Saint Philip, Antigua and Barbuda

Parish of Saint Philip
Parish of Saint Philip
Parish
	(from top: left to right) Long Bay Beach, St. Phillip's Anglican Church, Devil's Bridge, Half Moon Bay
Country	Antigua and Barbuda
Established	January 11, 1692; 332 years ago (old style); January 21, 1692; 332 years ago (new style)
Capital	St. Philip's
Largest city	Willikies
Government
• MPs	Robin Yearwood, Sherfield Bowen
Population (2018)
• Total	3,689
Time zone	UTC-4 (AST)

Saint Philip, officially the Parish of Saint Philip, is a civil parish of Antigua and Barbuda, on the easternmost portion of Antigua island. Its capital is the village of St. Philip's. Saint Philip borders Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Saint Philip faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Philip is surrounded by various islands and islets. It had an estimated population of 3,689 in 2018, which makes it the least populous parish of Antigua and Barbuda.^[2]

Saint Philip is known for its good shore snorkeling in the Half Moon Bay area.^[3] While Saint Philip is a civil administrative division, the Anglican parish church is located in the village of St. Phillip's. Saint Philip is often considered to be the most isolated parish on the island, due to its isolated location from the main urban areas, and its low population density.

History

Saint Philip was created in August 1681, when Antigua was divided into five parishes.^[4] Saint Philip and the four other parishes were permanently established in July 1692, and confirmed in January 1693.^[4] The primary objective of the establishment of parishes was providing for the parish church.

Like most other parishes on Antigua, in its early colonial history, it was often dominated by the sugar industry, with some regions having smaller industries of cavalier rum, cattle, and muscovado sugar. Saint Philip had over 36 sugar mills during the sugarcane era.^[5]

Geography

Administrative divisions

Saint Philip is divided into the major divisions of Freetown, Willikies, Glanvilles, Seatons, and the Rest of Saint Philip.^[6] The major divisions are further divided into the communities of Willikies, Glanvilles, Seatons, Freetown, Newfields, Saint Philips, Collins, Brownes Bay, Mill Reef, and Long Bay. Below the communities, Saint Philip is divided into enumeration districts, including Willikies North_1, Willikies North_2, Willikies West, Willikies Central, Willikies South, Willikies East, Freetown North, Freetown East, Freetown South, Glanville Central, Glanville Outer, Seatons Central, Seatons Coastal, Newfield, St. Phillip's, Long Lane Collins, Browns Bay, and Mill Reef.^[7]

Demographics

Ethnicity and immigration

In the 2011 census, Saint Philip had a population of 3,322. Of these, 91.15% were of African descent. Other ethnic groups included 1.35% white, 0.35% East Indian/Indian, 0.50% mixed Black/White, 2.02% other mixed, 1.17% Hispanic, 0.07% Syrian/Lebanese, and 0.74% classified under other ethnicities. Additionally, 2.65% did not disclose their ethnicity.^[8]

Regarding place of birth, 76.46% were born in Antigua and Barbuda. The largest minority group, 4.42%, was born in the United States, followed by 3.50% from Guyana, 3.08% from Jamaica, 2.55% from Dominica, 1.06% from the Dominican Republic, 0.60% from the United Kingdom, and 0.53% from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Smaller percentages were from other Caribbean, European, and Asian countries, as well as Canada and Africa. Finally, 4.39% did not state their place of birth.^[9]

Among individuals born outside Antigua and Barbuda, the breakdown by ethnicity was as follows: 78.64% were of African descent, 6.81% were white, 0.92% were Indian, 1.66% were mixed Black/White, 3.13% were of other mixed ethnicity, 5.16% were Hispanic, 0.18% were Syrian/Lebanese, 2.39% were from other ethnic groups, and 1.10% either didn't know or didn't state their ethnicity.^[10]

