A British overseas territory that is made up of the main island and a number of uninhabited smaller islands, Anguilla has a total land area of thirty-five square miles. With a population of around seventeen thousand, it’s entirely understandable that there is no room for casinos or betting parlours of any kind on Anguilla.
It’s not known exactly when Europeans first settled on Anguilla, but we do know that the Dutch built a fort on the island in 1631. Regardless, during the colonial period it was the British that took ownership of the island and they’ve been responsible for it ever since. It has been its own British Crown Colony since 1980.
Anguilla & Gambling
Anguilla (Roy Googin / Wikipedia.org)
The island of Anguilla is known as being particularly religious, which helps to explain why most gambling is illegal here. At the time of writing the only type of gambling that you can get up to legally when on the island is bingo, an activity favoured in church halls all over the world. If you want to have a flutter then you’ll have to travel to nearby Sint Maarten.
That the predominant reason for Anguilla not having legalised gambling is religious means that things are unlikely to change any time soon. The island isn’t really big enough to cope with an influx of tourists heading there after it has become a gambling destination anyway, so the current status quo suits most parties.