LOCATION:

Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east-southeast of Puerto Rico 

AREA:

total: 443 sq km
Antigua: 280 sq km; Barbuda: 161 sq km
land: 443 sq km water: 0 sq km
2.5 times the size of Washington, DC  
note: includes Redonda, 1.6 sq km Antigua + Barbuda

POPULATION:

68,320 (July 2004 est.)

AGE STRUCTURE:

0-14 years: 28.1% (male 9,761; female 9,429) 
15-64 years: 67.6% (male 23,179; female 23,023) 
65 years and over: 4.3% (male 1,151; female 1,777)
(2004 est.) 

MEDIAN AGE:

total: 29.4 years
male: 28.9 years
female: 29.9 years
(2004 est.)

POPULATION GROWTH:

Population growth rate: 0.6 % (2004 est.)
Birth rate: 17.7 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Death rate: 5.55 deaths/1,000 population (2004)
Net migration rate: -6.15 migrants/1,000 population
(2004 est.

INFANT MORTALITY RATE:

Infant mortality rate:
total: 19.46 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 23.43 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 15.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS-ADULT PREVALENCE RATE:

HIV/AIDS adult prevelance rate: 0.7 %

HIV/AIDS- PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS :

Ages 15-49:
N/A

HIV/AIDS-DEATH

Adults and children deaths:
N/A

ETHNIC GROUPS:

black, British, Portuguese, Lebanese, Syrian 

RELIGIONS:

Christian, (predominantly Anglican with other Protestant, and some Roman Catholic) 

LANGUAGES:

English (official), local dialects 

LITERACY:

definition: age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling
total population: 89% male: 90% female: 88%
(1960 est.)

GOVERNMENT TYPE:

constitutional monarchy with UK-style parliament 

CAPITAL:

Saint John's (Antigua) 

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:

6 parishes and 2 dependencies*;  Barbuda*, Redonda*Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mary, Saint Paul, Saint Peter, Saint Philip 

INDEPENDENCE:

1 November 1981 (from UK) 

ECONOMY:

Tourism continues to dominate the economy, accounting for more than half of GDP. Weak tourist arrival numbers since early 2000 have slowed the economy, however, and pressed the government into a tight fiscal corner. The dual-island nation's agricultural production is focused on the domestic market and constrained by a limited water supply and a labor shortage stemming from the lure of higher wages in tourism and construction. Manufacturing comprises enclave-type assembly for export with major products being bedding, handicrafts, and electronic components. Prospects for economic growth in the medium term will continue to depend on income growth in the industrialized world, especially in the US, which accounts for slightly more than one-third of tourist arrivals.

GDP:

purchasing powerparity - $750 million
 (2002 est.) 

POPULATION BELOW POVERT LINE:

N/A

INFLATION RATE:

0.4% (2000 est.)

UNEMPLOYMENT:

11% (2001 est.) 

EXCHANGE RATES:

East Caribbean dollars per US dollar -
2.7 (2004),
 2.7 (2003),
2.7 (2002),
2.7 (2001),
2.7 (2000);
note - fixed rate since 1976 

ILLICIT DRUGS:

Illicit drugs: considered a minor transshipment point for narcotics bound for the US and Europe; more significant asan offshore financial center.