{"id":9264,"date":"2022-02-12T04:00:04","date_gmt":"2022-02-12T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/?p=9264"},"modified":"2022-02-12T14:23:02","modified_gmt":"2022-02-12T22:23:02","slug":"anguilla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/anguilla\/","title":{"rendered":"Anguilla"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/h2>\n

Anguilla is a\u00a0British overseas territory<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0Caribbean<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0It is one of the most northerly of the\u00a0Leeward Islands<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0Lesser Antilles<\/a>, lying east of\u00a0Puerto Rico<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Virgin Islands<\/a>\u00a0and directly north of\u00a0Saint Martin<\/a>.<\/sup><\/p>\n

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Anguilla on the Globe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The territory consists of the main island of Anguilla, approximately 16 miles (26 kilometers) long by 3 miles (5\u00a0km) wide at its widest point, together with a number of much smaller islands and\u00a0cays<\/a>\u00a0with no permanent population. The territory’s capital is\u00a0The Valley<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0The total land area of the territory is 35 square miles (91\u00a0km2<\/sup>),<\/sup> with a population of approximately 14,731 (2018).<\/p>\n

History:<\/h2>\n
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Anguilla was first settled by Indigenous Amerindian peoples who migrated from South America.<\/span><\/sup> The earliest Native American artefacts found on Anguilla have been dated to around 1300\u00a0BC; remains of settlements date from AD\u00a0600.<\/span>\u00a0The native\u00a0<\/span>Arawak<\/a>\u00a0name for the island was\u00a0<\/span>Malliouhana<\/i>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Precisely when Anguilla was first seen by Europeans is uncertain: some sources claim that\u00a0Columbus<\/a>\u00a0sighted the island during his second voyage in 1493, while others state that the first European explorer was the\u00a0French<\/a>\u00a0Huguenot nobleman and merchant\u00a0Ren\u00e9 Goulaine de Laudonni\u00e8re<\/a>\u00a0in 1564.<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0Dutch West India Company<\/a>\u00a0established a fort on the island in 1631. However, the Company later withdrew after its fort was destroyed by the Spanish in 1633.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Traditional accounts state that Anguilla was first colonized by English<\/a>\u00a0settlers from\u00a0Saint Kitts<\/a>\u00a0beginning in 1650.<\/sup><\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0The settlers focused on planting tobacco, and to a lesser extent cotton.<\/sup>\u00a0The French temporarily took over the island in 1666 but returned it to English control under the terms of the\u00a0Treaty of Breda<\/a>\u00a0the next year.<\/sup>\u00a0Major John Scott who visited in September 1667, wrote of leaving the island “in good condition” and noted that in July 1668, “200 or 300 people fled thither in time of war”.<\/sup>\u00a0The French attacked again in 1688,\u00a01745<\/a> and 1798, causing much destruction but failing to capture the island.<\/p>\n

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Wallblake House, a plantation house thought to be the oldest building in Anguilla<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

It is likely that the early European settlers brought enslaved Africans with them. Historians confirm that\u00a0African slaves<\/a>\u00a0lived in the region in the early 17th century, such as slaves from\u00a0Senegal<\/a>\u00a0living on St Kitts in the mid 1600s.<\/sup>\u00a0By 1672 a slave depot existed on the island of\u00a0Nevis<\/a>, serving the\u00a0Leeward Islands<\/a>. While the time of African arrival in Anguilla is difficult to place precisely, archival evidence indicates a substantial African presence of at least 100 enslaved people by 1683; these seem to have come from Central Africa as well as West Africa.<\/sup>\u00a0The slaves were forced to work on the sugar plantations which had begun to replace tobacco as Anguilla’s main crop.<\/sup>\u00a0Over time the African slaves and their descendants came to vastly outnumber the white settlers.<\/sup>\u00a0The African slave trade was eventually terminated within the British Empire in 1807, and slavery outlawed completely in 1834.<\/sup> Many planters subsequently sold up or left the island.<\/p>\n

During the early colonial period, Anguilla was administered by the British through Antigua; in 1825, it was placed under the administrative control of nearby Saint Kitts.<\/sup>\u00a0Anguilla was federated with St Kitts and Nevis in 1882, against the wishes of many Anguillans.<\/sup>\u00a0Economic stagnation, and the severe effects of several droughts in the 1890s and later the\u00a0Great Depression<\/a> of the 1930s led many Anguillans to emigrate for better prospects elsewhere.<\/p>\n

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Flag of the short-lived Republic of Anguilla<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Full adult suffrage was introduced to Anguilla in 1952.<\/sup>\u00a0After a brief period as part of the\u00a0West Indies Federation<\/a>\u00a0(1958\u201362), the island of Anguilla became part of the\u00a0associated state<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Saint Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla<\/a>\u00a0with full internal autonomy in 1967.<\/sup>\u00a0However many Anguillans had no wish to be a part of this union, and resented the dominance of St Kitts within it. On 30 May 1967 Anguillans forcibly ejected the St Kitts police force from the island and declared their separation from St Kitts following a\u00a0referendum<\/a>.<\/sup><\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0The events, led by\u00a0Atlin Harrigan<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and\u00a0Ronald Webster<\/a>\u00a0amongst others, became known as the Anguillan Revolution; its goal was not independence per se, but rather independence from Saint Kitts and Nevis and a return to being a British colony.<\/p>\n

With negotiations failing to break the deadlock, a\u00a0second referendum<\/a>\u00a0confirming Anguillans’ desire for separation from St Kitts was held and the\u00a0Republic of Anguilla<\/a>\u00a0was declared unilaterally, with Ronald Webster as president. Efforts by British envoy\u00a0William Whitlock<\/a>\u00a0failed to break the impasse and\u00a0300 British troops were subsequently sent in March 1969<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0British authority was restored, and confirmed by the Anguilla Act of July 1971.<\/sup>\u00a0In 1980, Anguilla was finally allowed to formally secede from Saint Kitts and Nevis and become a separate British\u00a0Crown colony<\/a>\u00a0(now a\u00a0British overseas territory<\/a>).<\/sup>\u00a0Since then, Anguilla has been politically stable, and has seen a large growth in its tourism and offshore financing sectors.<\/p>\n

Geography:<\/h2>\n

Anguilla is a flat, low-lying island of\u00a0coral<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0limestone<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0Caribbean Sea<\/a>, measuring some 16 miles (26\u00a0km) long and 3.5 miles (6\u00a0km) in width.<\/sup>\u00a0It lies to the east of\u00a0Puerto Rico<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Virgin Islands<\/a>\u00a0and directly north of\u00a0Saint Martin<\/a>, separated from that island by the\u00a0Anguilla Channel<\/a>. The soil is generally thin and poor, supporting scrub, tropical and forest vegetation. <\/sup>The terrain is generally low-lying, with the highest terrain located in the vicinity of The Valley;\u00a0Crocus Hill<\/a>, Anguilla’s highest peak at 240 feet (73 m), lies in the western regions of the town.<\/p>\n

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Map showing location of Anguilla relative to Sint Maarten-Saint Martin and other islands to its south<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anguilla is noted for its ecologically important\u00a0coral reefs<\/a>\u00a0and beaches. Apart from the main island of Anguilla itself, the territory includes a number of other smaller islands and\u00a0cays<\/a>, mostly tiny and uninhabited:<\/p>\n