Antigua and Barbuda

Note: This page is very incomplete. Antigua and Barbuda is an island nation in North America, in the Western Hemisphere. Antigua and Barbuda is located in the West Indies on the Caribbean and in the Atlantic Ocean. Antigua and Barbuda does not have any land borders, is west of Saint Kitts and Nevis and south of Dominica. Antigua and Barbuda are names of two separate islands, 39 miles apart from each other, 97% of the population living on Antigua.

Antigua and Barbuda is in the Commonwealth of Nations, Elizabeth II is the country queen and head of state.

Island Life (~2900 BC - 1600s)
Antigua was first settled by hunter-gatherer Amerindians, known today as "Archaic People" (known in Antigua as Siboney, who are Cuban people). The earliest signs of civilization on Antigua have been dated to 2900 BC. The civilizations were succeeded by agriculturalist Saladoid people, migrating up the Caribbean islands from Venezuela. The Arawakan people from South America would replace them around 1200 AD and around 1500 by Island Caribs. The Arawaks were the first well-documented group in Antigua. It is wrote that they arrived to Antigua in canoes from Venezuela, living on the island until the Caribs, who were indigenous to the area, moved them out. Arawakan people brought agriculture to Antigua, growing many crops including corn, potatoes, cotton, and the famous Antiguan "black" pineapple, some of which are still Antiguan cuisines. Arawakan people left Antigua left the island around 1100 AD. Any remaining Arawakan people were raided Caribs, with Catholic Encyclopedia stating that "the Caribs' superior weapons and seafaring prowess allowed them to defeat most Arawak nations in the West Indies—enslaving some and cannibalizing others." Caribbean native people and culture was destroyed. European and African diseases, malnutrition, and slavery are likely to be why the native people and cultures died off, but neither of those are conclusively proven for being the main cause. Some historians say that death from people in the Caribbean region could have been from stress during slavery, while others say that it was based on diet.