The twin-island state of Antigua and Barbuda is located in the Caribbean, within an archipelago of islands in the Atlantic Ocean between North and South America. Antigua and Barbuda is one of the Northern Leeward Island states. Antigua is 280 square kilometers (108.1 square miles) in area, while Barbuda is 161 square kilometers (62.1 square miles). The entire land area is approximately 2.5 times the size of Washington, D.C., and as of 2003 the total population was estimated to be 67,897. Ninety-five percent of its residents are younger than 65 years of age. The island of Antigua is relatively flat, with sparse vegetation and no rivers, while Barbuda is totally flat and thickly forested.

The Siboney were the first people to inhabit the islands in prehistoric times, followed by the Arawak and Carib starting in the first century. The island was named for a church in Spain, Santa Maria de la...