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Antigua and Barbuda (Spanish for "Ancient" and "Bearded") is an island nation located on the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. As its name suggests, it consists of two major islands – Antigua (IPA: /ænˈtiːɡə/) and Barbuda (/bɑrˈbjuːdə/) – as well as a number of smaller islets. All are close neighbours within the middle of the Leeward Islands and roughly 17 degrees north of the equator.

Antigua has a population of 82,000, comprising chiefly a mixture of people of West African, British and Portuguese descent. The islands of Antigua and Barbuda are part of the Lesser Antilles archipelago. To the south of Antigua and Barbuda lie the islands of Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago. Montserrat lies to the southwest; Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Eustatius are to the west, and Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin and Anguilla are to the northwest.