United Kingdom - Anguilla

Status: UK overseas territory

Population: 13,500 (2006)

Time: GMT minus 4hr

Currency: Eastern Caribbean dollar

Geography

Anguilla is the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean. It includes the island of Sombrero to the north-west, on which there is a lighthouse, and several islets and cays (such as Scrub Island, Dog Island, Prickly Pear Cays and Sandy Island).

Area: Anguilla island 96 sq km; Sombrero 5 sq km.

Main settlements: The Valley (capital, pop. 1,400), South Hill, The Quarter, Stony Ground, Island Harbour.

Topography: Anguilla island is long and relatively narrow (5km maximum), and mainly flat. The highest point, Crocus Hill, is 64m above sea level. There are about 30 white coral sand beaches. There are no rivers, but some salt ponds.

Climate: The tropical marine climate is generally pleasant and healthy; the hot season is July to October. Rainfall is erratic, averaging about 790mm p.a., September to January being the wettest months. During June to November, the hurricane season, squalls and thunderstorms occur, and hurricanes are always a possibility.

Environment: The most significant environmental issue is that supplies of drinking water are insufficient to meet the growing demand, largely because of the poor distribution system.

Vegetation: A thin layer of soil covers the rock, with pockets of fertile soil in places. Much of the island is covered in scrub.

Transport/Communications: A network of tarred, gravel and earth roads serve all parts of the island.

The main seaports are Sandy Ground at Road Bay on the north coast (cargo) and Blowing Point on the south coast for passenger services to Marigot in St Martin (25 minutes).

Wallblake Airport, the international airport, is situated in The Valley.

The international dialling code is +1 264. There are 453 main telephone lines and 1,720 mobile phone subscriptions per 1,000 people (2005).
There are 307 internet users per 1,000 people (2005).

Society

Population: 13,500 (2006); population density 135 per sq km (2006); growth 1.8% p.a.; birth rate 14 per 1,000 people; life expectancy 77 years.

Religion: Mainly Christians (Anglicans, Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists, Baptists and Roman Catholics); Hindu, Jewish and Muslim minorities.

Language: English

Media: The Light (weekly), The Anguillian (weekly), and Anguilla Life Magazine (3 p.a.). The Daily Herald and Chronicle are circulated from neighbouring St Martin.

Privately owned All Island Cable TV provides a cable and satellite TV service. Radio Anguilla broadcasts for 24 hours daily, of which 18 hours are local programming, with BBC relays through the night. Caribbean Beacon is a privately owned radio station.

Education: There are 13 years of compulsory education starting at age five (2006). Net enrolment ratios are 92% for primary (2006) and 81% for secondary (2005). The pupil–teacher ratio for primary is 17:1 and for secondary 10:1 (2006). The school year starts in September.

Tertiary education is provided at the regional University of the West Indies, which has campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Health: Princess Alexandra Hospital is at Sandy Ground. Infant mortality was an estimated 21 per 1,000 live births in 2005.

Public holidays: New Year’s Day, Labour Day (early May), Anguilla Day (last Friday in May), Queen’s Official Birthday (June), August Monday (start of carnival week, the first week in August), August Thursday and Constitution Day (Thursday and Friday of the same week in early August), Separation Day (a Monday before Christmas), Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Religious and other festivals whose dates vary from year to year include Good Friday, Easter Monday and Whit Monday.

Economy

GDP: US$158.2m (2006)

Tourist arrivals: 62,084 (2005)

Overview: In the 1990s, the traditional industries of lobster fishing, farming, livestock rearing, salt production and boat building were overshadowed by high-class tourism, related construction and a developing offshore finance sector.

The 1980s was a period of high economic growth, which slowed in the mid-1990s, hitting a low point in 1995, when visitor numbers fell, following storm damage on neighbouring St Martin. The economy picked up again from 1997, until 2000 when the US slowdown began to impact on tourism, and it hardly grew at all during 2000–02.

There was a recovery in 2003, plus a surge of growth in 2004 (16%), 2005 (11%) and again in 2006 (15.4%).

History

The island, formerly called by the Carib name Malliouhana, gained the Spanish name Anguilla because of its ‘eel-like’ shape. It was inhabited by Arawaks for several centuries before being colonised in 1650 by English settlers coming from St Kitts, after which it was administered by the English as part of the Leeward Islands colony. It has remained a British territory ever since.

In 1631 the Dutch built a fort on Anguilla, but they had to abandon it after a few years. In 1688 the island was invaded by a party of Irish, who settled and left their surnames to some of the modern inhabitants. There was an attempted French landing in 1745 near Crocus Bay (north coast). In 1796 French troops landed at Rendezvous Bay (south coast) and fought their way eastwards to Sandy Hill, where they were beaten back.

In 1825, against the wishes of the islanders, Anguilla became incorporated with St Kitts and Nevis. Politics on the island since then has been dominated by this issue. In 1872 an unsuccessful petition was sent to the British Colonial Office, asking for separate status and direct rule from Britain. In 1958 the islanders formally petitioned the governor, again unsuccessfully, requesting a dissolution of the political and administrative association with St Kitts. In 1958–62 Anguilla was, along with St Kitts and Nevis, a unit of the short-lived Federation of the West Indies.

Following the dissolution of the Federation in 1962, Anguilla became part of the Associated State of St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla. In May 1967, Anguillans refused to recognise any longer the authority of the new state and evicted police from St Kitts. A referendum in June 1967 endorsed the decision to separate from St Kitts. A senior UK official resided on the island for a year from January 1968, monitoring the situation and discussing possible solutions with the Anguilla Council.

In March 1969, after the UK parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, William Whitlock, had been ejected, UK security forces occupied Anguilla, and the UK Government appointed a commissioner. Following negotiations, agreement was reached, and the UK Parliament’s Anguilla Act (July 1971) provided for a formal separation of Anguilla when St Kitts and Nevis became independent. In December 1980, Anguilla was formally separated and reverted to the status of a UK dependent territory.

Constitution

The present constitution dates from April 1982, with an amendment in 1990. Under it, Anguilla is a self-governing dependency of the UK with a ministerial system of government. There is a governor appointed by the British monarch, an executive council and a unicameral house of assembly.

The governor is responsible for external affairs, offshore finance, defence, internal security (including the police force), the public service and administration of the courts. The executive council is presided over by the governor; it consists of the chief minister, three other elected ministers, deputy governor and attorney-general.

The house of assembly consists of seven elected members (directly elected for a five-year term), two ex-officio members and two members whom the governor nominates, following consultation with the chief minister.

In January 2006 the government appointed a Constitutional and Electoral Reform Commission to take forward the constitutional reform process.

Politics

Last elections: February 2005

Next elections: 2010

Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by the governor

Chief minister: Osbourne Fleming

Ruling party: Anguilla United Front

In the general election of March 1999, the Anguilla United Party (AUP) and the Anguilla Democratic Party (ADP) each won two seats and the opposition Anguilla National Alliance (ANA) three seats. However, the AUP/ADP government’s majority was overturned in May 1999, when Finance Minister and ADP leader Victor Banks resigned. Then in January 2000, Chief Minister Hubert Hughes called another election for March 2000 – four years early. In the elections the opposition United Front coalition (ANA plus Victor Banks) gained four seats, while the governing AUP took two, and ANA leader Osbourne Fleming became chief minister.

In the February 2005 general election, Anguilla United Front (now a separate party comprising the ANA and ADP) gained four seats, Anguilla Strategic Alliance took two seats and Anguilla United Movement one. Fleming continued as chief minister.