ANTIGUA - BARBUDA ISLAND

Barbuda is a small island located in the eastern Caribbean forming part of the sovereign Commonwealth nation of Antigua and Barbuda. It is located north of the Antigua Island and is part of the Leeward Islands of the West Indies. Antigua and Barbuda gained full independence on 1 November 1981 as a constitutional monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations. The island is a popular tourist destination because of its moderate climate and coastline.

Historically, most of Barbuda's 1,638 residents have lived in the town of Codrington. However, in September 2017, Hurricane Irma damaged or destroyed 95% of the island's buildings and infrastructure and as a result, all the island's inhabitants were evacuated to Antigua, leaving Barbuda empty for the first time in modern history. On 1 November 1981, the island gained its independence as an integral part of Antigua and Barbuda, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. In a 1989 election, the Barbuda Independence Movement received too few votes to qualify for a seat in the national parliament.

Barbuda is home to some notable wildlife, including the Antiguan racer, which is among the rarest snakes in the world. The Lesser Antilles are home to four species of racers. All four have undergone severe range reductions; at least two subspecies are extinct, and another, A. antiguae, now occupies only 0.1% of its historical range. Griswold's ameiva (Ameiva griswoldi) is a species of lizard in the genus Ameiva. It is endemic to Antigua and Barbuda and is found on both islands.

Although the stamps of both Antigua and Leeward Islands were valid for use in Barbuda, an Order in Council on 22nd June 1922 approved a separate issue. This was a retrospective act since the stamps had already been printed. The stamps of the current Leeward Islands design were used, overprinted by De La Rue in large sans serif capitals with BARBUDA, and were probably produced to generate revenue from philatelic sales. Although regarded as a somewhat dubious issue when released, the passage of time has lent it subsequent respectability.

On 1 November 1981, the island with Barbuda and the island of Redonda gained independence as Antigua and Barbuda. Stamps were again issued for Barbuda between 1967 and 2000, and for Redonda, which is uninhabited, between 1979 and 1991.

The covers postmarked from Cordington post office, the only post office in Barbuda island. In early days Antigua and Barbuda had issued separate stamps for Barbuda, later they started to use Antigua stamps with overprinting as "Barbuda Mail"or Barbuda. Now a days they use 'Antigua and Barbuda' stamps which can use from both islands. I prepared some covers and send to there , I wondered that they postmarked the stamps even issued before independence. Codrington post office  has no registered mail facility, so they sent back the covers as normal mail. The covers posted on July 15, 2015 and I received on July 30, 2015

This envelope I received recently, but posted from St.John's post office, the capital city of Antigua and Barbuda. After the hurricane Irma in 2018, the post office in Cordington  is completely ruined, till today the postal services not resumed. So getting postmarks from Barbuda island is not possible now a days.