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Antigua and Barbuda Factbook
Background:
The Siboney were the first to inhabit the islands of Antigua and Barbuda in
2400 B.C., but Arawak and Carib Indians populated the islands when Columbus
landed on his second voyage in 1493. Early settlements by the Spanish and
French were succeeded by the English who formed a colony in 1667. Slavery,
established to run the sugar plantations on Antigua, was abolished in 1834.
The islands became an independent state within the British Commonwealth of
Nations in 1981.
Source: CIA World Factbook 2003
(In general, information available as of 1 January 2003 was used in the preparation of this edition.)
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