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Courtesy of The Tourism Board of Antigua & Barbuda
In 1784 the legendary Admiral Horatio Nelson
sailed to Antigua and established Great Britain's most important
Caribbean base. Little did he know that over 200 years later the same
unique characteristics that attracted the Royal Navy would transform
Antigua and Barbuda in one of the Caribbean's premier tourist
destinations.
The signs are still there, they just point to different things. The
Trade Winds that once blew British men-of-war safely into English
Harbour now fuel one of the world's foremost maritime events, Sailing
Week.
The expansive, winding coastline that made Antigua difficult for
outsiders to navigate is where today's trekkers encounter a tremendous
wealth of secluded, powdery soft beaches. The coral reefs, once the
bane of marauding enemy ships, now attract snorkelers and scuba divers
from all over the world. And the fascinating little island of Barbuda
-- once a scavenger's paradise because so many ships wrecked on its
reefs -- is now home to one of the region's most significant bird
sanctuaries.
Location
Antigua (pronounced An-tee'ga) and Barbuda are located in the middle of
the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean, roughly 17 degrees north
of the equator. To the south are the islands of Montserrat and
Guadaloupe, and to the north and west are Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Barts,
and St. Martin.
Size
Antigua, the largest of the English-speaking Leeward Islands, is about
14 miles long and 11 miles wide, encompassing 108 square miles. Its
highest point is Boggy Peak (1319 ft.), located in the southwestern
corner of the island. Barbuda, a flat coral island with an area of only
68 square miles, lies approximately 30 miles due north. The nation also
includes the tiny (0.6 square mile) uninhabited island of Redonda, now
a nature preserve. The current population for the nation is
approximately 68,000 and its capital is St. John's on Antigua.
Climate
Temperatures generally range from the mid-seventies in the winter to
the mid-eighties in the summer. Annual rainfall averages only 45
inches, making it the sunniest of the Eastern Caribbean Islands, and
the northeast trade winds are nearly constant, flagging only in
September. Low humidity year-round.
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