Religion

Out of the 3,288 individuals surveyed, the breakdown of religious affiliations is as follows: Adventist (17.60%), Anglican (27.18%), Baptist (2.04%), Church of God (2.29%), Evangelical (0.25%), Jehovah's Witness (2.11%), Methodist (11.70%), Moravian (3.68%), Nazarene (0.43%), Irreligious (3.65%), Pentecostal (3.93%), Rastafarian (0.54%), Roman Catholic (5.36%), Wesleyan Holiness (11.02%), Other faiths (2.36%), No affiliation stated (5.87%).^[11]

Politics and government

Politics

Saint Philip was split into two seats for the general election in 2023 in Antigua: St. Philip's North, which included primarily the northern peninsula of the parish, and St. Philip's South, which included both the southern peninsula of the parish and parts of Saint Paul.^[12]^[13] In 2023, the Labour Party received 708 votes, compared to the UPP candidate's 615, to win the St. Philip's North constituency. 1,346 out of the 1,876 registered voters cast ballots, or 71.75% of the total.^[12] Seaton's, Glanvilles, and the area of Carty's Hill made up St. Philip's North's polling district "A." There were 301 voters in station 1 and 338 voters in station 2. The United Progressive Party narrowly prevailed in polling district "A".^[14] Willikies and Long Bay made up polling district "B", together with the minor settlements of Pineapple Beach, Comfort Hall, Rooms, Sign, and Mayers. All three polling stations in polling district "B" were narrowly won by the Labour Party.^[14] Polling district "C" was made up primarily of Newfield, as well as Collins Estate. There was one polling station with 268 voters, with the Labour Party winning the district in a landslide.^[14]

There were 1,258 electors in St. Philip's South, 582 voted for the UPP and 360 for the ABLP.^[12] Polling district "A" of St. Philip's South comprised the entirety of Freetown village, with additional electors from the surrounding neighbourhoods of Browne's Bay and Mill Reef.^[13] Station 1 of polling district "A" had 272 electors and station 2 had 243 electors. Polling district "A" was won by the UPP.^[15] Polling district "B" of St. Philip's South had only 115 electors and one polling station.^[15] Polling district "B" was composed of St. Philip's village and Montpelier, however almost all electors were from St. Philip's village.^[13] Polling district "B" was won by the UPP.^[15] The vast majority of electors in polling district "C" of St. Philip's South were from the portions of the constituency in Saint Paul.^{[citation needed]}

Police services

There are two police stations in the parish, Willikies Police Station, serving the northern areas of Saint Philip and portions of Saint Peter, and the Freetown Police Station serving the southern areas of the parish. Both police stations are part of geographical division "B".^[16]

Economy

Business ownership

Out of the 78 owners of businesses in Saint Philip, 9.09% said they made less than $1,000 in EC per month from their business, 18.18% said they made $1,000 to $1,999 in EC per month from their business, 28.79% said they made $2,000 to $2,999 in EC per month from their business, 7.58% said they made $3,000 to $4,999 in EC per month from their business, and 36.36% said they made $5,000 or more in EC per month from their business.^[17] While 60.00% of white company owners, 50.00% of Hispanic business owners, 100.00% of Syrian/Lebanese business owners, and 100.00% of other business owners made more than EC$5,000 each month from their companies, only 32.73% of business owners of African descent did.^[18]

Employment

In 2011, 57.34% had a job and worked, 0.82% had a job but did not work, 1.37% were looking for their first job, 4.16% were looking for work that was not their first, 1.05% did not seek but wanted to work and were available, 10.33% attended school, 4.39% had home duties, 12.94% retired and did not work, 1.46% were disabled, 1.01% "other," and 5.12% didn't know or didn't state their job status.^[19] 85.70% of workers had a regular place of employment that was not their home, 1.46% worked from home, 9.18% had no regular place of employment, and 3.66% were unsure about or unable to identify their place of employment.^[20] 23.07% of workers had a paid job as a government employee, 10.32% as an employee of a statutory body, 49.72% as a private worker, 4.06% as a worker in a private home, 2.19% as a self-employed person with paid workers, 7.15% as a self-employed person without paid workers, 1.87% as someone with another worker status, and 1.62% did not know or did not specify their worker status.^[21]