Background: Colonized by English settlers from Saint Kitts in 1650 Anguilla was administered by Great Britain until the early 19th century when the island - against the wishes of the inhabitants - was incorporated into a single British dependency along with Saint Kitts and Nevis. Several attempts at separation failed. In 1971 two years after a revolt Anguilla was finally allowed to secede; this arrangement was formally recognized in 1980 with Anguilla becoming a separate British dependency. On 7 September 2017 the island suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Irma particularly to communications and residential and business infrastructure.

Geographic coordinates: 18 15 N 63 10 W

Map reference: Central America and the Caribbean

Area
Total: 91 km²
Land: 91 km²
Water: 0 km²
Rank: 227
Comparative: about one-half the size of Washington DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 61 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 3 nm
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm

Climate: tropical; moderated by northeast trade winds

Terrain: flat and low-lying island of coral and limestone

Elevation
Mean elevation: NA
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m: highest point: Crocus Hill 73 m

Natural resources: salt fish lobster

Land use
Agricultural land: 0%
Forest: 61.1%
Other: 38.9% (2011 est.)

Irrigated land: 0 km² (2012)

Natural hazards: frequent hurricanes and other tropical storms (July to October)

Geography
Note: the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles

Population
Distribution: most of the population is concentrated in The Valley in the center of the island; settlmement is fairly uniform in the southwest but rather sparce in the northeast: 17,087 (July 2017 est.)
Rank: 220
Growth rate: 1.97% (2017 est.)
Growth rate rank: 46
Below poverty line: 23% (2002 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Anguillan
Adjective: Anguillan

Ethnic groups: African/black 85.3% hispanic 4.9% mixed 3.8% white 3.2% East Indian/Indian 1% other 1.6% unspecified 0.3% (2011 est.)

Languages: English (official)

Religions: Protestant 73.2% (includes Anglican 22.7% Methodist 19.4% Pentecostal 10.5% Seventh Day Adventist 8.3% Baptist 7.1% Church of God 4.9% Presbytarian 0.2% Brethren 0.1%) Roman Catholic 6.8% Jehovah's Witness 1.1% other Christian 10.9% other 3.2% unspecified 0.3% none 4.5% (2011 est.)

Age structure
0-14 years: 22.21%
15-24 years: 14.08%
25-54 years: 43.82%
55-64 years: 11.06%
65 years and over: 8.84% (2017 est.)

Median age
Total: 34.8 years
Male: 32.9 years
Female: 36.7 years
Rank: 80

Population growth rate: 1.97% (2017 est.)
Rank: 46

Birth rate: 12.5 births/1000 population (2017 est.)
Rank: 157

Death rate: 4.6 deaths/1000 population (2017 est.)
Rank: 204

Net migration rate: 11.7 migrant(s)/1000 population (2017 est.)
Rank: 8

Population distribution: most of the population is concentrated in The Valley in the center of the island; settlmement is fairly uniform in the southwest but rather sparce in the northeast

Urbanization
Urban population: 100% of total population
Rate of urbanization: 0.88% annual rate of change

Major urban areas
Population: THE VALLEY (capital) 1000 (2014)

Environment
Current issues: supplies of potable water sometimes cannot meet increasing demand largely because of poor distribution system

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.04 male/female
0-14 years: 1.04 male/female
15-24 years: 1 male/female
25-54 years: 0.82 male/female
55-64 years: 0.9 male/female
65 years and over: 0.98 male/female
Total population: 0.91 male/female

Infant mortality rate
Total: 3.3 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 3.7 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 2.9 deaths/1000 live births
Rank: 211

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 81.5 years
Male: 78.9 years
Female: 84.2 years
Rank: 24

Total fertility rate: 1.74 children born/woman (2017 est.)
Rank: 165

Drinking water source:

Sanitation facility access:

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: NA
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Major infectious diseases
Note: active local transmission of Zika virus by Aedes species mosquitoes has been identified in this country ; it poses an important risk (a large number of cases possible) among US citizens if bitten by an infective mosquito; other less common ways to get Zika are through sex via blood transfusion or during pregnancy in which the pregnant woman passes Zika virus to her fetus (2016)

Education expenditures: 2.8% of GDP (2008)
Rank: 146

Country name
Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form: Anguilla
Etymology: the name Anguilla means 'eel' in various Romance languages and likely derives from the island's lengthy shape

Government type: parliamentary democracy (House of Assembly); self-governing overseas territory of the UK

Capital
Name: The Valley
Geographic coordinates: 18 13 N 63 03 W
Time difference: UTC-4

Administrative divisions: none (overseas territory of the UK)

Independence: none (overseas territory of the UK)

National holiday: Anguilla Day 30 May (1967)

Constitution: several previous; latest 1 April 1982; amended 1990 (2016)

Legal system: common law based on the English model

Citizenship: see United Kingdom

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II ; represented by Governor Christina SCOTT (since 23 July 2013)
Head of government: Chief Minister Hubert HUGHES
Cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from among elected members of the House of Assembly
Electionsappointments: the monarchy is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed chief minister by the governor

