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Anguilla

Motto
"Strength and Endurance"
Anthem
God Save the Queen
National song: God Bless Anguilla 1


Capital The Valley
Official languages English
Demonym Anguillan
Government British Overseas Territory
- Queen HM Queen Elizabeth II
- Governor Andrew George
- Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming
Establishment
- UK overseas territory 1980
Area
- Total 102 km² (220th)
39.4 sq mi
- Water (%) negligible
Population
- 2006 estimate 13,477 (212th)
- Density 132/km² (n/a)
342/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2004 estimate
- Total $108.9 million
- Per capita $8,800
Currency East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
Time zone (UTC-4)
Internet TLD .ai
Calling code +1 264
1 National Song of Anguilla. Official Website of the Government of Anguilla. Retrieved on 12 October, 2005.
 

Coordinates: 18°13′14″N, 63°4′7″W Anguilla (English pronunciation ang-GWILL-ah, IPA: /æŋˈɡwɪlə/) is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean, one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles. It consists of the main island of Anguilla itself, approximately 26 km (16 miles) long by 5 km (3 miles) wide at its widest point, together with a number of much smaller islands and cays with no permanent population. The island's capital is The Valley. The total land area of the territory is 102 km² (39.4 square miles), with a population of approximately 13,500 (2006 estimate).
History
Main article: History of Anguilla
Anguilla was first settled in history by Amerindian tribes who migrated from South America. The date of European discovery is uncertain: some sources claim that Columbus sighted the island in 1493, while others state that the island was first discovered by the French in 1564 or 1565.[1] The name Anguilla derives from the word for "eel" in any of various Romance languages (modern Spanish: anguila; French: anguille; Italian: anguilla), probably chosen because of the island's eel-like shape.

Anguilla was first colonised by English settlers from Saint Kitts, beginning in 1650. Other early arrivals included Europeans from Antigua and Barbados. It is likely that some of these early Europeans brought enslaved Africans with them. Historians confirm that African slaves lived in the region in the early seventeenth century. For example, Africans from Senegal lived in St. Christopher (today St. Kitts) in 1626. By 1672 a slave depot existed on the island of Nevis. It served the Leeward Islands. While the time of African arrival in Anguilla is difficult to place precisely, archival evidence indicates that a substantial African presence (at least 100) on the island by 1683.

The island was administered by England, and later the United Kingdom until the early nineteenth century, when – against the wishes of the inhabitants – it was incorporated into a single British dependency along with Saint Kitts and Nevis. After two rebellions in 1967 and 1969 and brief period as a self-declared independent republic headed by Ronald Webster, British rule was fully restored in 1969. It became a separate British dependency (now termed a British overseas territory) in 1980.

Politics
Main article: Politics of Anguilla
Anguilla is an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom.

Anguilla is an associated member of the OECS..Its politics takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby the Chief Minister is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system.

The United Nations Committee on Decolonisation includes Anguilla on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. The territory's constitution is Anguilla Constitutional Order 1 April 1982 (amended 1990). Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the House of Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Military defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom.