Anguilla
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Anguilla is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean, one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles. It consists of the main island of Anguilla itself, approximately 26 km (16 mi) long by 5 km (3.1 mi) wide at its widest point, together with a number of much smaller islands and cays with no permanent population.
Colonized by English settlers from Saint Kitts in 1650, Anguilla was administered by Great Britain until the early 19th century, when the island - against the wishes of the inhabitants - was incorporated into a single British dependency, along with Saint Kitts and Nevis. Several attempts at separation failed. In 1971, two years after a revolt, Anguilla was finally allowed to secede; this arrangement was formally recognized in 1980, with Anguilla becoming a separate British dependency.
Its major environmental issues include: supplies of potable water sometimes cannot meet increasing demand largely because of poor distribution system
Geography
Location: Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico
Geographic Coordinates: 18 15 N, 63 10 W
Area: 102 sq km
- arable land: 0%
- permanent crops: 0%
- other: 100% (mostly rock with sparse scrub oak, few trees, some commercial salt ponds) (2005)
Coastline: 61 km
Maritime Claims:
territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Natural Hazards: frequent hurricanes and other tropical storms (July to October)
Terrain: flat and low-lying island of coral and limestone. The highest point is Crocus Hill (65 m)
Climate: tropical; moderated by northeast trade winds.
Ecology and Biodiversity
See Biological diversity in the Caribbean Islands.
The Caribbean Islands hotspot consists mainly of three large groups of islands between North and South America: the Bahamas, the Lesser Antilles, and the Greater Antilles (Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Cuba, and Hispaniola, which includes the Dominican Republic and Haiti). Politically, the Caribbean (sometimes called the West Indies) comprises 12 independent nations and several French, British, U.S. and Dutch jurisdictions.
The Caribbean is an important biological region due to its rich vegetation and the large number of endemic plants. Plant diversity and endemism are very high in the Caribbean Islands, with an estimated 13,000 species, including more than 6,500 single-island endemics. Endemism at higher levels is also exceptional, with 205 plant genera and one plant family, the Goetziaceae, found nowhere else on Earth.
The Caribbean is also rich in fauna. The Islands have nearly 90 mammal species, of which more than 40 are endemic. There are more than 600 bird species in the Caribbean Islands, of which roughly 160 are endemic. The Caribbean Islands are particularly rich in reptiles, with over 500 reptile species, almost 470 of which (94 percent) are endemic. The Caribbean is also a center of amphibian endemism, with all of the roughly 170 native species of amphibians from four families of frogs (the Bufonidae, Dendrobatidae, Hylidae, and Leptodactylidae) endemic to the hotspot. All but a few species are endemic to single islands. The Caribbean Islands have more than 160 species of freshwater fish, about 65 of which are endemic to one or a few islands, and many of these to just a single lake or springhead.
The British Virgin Islands are part of the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean. The western part of the British Virgin Islands contain a small portion of the Leeward Islands moist forests, an important ecoregion.
The Leeward Islands are similar to other Caribbean islands in having a relatively high degree of island-endemism. The amount of diversity and number of island endemics in the Lesser Antilles is related to island size, diversity of habitat, and distance from the mainland or another island.
Ecoregion:
Government
Government Type: (overseas territory of the UK)
Capital: The Valley
Legal System: based on English common law
People and Society
Population: 14,436 (July 2009 est.)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 24.5% (male 1,815/female 1,725)
15-64 years: 67.8% (male 4,665/female 5,125)
65 years and over: 7.7% (male 534/female 572) (2009 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 2.272% (2009 est.)
Birthrate: 13.11 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death Rate: 4.39 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net Migration Rate: 14.06 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth: 80.65 years (2009 est.)
Total Fertility Rate: 1.75 children born/woman (2009 est.)
Languages: English (official)
Literacy: 95% (1984 est.)
Water
See Water profile
Economy
Anguilla has few natural resources, and the economy depends heavily on luxury tourism, offshore banking, lobster fishing, and remittances from emigrants. Increased activity in the tourism industry has spurred the growth of the construction sector, contributing to economic growth. Anguillan officials have put substantial effort into developing the offshore financial sector, which is small, but growing. In the medium term, prospects for the economy will depend largely on the tourism sector and, therefore, on revived income growth in the industrialized nations as well as on favorable weather conditions.
GDP: (Purchasing Power Parity): $108.9 million (2004 est.)
GDP: (Official Exchange Rate): $108.9 million (2004 est.)
GDP-real growth rate: 10.2% (2004 est.)
GDP- per capita (PPP): $8,800 (2004 est.)
GDP- composition by sector:
agriculture: 4%
industry: 18%
services: 78% (2002 est.)
Industries: tourism, boat building, offshore financial services
Currency: East Caribbean dollars (XCD)
Further Reading
- Return to Anguilla's country profile
- Return to the Latin America and the Caribbean Collection