilla was first colonised by English settlers from Saint Kitts, beginning in 1650. The French
temporarily took over the island in 1666 but under the Treaty of Breda it was returned
to English control. In this early colonial period Anguilla sometimes served as a place
of refuge. A Major John Scott who visited in September 1667 wrote of leaving the island
"in good condition" and noted that in July 1668 "200 or 300 people fled thither in time
of war." Other early arrivals included Europeans from Antigua & Barbuda 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 17th century. For example, Africans
from Senegal lived in St. Christopher 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, archival evidence indicates a substantial African presence on
the island by 1683. While traditional histories of the region
assume that the English were the first settlers of Anguilla under British rule, recent scholarship
focused on Anguilla offers a different view. It places more significance on early sociocultural
diversity. The research suggested that St. Christopher, Barbados, Nevis and Antigua may
have been important points of origin. Regarding African origins, West Africa as well as Central
Africa are both posited as the ancestral homelands of some of Anguilla's early African population.
During the early colonial period, Anguilla was administered by the British through Antigua,
but in 1824 it was placed under the administrative control of nearby Saint Kitts. In 1967, Britain
granted Saint Kitts and Nevis full internal autonomy, and Anguilla was also incorporated
into the new unified dependency, named Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, against the wishes
of many Anguillians. This led to two rebellions in 1967 and 1969, headed by Ronald Webster,
and a brief period as a self-declared independent republic. The goal of the revolution was not
independence per se, but rather independence from Saint Kitts and Nevis, and a return to
being a British colony. British authority was fully restored in July 1971, and in 1980
Anguilla was finally allowed to secede from Saint Kitts and Nevis and become a separate
British Crown colony. Governance
Political system
Anguilla is an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. Its politics
take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby
the Chief Minister is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system.
The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes Anguilla on the United Nations list
of Non-Self-Governing Territories. The territory's constitution is Anguilla Constitutional Order
1 April 1982. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested
in both the government and the House of Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive
and the legislature.
Defence Anguilla being a dependency of the UK, the
UK is responsible for its military defence, although there are no active garrison or armed
forces present. Anguilla has a small marine police force comprising around 32 personnel
which operates one M160-class fast patrol boat
Geography
Anguilla is a flat, low-lying island of coral and limestone in the Caribbean Sea, east of
Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It is directly north of Saint Martin, separated
from that island by the Anguilla Channel. The soil is generally thin and poor, supporting
scrub tropical and forest vegetation. Anguilla is noted for its spectacular and
ecologically important coral reefs and beaches. Apart from the main island of Anguilla itself,
the territory includes a number of other smaller islands and cays, mostly tiny and uninhabited.
Some of these are: Anguillita
Dog Island Prickly Pear Cays
Sandy Island Scrub Island
Scilly Cay Seal Island
Sombrero, also known as Hat Island
Climate
Temperature Northeastern trade winds keep this tropical
island relatively cool and dry. Average annual temperature is 80°F. July–October is its
hottest period, December–February, its coolest. Rainfall
Rainfall averages 35 inches annually, although the figures vary from season to season and
year to year. The island is subject to both sudden tropical storms and hurricanes, which
occur in the period from July to November. The island suffered damage in 1995 from Hurricane
Luis and severe flooding 5–20 feet from Hurricane Lenny.
Economy
Anguilla's thin arid soil is largely unsuitable for agriculture, and the island has few land-based
natural resources. Its main industries are tourism, offshore incorporation and management,
offshore banking, captive insurance and fishing. Before the 2008 world-wide crisis the economy
of Anguilla was expanding rapidly, especially the tourism sector which was driving major
new developments in partnerships with multi-national companies.
Anguilla's currency is the East Caribbean dollar, though the US dollar is also widely
accepted. The exchange rate is fixed to the US dollar at US$1 = EC$2.68.
