Antigua and Barbuda is an island nation made up of: Antigua island, which is divided into six parishes; and of the two dependencies of Barbuda island and Redonda island.
Although Barbuda and Redonda are called dependencies, they are integral parts of the state, making them essentially administrative divisions. Dependency is simply their title. Redonda was annexed into Saint John and unlike Barbuda, is not an autonomous island, instead, it is a first-level administrative division subordinate to Saint John. Barbuda is sometimes referred to as the "parish of Holy Trinity" in relation to the parishes on Antigua in vital records and the education system.
History Antigua's first-level administrative divisions were based on Divisions, which were later joined to form the island's five parishes. Prior to the creation of parishes, Divisions served as the basis for Antigua's administrative divisions. Despite the fact that divisions have never been eliminated, they are very rarely mentioned.
On 24 August 1681, the five founding parishes of Antigua—Saint John, Saint Mary, Saint Paul, and Saint Philip and Saint Peter—were formally organised. In 1725, Saint Peter was divided into the Saint Peter as it is known today and Saint George.
The office of "justice" served as the top government official in parishes in the past; but, this role is no longer held in any parishes. Each parish also had a vestry. While formally abolished on 17 December 1873 by the Parochial Board Act of 1873, vestries met until as late as 1899.Antigua Observer - Saturday 27 December 1873 Vestries were elected at the parish church.Antigua Times - Saturday 07 January 1871 The Parochial Board Act replaced vestries with parochial boards that were to be appointed by the governor. These boards had a chair who regulated their proceedings. The powers of these boards were inherited from those of the vestries.Antigua Observer - Thursday 28 May 1891 In 1878 the law was amended in relation to their taxation powers.Antigua Observer - Saturday 01 June 1878
List Parish or dependencyCapitalLargest cityArea (km2)Population (Census 2011)Population density () Saint George Fitches CreekPiggotts 24.41 8,055 329.99 Saint John St. John's 66.96 51,737 772.66 Saint Mary Old RoadBolans 63.55 7,341 115.16 Saint Paul FalmouthLiberta 45.27 8,128 179.54 Saint Peter ParhamAll Saints 32.37 5,325 164.5 Saint Philip St. Philip'sWillikies 40.67 3,347 82.3 Barbuda Codrington 160.58 1,634 10.18 Redonda N/A 1.50 0 0 Total Country St. John's 435.31 85,567 196.57
Parish capitals There are seven parish/dependency capitals in Antigua and Barbuda. One of these, St. John's, serves as the national seat of government. Each parish capital contains the parish church, while the capital of Barbuda contains the administrative offices of the Barbuda Council. Most capitals have town status, however, Codrington, St. Philip's, and Fitches Creek are villages, and St. John's is the sole city in the country.
With the exception of St. John's and Codrington, the majority of parish/dependency capitals are not the largest settlements in the parish. Parham is the second-largest city in Saint Peter; that being said, it would be the largest if the population of All Saints—which is spread across three parishes—were not included. Nonetheless, compared to Parham, the population of the sector of All Saints in Saint Peter is considerably higher.
+Parish/dependencyCapitalCapital population (2011)Percentage of parish/dependency population living in capitalForeign born population (%)StatusImageSaint JohnSt. John's21,643CitySaint GeorgeFitches Creek532VillageSaint PeterParham1,307TownSaint PhilipSt. Philip's131VillageSaint PaulFalmouth240TownSaint MaryOld Road1,251TownBarbudaCodrington796VillageRedondaN/A
See also ISO 3166-2:AG List of Caribbean First-level Subdivisions by Total Area Commonwealth Local Government Forum-Americas Divisions of Antigua
Notes
References
External links
UNccd.int: Source of accurate Antigua and Barbuda area figures