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Anguilla, island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, a British overseas territory. It is the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles and lies about 12 miles (19 km) north of the island of Saint Martin and 60 miles (100 km) northwest of Saint Kitts. The Valley is the principal town and the administrative centre of the island. Noted for its easygoing atmosphere and magnificent beaches and waters, Anguilla is a popular tourist destination. Area 35 square miles (91 square km). Pop. (2006 est.) 14,254.

Land

Anguilla is bare and flat and is fringed by white sand beaches. It is 16 miles (26 km) long and a maximum of 3.5 miles (6 km) wide; its long thin shape gave the island its name (French: anguille, “eel”). The territory includes several small uninhabited offshore islands, the largest of which are Dog, Scrub, and Sombrero islands and the Prickly Pear Cays.

Anguilla was formed from coral and limestone. The land is fairly flat but undulating. The highest point, Crocus Hill, has an elevation of 210 feet (64 metres). The northern coast is characterized by short slopes and steep cliffs; the southern coast has a longer and more gradual slope that drops gently to the sea. The soil layer is thin, but there are small pockets of red loam, mainly in the shallow valleys that are called bottoms. As with most coral islands, fresh water is scarce. The island has no rivers, but there are several surface saltwater ponds, mostly near the coasts, that supplied Anguilla’s salt industry until its collapse in the 1980s.

The climate is tropical; the average temperature is in the low 80s °F (about 28 °C), and rainfall averages about 35 inches (900 mm) per year. Hurricanes can occur from June to November and occasionally are highly destructive, such as those of 1995 and 1999. The storms have greatly contributed to the erosion of the island’s beaches. Significant erosion is also caused by indiscriminate sand mining, which has resulted in the disappearance of some beaches. The island’s vegetation consists primarily of small trees and low scrub inland and sea grape along the coasts. There are some plantations of fruit trees. Wildlife on Anguilla includes land reptiles, sea turtles, lobsters, and goats, the latter of which are ubiquitous. There are many bird species, including the national bird, the turtledove; the island is also a popular stop for migratory birds.

People

The majority of the population of Anguilla is of African descent. English is the official language. Most of the population is Christian, and the main religious denominations are Anglican and Methodist. The island has experienced steady population growth, and Anguillans live relatively long lives.

Island, New Caledonia.
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Economy

Agriculture is of minor importance; only a small fraction of the land is under cultivation. The main economic activities revolve around tourism and financial services. The steady increase in tourism has bolstered the construction industries and stimulated the improvement of transport facilities. Anguilla has a small number of labour unions. Since the 1980s offshore banking has become increasingly important but also led to allegations that the island’s banks were being used for money laundering; in 2000 the government began introducing legislation to combat the problem.

Fishing is the traditional livelihood, and both deepwater fishing and aquaculture have expanded. Other traditional industries, especially shipbuilding and the raising of livestock, also continue. Anguilla imports almost all of its food supplies and other consumer items. The export of fish and lobster is an important source of foreign exchange, as are remittances from émigrés working abroad. To further its economic growth, Anguilla became an associate member of the Caribbean Community and Common Market in 1999.

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The island’s central bank is the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, which is also the bank of issue for several other Caribbean islands; Anguilla’s official currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar, although the U.S. dollar is also readily accepted. The island’s main trading partners are the United States, the United Kingdom, and Puerto Rico. There is no sales or income tax in Anguilla. Instead, the government relies on import duties, taxes on services, corporate registrations, and various licensing fees. The distribution of incomes is fairly equal, and there are few signs of extreme poverty and no discernible slum areas.

Many people own cars, and Anguilla has no bus service, unlike other Caribbean islands, where buses are an integral part of the transportation system. Frequent ferry service takes travelers to and from Marigot, Saint Martin. Wallblake Airport, near The Valley, provides connections to international airports on other islands in the region.

Government and society

Executive power is in the hands of a governor appointed by the British monarch. The governor is in charge of external affairs, defense, internal security (including police), and public services. The governor presides over the Executive Council, which comprises a chief minister, other ministers, and ex officio members. The unicameral House of Assembly has 11 seats plus a speaker; seven members are directly elected by universal adult suffrage to five-year terms, two are appointed by the governor after consultation with the chief minister and leader of the opposition, and two are ex officio. Voting is open to individuals age 18 and older. The highest judicial body in Anguilla is the High Court; its judge is provided by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Final appeals are heard by the Privy Council in Britain. The island has no military; the United Kingdom is responsible for Anguilla’s defense.

