Antigua and Barbuda–United Kingdom relations
Antigua and Barbuda and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) are related through a long common history spanning from 1632 for Antigua, and 1678 for the smaller sister-isle of Barbuda through until 1981 for the joint-state. Antigua was one of the oldest English settlements in the West Indies, and served as a British hub of regional administration for the surrounding Leeward Islands. Following the collapse of the British West Indies Federation in 1962 due-to internal power struggles, in 1967 Antigua and Barbuda attained self-governance was reorganized  into a free association with the United Kingdom and known as the UK-West Indies Associated States (UK-WIAS) union. Since the Antiguan and Barbudan date of independence in 1981, these nations continue to share ties through the Commonwealth of Nations, and as two of fifteen separate nations across the globe closely co-existing through sharing of the same Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II as their Monarch.