The economy, and especially the tourism sector, suffered a setback in late 1995 due to the
effects of Hurricane Luis in September but recovered in 1996. Hotels were hit particularly
hard during this time. Another economic setback occurred during the aftermath of Hurricane
Lenny in 2000. In 2011 Anguilla became the fifth largest
jurisdiction for Captive Insurance, behind Bermuda, Cayman, Vermont and Guernsey. Captive
management firms have staffed offices in Anguilla to service the existing captive insurance
industry. Anguilla aims to obtain 15% of its energy
from solar power so it is less reliant on expensive imported diesel. The Climate & Development
Knowledge Network is helping the government gather the information it needs to change
the territory's legislation, so it can integrate renewables into its grid. Barbados, have also
made good progress in switching to renewables, but many other SIDS are still at the early
stages of planning how to integrate renewable energy into their grids. “For a small island
we’re very far ahead,” said Beth Barry, Coordinator of the Anguilla Renewable Energy
Office. "We’ve got an Energy Policy and a draft Climate Change policy and have been
focussing efforts on the question of sustainable energy supply for several years now. As a
result we have a lot of information we can share with other islands.”
Transportation
Air Anguilla is served by Clayton J. Lloyd International
Airport. The primary runway at the airport is 5,462 feet in length and can accommodate
moderate-sized aircraft. Services connect to various other Caribbean islands via regional
carrier LIAT, local charter airlines and others. Although there are no direct scheduled flights
to or from continental America or Europe, Tradewind Aviation and Cape Air provide scheduled
air service to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The airport can handle large narrow-body jets
such as the Boeing 727, Boeing 737 and Boeing 757.
Road Aside from taxis, there is no public transport
on the island. Cars drive on the left. Boat
There are regular ferries from Saint Martin to Anguilla. It is a 20 minute crossing from
Marigot, St. Martin to Blowing Point, Anguilla. Ferries commence service from 7:00 am. There
is also a Charter Service, from Blowing Point, Anguilla to Princess Juliana Airport to make
travel easier. This way of travel is the most common method of transport between Anguilla
and St. Martin or St. Maarten. Demographics
The majority of residents are black, the descendants of slaves transported from Africa. Growing
minorities include whites at 3.74% and people of mixed race at 4.65%.
72% of the population is Anguillian while 28% is non-Anguillian. Of the non-Anguillian
population, many are citizens of the United States, United Kingdom, St Kitts & Nevis,
the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Nigeria. 2006 and 2007 saw an influx of large numbers
of Chinese, Indian, and Mexican workers, brought in as labour for major tourist developments
due to the local population not being large enough to support the labour requirements.
Culture
The Anguilla National Trust was established in 1988 and opened its offices in 1993 charged
with the responsibility of preserving the heritage of the island, including its cultural
heritage. The Trust has programmes encouraging Anguillian writers and the preservation of
the island's history. The island's cultural history begins with
the Taino Indians. Artifacts have been found around the island, telling of life before
European settlers arrived. As throughout the Caribbean, holidays are
a cultural fixture. Anguilla's most important holidays are of historic as much as cultural
importance – particularly the anniversary of the emancipation, celebrated as the Summer
Festival. British festivities, such as the Queen's birthday, are also celebrated.
Cuisine
Anguillian cuisine is influenced by native Caribbean, African, Spanish, French and English
cuisines. Seafood is abundant, and includes prawns, shrimp, crab, spiny lobster, conch,
mahi-mahi, red snapper, marlin and grouper. Salt cod is a staple food eaten by itself
and used in stews, casseroles and soups. Livestock is limited due to the small size of the island,
and people there utilise poultry, pork, goat and mutton, along with imported beef. Goat
is the most commonly eaten meat, and is utilised in a variety of dishes.
A significant amount of the island's produce is imported due to limited land suitable for
agriculture production; much of the soil is sandy and infertile. Among the agriculture
produced in Anguilla includes tomatoes, peppers, limes and other citrus fruits, onion, garlic,
squash, pigeon peas and callaloo. Starch staple foods include imported rice and other foods
that are imported or locally grown, including yams, sweet potatoes and breadfruit.
