Antigua was first settled by archaic-age hunter-gatherer Amerindians called the Siboney at around 3100 BC. They were succeeded by the ceramic-age pre-Columbian Arawak, who migrated from the lower Orinoco River and introduced agriculture, raising the famous Antigua black pineapple, corn, sweet potatoes, chiles, guava, tobacco and cotton.
Most Arawaks left Antigua around 1100 AD; those who stayed were later raided by the Caribs, who had superior weapons and seafaring prowess. European and African diseases, malnutrition and slavery eventually killed most of the Caribbean's native population.
The Spaniards did not colonize Antigua for lack of fresh water; the English settled on Antigua in 1632, and Christopher Codrington settled on Barbuda in 1684. Slavery, established to run sugar plantations, was abolished in 1834. The British ruled from 1632 to 1981, with a brief French interlude in 1666. The islands became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations on 1 November 1981, with Elizabeth II as the first Queen of Antigua and Barbuda and Vere Cornwall Bird Sr. as the first Prime Minister.
Most of Barbuda was devastated in early September 2017 by Hurricane Irma, with winds reaching 295 km/h (185 mph). The storm damaged or destroyed 95% of the island's buildings and infrastructure, leaving Barbuda “barely habitable” according to then–Prime Minister Gaston Browne, and nearly everyone on the island was evacuated to Antigua.
Source: Wikipedia
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