"text":"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. On 7 September 2017, the island suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Irma, particularly to communications and residential and business infrastructure."
}
},
"Geography":{
"Location":{
"text":"Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico"
"text":"most of the population is concentrated in The Valley in the center of the island; settlmement is fairly uniform in the southwest, but rather sparce in the northeast"
},
"Natural hazards":{
"text":"frequent hurricanes and other tropical storms (July to October)"
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles"
"text":"Protestant 73.2% (includes Anglican 22.7%, Methodist 19.4%, Pentecostal 10.5%, Seventh Day Adventist 8.3%, Baptist 7.1%, Church of God 4.9%, Presbyterian 0.2%, Brethren 0.1%), Roman Catholic 6.8%, Jehovah's Witness 1.1%, other Christian 10.9%, other 3.2%, unspecified 0.3%, none 4.5% (2011 est.)"
"text":"most of the population is concentrated in The Valley in the center of the island; settlmement is fairly uniform in the southwest, but rather sparce in the northeast"
"text":"the name Anguilla means \"eel\" in various Romance languages (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French) and likely derives from the island's lengthy shape"
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"parliamentary democracy (House of Assembly); self-governing overseas territory of the UK"
"text":"Premier Dr. Ellis WEBSTER (since 30 June 2020); note - starting in 2019, the title of head of government was changed to premier from chief minister of Anguilla"
"text":"Executive Council appointed by the governor from among elected members of the House of Assembly"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"the monarchy is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed premier by the governor"
"text":"unicameral House of Assembly (11 seats; 7 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote, 2 appointed by the governor, and 2 ex officio members - the attorney general and deputy governor; members serve five-year terms)"
},
"elections":{
"text":"last held on 29 June 2020 (next to be held in 2025)"
"text":"the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is the superior court of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States; the ECSC - headquartered on St. Lucia - consists of the Court of Appeal - headed by the chief justice and 4 judges - and the High Court with 18 judges; the Court of Appeal is itinerant, travelling to member states on a schedule to hear appeals from the High Court and subordinate courts; High Court judges reside in the member states, though none on Anguilla"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court chief justice appointed by Her Majesty, Queen ELIZABETH II; other justices and judges appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission; Court of Appeal justices appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 65; High Court judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 62"
"text":"Anguilla Democratic Party or ADP<br>Anguilla National Alliance or ANA<br>Anguilla Progressive Movement or APM [Dr. Ellis WEBSTER]; prior to 2019, it was known as the Anguilla United Movement or AUM<br>Anguilla United Front or AUF [Victor BANKS] (alliance includes ADP, ANA)<br>Democracy, Opportunity, Vision, and Empowerment Party or DOVE [Sutcliffe HODGE]"
"text":"blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Anguillan coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts three orange dolphins in an interlocking circular design on a white background with a turquoise-blue field below; the white in the background represents peace; the blue base symbolizes the surrounding sea, as well as faith, youth, and hope; the three dolphins stand for endurance, unity, and strength"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> local anthem adopted 1981; as a territory of the United Kingdom, \"God Save the Queen\" is official (see United Kingdom)"
"text":"Anguilla has few natural resources, is unsuited for agriculture, 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 recovery of the tourism sector and, therefore, on revived income growth in the industrialized nations as well as on favorable weather conditions."
"text":"modern internal telephone system with fiber-optic trunk lines; telecom sector provides a relatively high contribution to overall GDP; numerous competitors licensed, but small and localized; major growth sectors include the mobile telephony and data segments (2020)"
"text":"country code - 1-264; landing points for the SSCS, ECFS, GCN and Southern Caribbean Fiber with submarine cable links to Caribbean islands and to the US; microwave radio relay to island of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten (2019)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments but the contribution to the sector has been insufficient to offset steep falls in other areas of the market"
