history+and+geography+of+antigua

=History and geography of Antigua=

by raj obrien
Antigua is an island in the Caribbean chain. Antigua and Barbuda together forms an independent country. Antigua is located Latitude/ longitude 17°20'N, 61°48'W The people of Antigua are black, descendents from Africans who were brought over as slaves by the English to work the land, plant sugar cane, tobacco, ginger, indigo and make sugar and rum. The English exported sugar and rum for about 150 years till the slavery ended. The people of Antigua don’t have a religion or spirituality of there own because they were taken away from there land and their culture, but they have clung to Christianity for spiritual community. They love music and dancing.

The architecture in Antigua is related to the climate and the land. They build simply and low to the ground, mostly out of concrete bricks. Some houses are just sheets of iron because you don’t need insulation because the climate’s so hot. They build low to the ground because of hurricanes that come anytime between June and November.

The climate in Antigua is hot and very dry. The temperature never gets below 21 degrees Celsius or above 38 degrees Celsius, but the sun is baking hot. They grow lots of plantain, bananas, a few pineapple, dasheen, tania (root vegetables like potatoes), coconut, chili, guava, ginger and sugar cane. The landscape is dry and there is not much fresh water. The people collect rainwater in concrete tanks under the house and pump it up when needed. There are no springs or rivers; the only other fresh water comes from a desalinization plant. The people’s main income is from the tourism industry. Most of the tourists are from Europe and the USA, or are sailors passing through. The main tourist season is at the same time as the northern winter. The tourists come for the beaches, clear waters, snorkeling and yachting. Because of the hurricane, season most of the cruising and commercial yachts leave for Europe and the US for the summer months.

History. The first inhabitants of Antigua were the Siboney or “stone people” who were there in 1775 B.C. They lived completely off natural resources and anything they could find. At around the time of Christ, the Arawaks from South Africa came in little rowboats to Antigua and introduced agriculture. The Arawaks mostly lived on the north side of Antigua where there are more reefs and better fishing. In about 1100 AD most Arawaks left Antigua. The few that stayed were raided by the Caribs, the most savage Caribbean tribe, who named Antigua “Waladli”. In 1493 Columbus gave Antigua its current name because he had prayed in "Santa Maria La Antigua". church in Spain before the voyage. From then on several explorers, as well as buccaneers, came to Antigua and exploited it for its timbers, medicinal and dye plants, and the cattle that they introduced for a source of meat. The English came in 1632 and made lots of money out of farming tobacco, ginger, indigo and sugar. The French took Antigua in 1666 and kept it for about 8 months until it was given back to the English in the Treaty of Breda. Sugar became the main crop in about 1674 when the latest sugar technology was brought over from Barbados. The first sugar plantation was so successful that tobacco planters changed to sugar. Sugar requires so much labor so there was a huge increase in slaves. In 1672 they started building forts to protect the valuable sugar industry. In 1807 the slave trade stopped. By 1834 the slaves were freed completely. In 1850 the sugar industry started to decline. In 1981 Antigua and Barbuda claimed independence from England therefore forming the country Antigua and Barbuda.

This is really nice work Raj...... and comprehensive. Where did you get your information from? Wandering around talking to people and looking at tourist sites or from some history books or a combination of both? Add a little section at the end titled 'references'. This means you keep a record of your sources of information. You can include the names of people that you talk to as well if you like.

One thing that would enhance this would be a couple of photos. Have you got a digital camera with you? Consider taking a few shots of the things that you are writing about and inserting them into the text. Have fun Gerard