Education is free and compulsory between ages 5 and 17. Both primary and secondary education are provided in government-run schools. Degree programs through distance learning are offered by the University of the West Indies, but further higher education must be pursued at one of the university’s campuses elsewhere in the Caribbean or at overseas institutions, mainly in the United States or the United Kingdom. The Anguilla government provides some students with full scholarships or other financial assistance. More than nine-tenths of the population is literate. Health conditions are generally good, but health services on the island are limited. There is a small hospital on Anguilla as well as several district clinics; specialist care, however, must be sought from larger islands nearby.

Cultural life

Cultural milieu

The evolution of Anguilla’s society was, as elsewhere in the Caribbean, a legacy of plantation sugar and slavery, although conditions in Anguilla were somewhat anomalous for the region. The island’s thin soil and inadequate rainfall adversely affected the quantity and quality of its sugar crop; these factors made production less profitable than on other Caribbean islands, where large areas of fertile soil and adequate rainfall created lucrative sugar plantations that evolved into societies with a large labouring class. On those islands, after emancipation was declared in the British and French colonies in the first half of the 19th century, the plantation remained the dominant economic and social institution. Most of the ex-slaves were left landless and dependent on wage labour for a large portion of their incomes. On Anguilla, however, once the slaves were emancipated, the European-descended planters migrated elsewhere, and their lands were either taken over or bought by the ex-slaves. Thereafter, Anguilla evolved into a society of small farmers, sailors, and fishermen with much personal independence.

Anguilla’s smallness, in terms of both its geographical area and population, contributed to the creation of a close-knit society. Indeed, Anguillans are renowned for their habit of greeting other people, whether they know them or not, either verbally or by at least raising a hand in salutation.

Daily life and social customs

The day-to-day life of Anguilla’s people is similar to that of North Americans. Presumably this is a consequence of the island’s close proximity to the United States (and its Caribbean territories) and of the heavy dependence of the Anguillan economy on U.S. tourists. The impact of the United States’s cultural influence is reinforced by the prevalence of American music, television, and other media. Computer use is relatively widespread in businesses, schools, and homes. A significant number of people are computer literate and have access to Internet services. Cellular phones are popular among the young and middle-aged.

Family ties in Anguilla tend to be strong. Even though the nuclear family is dominant, single-parent families are common, generally headed by a mother and, on average, comprising two or three children. As mothers have become more economically active during the late 20th and early 21st centuries, their younger children have been either left under the care of older siblings or, in the case of wealthier mothers, placed in day-care centres. The extended role of mothers has changed the pattern and significance of traditional family meals. Dining arrangements are scattered. The main meal, consisting of some form of meat, along with peas and rice (a staple dish) and vegetables, is usually cooked early in the morning, and family members eat when it is convenient.

Cultural institutions

The island’s cultural showpiece is the annual Summer Festival, or Carnival, which takes place in late July–early August. Its main events include beauty pageants, a Calypso Monarch competition, musical performances, and a Parade of Troupes, in which costumed teams of dancers perform in the streets. The Summer Festival is a cultural potpourri highlighting the art, artistry, innovation, and imagination of the people. Holidays that involve notable public festivities include Anguilla Day (May 30, commemorating the high point of the 1967 revolution in which Anguilla severed its constitutional ties with Saint Kitts), August Monday (the first Monday in August, celebrated as a holiday marking the emancipation of the slaves in the former British Caribbean), August Thursday (the traditional boat-racing holiday following August Monday), and Boxing Day.

Sports and recreation

Anguilla’s national sport is boat racing, which had its beginning in the late 1800s and in the early days of the 20th century when fishermen raced their boats on the return journey from the day’s trip. These fishing boats were the immediate forerunners of those now built specifically for racing, which became an organized sport in the 1930s. Boat races draw large crowds and are held mainly on public holidays. They are significant and colourful cultural events at which people meet friends, make merry to the beat of popular calypso music, eat barbecue, and sample the strong drinks of the Caribbean. Other sports and games in which Anguillans engage are cricket (a legacy from the early colonial days), football (soccer), volleyball, draughts, and dominoes. Lawn tennis is also popular.