The country consists of the islands of
Antigua and
Barbuda (and the remote uninhabited island of
Redonda), in the central section of the island chain of the
West Indies, as one of the northernmost of the
Leeward Islands of the
Lesser Antilles. Both islands are of volcanic origin but, compared to other Antilles islands, relatively old and therefore lack a pronounced central mountain range. They are surrounded by the
shallow sea of the submarine shelf and mature
coral reefs, which protect them from erosion and provide the beaches with the famous pure white sand, which is slightly pink on Barbuda. The beaches of the island form the economic basis of the small state, although tourism in
Antigua and Barbuda is not as pronounced as on other Caribbean islands. Development only began in the 1980s. Under
Lester Bird, the development of tourism infrastructure was intensified, partly with high land consumption, resulting in the sacrifice of some of the most important mangrove swamps on Antigua. At times, there was also illegal sand mining – in the mid-1990s, Barbuda was the main source of building sand in the eastern Caribbean. which has affected the important coastal freshwater reserves. As a result, an oppositional ecological protest movement emerged in the 1990s, leading to some violent protests against new construction projects. Nevertheless, there are still undeveloped beaches on both islands; in 1988, eight beaches were declared undevelopable by Parliament (
Undeveloped Beaches, beach protection areas). Under the influence of
rising sea levels due to global warming as well as environmental reasons, more emphasis is now placed on
beach protection. The trigger for this change in thinking was
Hurricane Luis in September 1995, which caused severe coastal damage. There is permanent land loss at some beaches. Since the mid-2000s, there has been some expansion, but it is more oriented towards quality tourism integrated into the regional structure (
Eco-tourism). Beaches are considered public property (state land) and are freely accessible, with occasional exceptions for private ownership. Going topless in public is considered indecent. == List ==