Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda, numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi), ...

lie in the eastern arc of the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

of the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

, separating the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

from the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

is southeast of

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

;

Barbuda Barbuda (; ) is an island and dependency located in the eastern Caribbean forming part of the twin-island state of Antigua and Barbuda as an autonomous entity. Barbuda is located approximately north of Antigua. The only settlements on the i ...

lies due north of Antigua, and the uninhabited island of

Redonda Redonda is an List of uninhabited regions, uninhabited Caribbean island which is a dependency of Saint John, Antigua and Barbuda, in the Leeward Islands, West Indies. The island is about long, wide, and is high at its highest point. It lie ...

is southwest of Antigua. The largest island of Antigua, is 21 km (about a dozen miles) across and 281 km² (about a hundred square miles) in area. Barbuda covers while Redonda encompasses . The capital of Antigua and Barbuda is St. John's, located at St. John's Harbour on the northwest coast of Antigua. The principal city of Barbuda is Codrington, located on

Codrington Lagoon Codrington Lagoon is a long lagoon which takes up much of the west of the Caribbean island of Barbuda. Its access to the sea was once only via Cuffy Creek, at the northern tip of the lagoon, but in 2019 the western edge of the lagoon was destroyed ...

. In Antigua and Barbuda

forest cover Forest cover is the amount of trees that covers a particular area of land. It may be measured as relative (in percent) or absolute (in square kilometres/ square miles). Nearly a third of the world's land surface is covered with forest, with clos ...

is around 18% of the total land area, equivalent to 8,120 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 10,110 hectares (ha) in 1990.

Geology

Antigua and Barbuda both are generally low-lying islands whose terrain has been influenced more by

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

formations than

volcanic activity Volcanism, vulcanism, volcanicity, or volcanic activity is the phenomenon where solids, liquids, gases, and their mixtures erupt to the surface of a solid-surface astronomical body such as a planet or a moon. It is caused by the presence of a he ...

. The highest point on Antigua is

Boggy Peak Boggy Peak is a mountain located in the southwest of Antigua, a constituent island of the archipelagic country of Antigua and Barbuda. At a height of , it is the highest point of the Shekerley Mountains and the island as a whole. In 2009, Bog ...

, the remnant of a

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

crater rising 402 meters (1,319 ft). This mountain is located amid a bulge of

hills A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as mountains. Hills fall und ...

of volcanic origin in the southwestern part of the island. Lake Estate is the third tallest recorded point on Antigua. The limestone formations in the northeast and northwest are separated from the southwestern volcanic area by a central plain of

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

formations. The map of northeastern Antigua features several small and tiny islands, some inhabited. Barbuda's highest elevation is , part of the highland plateau east of Codrington. The shorelines of both islands are greatly indented with beaches, lagoons, and natural harbors. The islands are rimmed by reefs and shoals. There are few streams as rainfall is slight. Both islands lack adequate amounts of fresh groundwater. Tiny

rises to and has very little level ground, while Barbuda is very flat with few if any hills.

Oceanography

Due to the spread out islands it has an

Exclusive Economic Zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

of .

Islands

Climate

The islands' climate is classified as Tropical Maritime and is moderated by fairly constant northeast tradewinds, with velocities ranging between . There is little precipitation because of the islands' low elevations. The pleasant climate fosters

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

. Rainfall averages per year, with the amount varying widely from season to season. In general the wettest period is between September and November. The islands generally experience low humidity and recurrent droughts.

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

s strike on an average of once a year between July and October. Temperatures average , with a range from in the winter to in the summer and autumn. On 12 August 1995, a temperature of was recorded at St. John's. This is the highest temperature to have ever been recorded in Antigua and Barbuda. The coolest period is between December and February.

Environmental issues

Statistics

; Location: :

are

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

islands between the

and the North

, east-southeast of

. ; Geographic coordinates: : ; Area :* Total: (Antigua ; Barbuda ) :*''country comparison to the world:'' 205 :* Land: :* Note: Includes Redonda, : ; Maritime claims: :* Territorial sea: :* Contiguous zone: :* Exclusive economic zone: and :* Continental shelf: or to the edge of the continental margin ; Terrain:Mostly low-lying limestone and coral islands, with some higher volcanic areas ; Land use :* Arable land: 20.5% :* Permanent crops: 2.3% :* Permanent pasture: 9.1% :* Forest: 22.3% :* Other: 57.2% (2011) ; Irrigated land: (2012) ; Total renewable water resources : (2011) ; Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) :* Total: /yr (63%/21%/15%) :* Per capita: /yr (2005) ; Environment - current issues : Water management, a major concern because of limited natural fresh water resources, is further hampered by the clearing of trees to increase crop production, causing rainfall to run off quickly ; Environment:international agreements :* Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-

Kyoto Protocol The was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is oc ...

, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling ; Geography - note : Antigua has a deeply indented shoreline with many natural harbors and beaches. Antigua's southernmost point is Cape Shirley. : Barbuda has a large western harbor.

Extreme points

Antigua

* Northernmost point – Boon Point * Easternmost point - Man of War Point, Green Island * Easternmost point (mainland only) - Neck of Land * Southernmost point - Nanton Point * Southernmost point (including Redonda) - headland on southern coast of Redonda (''also the southernmost point in Antigua and Barbuda'') * Westernmost point - Five Islands * Westernmost point (including Redonda) - headland on Western coast of Redonda (''also the westernmost point in Antigua and Barbuda'') * Westernmost point (mainland only) - Pearns Point * Lowest point:

: 0 m * Highest point:

Barbuda

* Northernmost point – Goat Point (''also the northernmost point in Antigua and Barbuda'') * Easternmost point – unnamed headland on eastern coast (''also the easternmost point in Antigua and Barbuda'') * Southernmost point –

Coco Point Coco Point is a peninsula on the island of Barbuda and is home to a luxury resort called the Coco Point Lodge. Coco Point Lodge Airstrip, owned by the lodge, is located on the peninsula. It is the southern-most point on Barbuda. The Coco Point L ...

* Westernmost point – Cedar Tree Point * Highest point – the northern edge of the eastern plateau (44.5m)

References

External links

* {{authority control