Legislative branch
Description: unicameral House of Assembly
Elections: last held on 22 April 2015
Election results: percent of vote by party - AUF 54.4% AUM 38.3% DOVE 1.4% independent 5.9%; seats by party - AUF 6 independent 1

Judicial branch
Highest court: the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court is the superior court of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States; the ECSC - headquartered on St. Lucia - consists of the Court of Appeal - headed by the chief justice and 4 judges - and the High Court with 18 judges; the Court of Appeal is itinerant travelling to member states on a schedule to hear appeals from the High Court and subordinate courts; High Court judges reside in the member states though none on Anguilla
Judge selection and term of office: Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court chief justice appointed by Her Majesty Queen ELIZABETH II; other justices and judges appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission; Court of Appeal justices appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 65; High Court judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 62
Subordinate courts: Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court

Political parties and leaders:

International organization participation: Caricom (associate) CDB Interpol (subbureau) OECS UNESCO (associate) UPU

Diplomatic representation
In the us: none (overseas territory of the UK)
From the us: none (overseas territory of the UK)

Flag description: blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Anguillan coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts three orange dolphins in an interlocking circular design on a white background with a turquoise-blue field below; the white in the background represents peace; the blue base symbolizes the surrounding sea as well as faith youth and hope; the three dolphins stand for endurance unity and strength

National symbols: dolphin

National anthem
Name: 'God Bless Anguilla'
Lyrics and music: Alex RICHARDSON
Note: local anthem adopted 1981; as a territory of the United Kingdom 'God Save the Queen' is official

Economy overview: Anguilla has few natural resources and the economy depends heavily on luxury tourism offshore banking lobster fishing and remittances from emigrants. Increased activity in the tourism industry has spurred the growth of the construction sector contributing to economic growth. Anguillan officials have put substantial effort into developing the offshore financial sector which is small but growing. In the medium term prospects for the economy will depend largely on the tourism sector and therefore on revived income growth in the industrialized nations as well as on favorable weather conditions.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 222

Real gdp growth rate: -8.5% (2009 est.)
Rank: 217

Real gdp per capita: $12,200 (2008 est.)
Rank: 125

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 71.8%
Government consumption: 14.5%
Investment in fixed capital: 19.4%
Investment in inventories: 0%
Exports of goods and services: 40.8%
Imports of goods and services: -46.6%

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 2.4%
Industry: 21.3%
Services: 76.3%

Agriculture products: small quantities of tobacco vegetables; cattle raising

Industries: tourism boat building offshore financial services

Industrial production growth rate: 2% (2016 est.)
Rank: 106

Labor force: 6,049 (2001)
Rank: 220
By occupation agriculturefishingforestrymining: 4%
By occupation manufacturing: 3%
By occupation construction: 18%
By occupation transportation and utilities: 10%
By occupation commerce: 36%
By occupation services: 29%

Unemployment rate: 8% (2002)
Rank: 101

Population below poverty line: 23% (2002 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: NA%
Highest 10: NA%

Budget
Revenues: $84.41 million
Expenditures: $82.7 million
Surplus or deficit: 1% of GDP (2016 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 25

Taxes and other revenues: 48.1% of GDP (2016 est.)
Rank: 18

Public debt:
Rank: 184

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices:
Rank: 25

Central bank discount rate:
Rank: 55

Commercial bank prime lending rate:
Rank: 90

Stock of narrow money:
Rank: 192

Stock of broad money:
Rank: 188

Stock of domestic credit:
Rank: 183

Current account balance:
Rank: 63

Exports:
Rank: 219
Commodities: lobster fish livestock salt concrete blocks rum

Imports:
Rank: 216
Commodities: fuels foodstuffs manufactures chemicals trucks textiles

Debt external:
Rank: 196

Exchange rates:

Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 6,000
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 37
Fixed lines rank: 206
Mobile cellular total: 26,000
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 158
Mobile cellular rank: 209

Telephone system
General assessment: modern internal telephone system
Domestic: fixed-line teledensity is about 35 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity is roughly 160 per 100 persons
International: country code - 1-264; landing point for the East Caribbean Fiber System submarine cable with links to 13 other islands in the eastern Caribbean extending from the British Virgin Islands to Trinidad; microwave radio relay to island of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten

Broadcast media: 1 private TV station; multi-channel cable TV subscription services are available; about 10 radio stations one of which is government-owned (2009)

Internet
Country code: .ai
Users total: 13,665
Users percent of population: 81.6%
Users rank: 208

National air transport system
Number of registered air carriers: 2
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 3

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: VP-A (2016)

Airports: 2 (2013)
Rank: 197
With paved runways total: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With unpaved runways total: 1
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 1

Roadways
Total: 175 km
Paved: 82 km
Unpaved: 93 km
Rank: 211

Ports and terminals
Major seaport: Blowing Point Road Bay

Disputes international: none

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe