ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Antigua and Barbuda is an island sovereign state in the West Indies in the Americas, lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major islands, Antigua and Barbuda (separated by 39 miles), and a number of smaller islands (including Great Bird, Green, Guiana, Long, Maiden, Prickly Pear, York Islands and further south, the island of Redonda). The permanent population numbers about 95,900 (2018 est.), with 97% being resident on Antigua.  The capital and largest port and city is St. John's on Antigua, with Codrington being the largest town on Barbuda. Lying near each other (the main Barbuda airport is less than 0.5° of latitude, or 56 kilometres (30 nautical miles), north of the main Antigua airport), Antigua and Barbuda are in the middle of the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser Antilles, roughly at 17°N of the equator. Antigua is Spanish for "ancient" and barbuda is Spanish for "bearded". The island of Antigua was originally called Wadadli by Arawaks and is locally known by that name today; Caribs possibly called Barbuda Wa'omoni. Christopher Columbus, while sailing by in 1493 may have named it Santa Maria la Antigua, after an icon in the Spanish Seville Cathedral.

The shorelines of both islands are greatly indented with beaches, lagoons, and natural harbors. The islands are rimmed by reefs and shoals. There are few streams as rainfall is slight. Both islands lack adequate amounts of fresh groundwater. About 40 km (25 mi) south-west of Antigua lies the small, rocky island of Redonda, which is uninhabited.

The postal arrangements of Antigua were controlled by the British Postmaster General in London till 1 May 1860. The island authorities set up an internal post in March 1841, between St John's and English Harbour, with Mr Scotland as the postmaster. From 1858 Great Britain stamps were made available for use in Antigua. Letters from St John's were postmarked “A02” and those from English Harbour were obliterated with “A18”.  

The Post Office Act of Antigua, passed on 24 April 1860, by the Assembly of the Leeward Islands, transferred control to the local government. The first order for stamps was for a sixpence denomination to be used for the letter rate from Antigua to Great Britain. Between 31 October 1890 and July 1903 Leeward Islands stamps were used in Antigua. Stamps of Antigua were used concurrently with issues of the Leeward Islands until 1956. 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.

This is my first Registered Airmail cover from Antigua and Barbuda, Posted from St.John's GPO. Previously they were used different stamps in each islands. in Barbuda they used either Antigua overprinted stamps as Barbuda or Barbuda stamps. Later they started to issue stamps in the name of Antigua and Barbuda. all type variants can be used in both islands. St.John's GPO done a very good work. The philatelic service of Antigua post is very satisfactory.The cover posted on April 05, 2015 and received on May 16, 2015.