The 1991 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

Minister Vere Cornwall BIRD, Sr. (since

       NA 1976)

      _#_Political parties and leaders: Antigua Labor Party (ALP), Vere C. BIRD, Sr., Lester BIRD; United National Democratic Party (UNDP), Dr. Ivor HEATH

      _#_Suffrage: universal at age 18

      _#_Elections:

      House of Representatives—last held 9 March 1989 (next to be held 1994); results—percentage of vote by party NA; seats—(17 total) ALP 15, UNDP 1, independent 1

      _#_Communists: negligible

      _#_Other political or pressure groups: Antigua Caribbean Liberation Movement (ACLM), a small leftist nationalist group led by Leonard (Tim) HECTOR; Antigua Trades and Labor Union (ATLU), headed by Noel THOMAS

      _#_Member of: ACP, C, CARICOM, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, NAM (observer), OAS, OECS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, WCL, WHO, WMO

      _#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Edmund Hawkins LAKE; Chancery at Suite 2H, 3400 International Drive NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone [phone] or 5166, 5122, 5225; there is an Antiguan Consulate in Miami;

      US—the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Antigua and

       Barbuda, and in his absence, the Embassy is headed by Charge d'Affaires

       Bryant SALTER; Embassy at Queen Elizabeth Highway, Saint John's

       (mailing address is FPO Miami 34054); telephone [phone] or 3506

      _#_Flag: red with an inverted isosceles triangle based on the top edge of the flag; the triangle contains three horizontal bands of black (top), light blue, and white with a yellow rising sun in the black band

      _*Economy #_Overview: The economy is primarily service oriented, with tourism the most important determinant of economic performance. During the period 1983–89, real GDP expanded at an annual average rate of about 7%. Tourism's contribution to GDP, as measured by value added tax in hotels and restaurants, rose from about 14% in 1983 to 16% in 1989, and stimulated growth in other sectors—particularly in construction, communications, and public utilities. Antigua and Barbuda is one of the few areas in the Caribbean experiencing a labor shortage in some sectors of the economy.

      _#_GDP: $350 million, per capita $5,470 (1989); real growth rate 3.0% (1991 est.)

      _#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7% (1990 est.)

      _#_Unemployment rate: 5.0% (1988 est.)

      _#_Budget: revenues $92.8 million; expenditures $101 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1990 est.)

      _#_Exports: $33.2 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);

      commodities—petroleum products 48%, manufactures 23%, food and live animals 4%, machinery and transport equipment 17%;

      partners—OECS 26%, Barbados 15%, Guyana 4%, Trinidad and Tobago 2%, US 0.3%

      _#_Imports: $358.2 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.);

      commodities—food and live animals, machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, oil;

      partners—US 27%, UK 16%, Canada 4%, OECS 3%, other 50%

      _#_External debt: $250 million (1990 est.)

      _#_Industrial production: growth rate 3% (1989 est.); accounts for 9% of GDP

      _#_Electricity: 52,000 kW capacity; 95 million kWh produced, 1,490 kWh per capita (1990)

      _#_Industries: tourism, construction, light manufacturing (clothing, alcohol, household appliances)

      _#_Agriculture: accounts for 4% of GDP; expanding output of cotton, fruits, vegetables, and livestock sector; other crops—bananas, coconuts, cucumbers, mangoes, sugarcane; not self-sufficient in food

      _#_Economic aid: US commitments, $10 million (1985–88); Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970–88), $45 million

      _#_Currency: East Caribbean dollar (plural—dollars); 1 EC dollar (EC$) = 100 cents

      _#_Exchange rates: East Caribbean dollars (EC$) per US$1—2.70 (fixed rate since 1976)

      _#_Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March

      _*Communications #_Railroads: 64 km 0.760-meter narrow gauge and 13 km 0.610-meter gauge used almost exclusively for handling sugarcane

      _#_Highways: 240 km

      _#_Ports: Saint John's

      _#_Merchant marine: 86 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 319,477 GRT/497,194 DWT; includes 61 cargo, 5 refrigerated cargo, 6 container, 4 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 multifunction large load carrier, 3 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 6 chemical tanker; note—a flag of convenience registry

      _#_Civil air: 10 major transport aircraft

      _#_Airports: 3 total, 3 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440–3,659 m; 2 with runways less than 1,220 m

      _#_Telecommunications: good automatic telephone system; 6,700 telephones; tropospheric scatter links with Saba and Guadeloupe; stations—4 AM, 2 FM, 2 TV, 2 shortwave; 1 coaxial submarine cable; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station

      _*Defense Forces #_Branches: Royal Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force, Royal Antigua and Barbuda Police Force (includes the Coast Guard)

      _#_Manpower availability: NA

      _#Defense expenditures: $1.4 million, less than 1% of GDP (FY91) % @Arctic Ocean *Geography #_Total area: 14,056,000 km2; includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, and other tributary water bodies

      _#_Comparative area: slightly more than 1.5 times the size of the US; smallest of the world's four oceans (after Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean)

      _#_Coastline: 45,389 km

      _#_Climate: persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow

      _#_Terrain: central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack which averages about 3 meters in thickness, although pressure ridges may be three times that size; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight line movement from the New Siberian Islands (USSR) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the ice pack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling land masses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonsov Ridge); maximum depth is 4,665 meters in the Fram Basin

      _#_Natural resources: sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals, whales)

      _#_Environment: endangered marine species include walruses and whales; ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean and lasts about 10 months; permafrost in islands; virtually icelocked from October to June; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage

      _#_Note: major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May; strategic location between North America and the USSR; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western USSR; floating research stations operated by the US and USSR

      _*Economy #_Overview: Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including crude oil, natural gas, fishing, and sealing.

      _*Communications