Redonda

History

Christophe Colomb discovers it in November 1493, at the time of its second voyage. It does not unload on this island which it baptizes Santa María Redonda .

Uninhabited, its abrupt coasts prevent any access - the man will approach only in 1687 there.

Refuge of the birds marine, of enormous quantities of dejections, rich in phosphates and nitrogen, accumulated during centuries. In spite of the difficult conditions, the peasants of the island close to Montserrat, decide to exploit this Guano as of 1860. A few years later, the island produces approximately 3.000 to 7.000 tons of phosphate per annum.

The island is bought in 1865 by Matthew Dowdy Shiell, notable of Montserrat.

Under the reign of the Queen Victoria, the government of the the United Kingdom, directed by William Gladstone, appendix the island with the colony of Antigua in 1872 for évincer the the United States which had sights on the exploitation of phosphate.

The owner of Redonda asks for the title of king for his son. The request is accepted in 1880 in the condition that this kingdom is without substance and does not block in any way the British interests. Matthew Phipps Shiell, becomes the King Felipe I of the Royaume of Redonda.

The exploitation of phosphate ends with the release of the First World War and the island becomes again deserted. In 1967, Antigua, Barbuda and Redonda enter the the Commonwealth .

November 1st 1981, the archipelago becomes an independent State, member of the the Commonwealth , under the name of Antigua-and-Barbuda.

As for the Kingdom of Redonda, it perdure in spite of certain applicants who dispute the succession of this Micronation.

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