Language
Today most people in Anguilla speak a British-influenced variety of "Standard" English. Other languages
are also spoken on the island, including varieties of Spanish, Chinese and the languages of other
immigrants. However, the most common language other than Standard English is the island's
own English-lexifier Creole language. It is referred to locally by terms such as "dialect",
Anguilla Talk, or "Anguillian". It has its main roots in early varieties of English and
West African languages, and is similar to the dialects spoken in English-speaking islands
throughout the Eastern Caribbean, in terms of its structural features and to the extent
of being considered one single language. Linguists who are interested in the origins
of Anguillian and other Caribbean Creoles point out that some of its grammatical features
can be traced to African languages while others can be traced to European languages. Three
areas have been identified as significant for the identification of the linguistic origins
of those forced migrants who arrived before 1710: the Gold Coast, the Slave Coast, and
the Windward Coast. Sociohistorical information from Anguilla's
archives suggest that Africans and Europeans formed two distinct, but perhaps overlapping
speech communities in the early phases of the island's colonisation. "Anguillian" is
believed to have emerged as the language of the masses as time passed, slavery was abolished,
and locals began to see themselves as "belonging" to Anguillian society.
Music
Religion Religion is another aspect of Anguilla's cultural
history. The Christian Church did not have a consistent or strong presence across the
initial period of English colonisation; during this period the spiritual and religious practices
of Europeans and Africans tended to reflect their regional origins. However, it should
be noted that some Africans are likely to have encountered Christianity prior to their
immigration to the island, in West Africa as well as on other Caribbean islands. As
early as 1813 Christian ministers formally ministered to enslaved Africans and promoted
literacy in English among converts. The Wesleyan Missionary Society of England built churches
and schools in 1817. According to the 2001 census, Christianity
is Anguilla's predominant religion, with 29.0 percent of the population practising Anglicanism.
Another 23.9 percent are Methodist. Other churches on the island include Seventh-day
Adventist, Baptist, Roman Catholic, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Between 1992 and 2001 the number
of followers of the Church of God and Pentecostal Churches increased considerably. There are
at least 15 churches on the island, several of architectural interest. Although a minority
on the island, it is an important location to followers of Rastafarian religion – Anguilla
is the birthplace of Robert Athlyi Rogers, author of The Holy Piby which has had a strong
influence on Rastafarian beliefs. Various other religions are practised as well.
Sport
Boat racing has deep roots in Anguillian culture, and is the national sport. There are regular
sailing regattas on national holidays, such as Carnival, which are contested by locally
built and designed boats. These boats have names and have sponsors that print their logo
on their sails. As in many other former British Colonies,
cricket is also a popular sport. Anguilla is the home of Omari Banks, who played for
the West Indies Cricket Team, while Cardigan Connor played first-class cricket for English
county side Hampshire and was 'chef de mission' for Anguilla's Commonwealth Games team in
2002. Rugby union is represented in Anguilla by
the Anguilla Eels RFC, who were formed in April 2006. The Eels have been finalists in
the St. Martin tournament in November 2006 and semi finalists in 2007, 2008, 2009 and
Champions in 2010. The Eels were formed in 2006 by Scottish club national second row
Martin Welsh, Club Sponsor and President of the AERFC Ms Jacquie Ruan, and Canadian standout
Scrumhalf Mark Harris. The club was lucky enough to host the HMS Iron Duke in September
2008 which saw a very spirited game going to the visitors 18-13. The St Barts Barracudas
have also been to Anguilla to play the Eels also prevailing eleven points to six.
Anguilla is also the home of Zharnel Hughes, who specialises in the 100m and 200m sprint.
He won the 100m in the 2013 CARIFTA Games in a time of 10.44 seconds, despite his time
being some way below his PB.
See also
Outline of Anguilla Index of Anguilla-related articles
Bibliography of Anguilla
References
External links Government
Government of Anguilla official government website
General information Anguilla entry at The World Factbook
Anguilla from UCB Libraries GovPubs Wikimedia Atlas of Anguilla