I | INTRODUCTION |
Saint Kitts and
Nevis, independent country in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It is made up of
two of the Leeward Islands, Saint Kitts (also known as Saint Christopher) and
Nevis, in the West Indies. Saint Kitts and Nevis achieved full independence from
the United Kingdom on September 19, 1983, and is a member of the Commonwealth of
Nations. The capital is Basseterre on the island of Saint Kitts; the largest
city on Nevis is Charlestown.
Saint Kitts and Nevis is the smallest country
in the Western Hemisphere in area and in population. The country covers an area
of 269 sq km (104 sq mi). It has a population of 39,619 (2008 estimate). The
majority of the people live on the island of Saint Kitts. Nearly all of the
country’s people are blacks of African ancestry. The Africans were originally
brought to the islands to work on sugar plantations.
Today, tourism is a leading industry on the
islands. Lush green rain forests, unusual plants and animals, and sandy beaches
draw tourists to Saint Kitts and Nevis. Cruise ships also make stopovers in the
harbor at Basseterre. However, the islands lie in the Caribbean hurricane zone,
and hurricanes present a danger from August to October.
II | LAND |
Both Saint Kitts and Nevis were formed by
volcanoes. Three groups of rugged volcanic peaks, divided by deep ravines,
dominate the topography of Saint Kitts. In the center of the island, Mount
Liamuiga, a dormant volcano, rises to a height of 1,156 m (3,793 ft). It is the
country’s highest point. Liamuiga (“fertile land”) is the Carib Indian name for
the peak, which was formerly called Mount Misery. In the southeast, a low-lying
peninsula with rolling hills, salt ponds, and golden beaches stretches toward
the island of Nevis.
Nevis lies across a narrow channel 3 km (2
mi) to the southeast of Saint Kitts. The Caribs called the island Oualie (“land
of beautiful water”). Nevis is nearly circular in shape and surrounded by coral
reefs and beaches of white coral sand. Its highest point, Nevis Peak (985
m/3,232 ft) at the center of the island, is usually shrouded in mist.
Christopher Columbus named the island after the Spanish word for snow,
nieve, in the mistaken belief that the mist atop the volcanic peak was
snow. He named Saint Kitts after his patron saint, Christopher. Saint Kitts
accounts for 176 sq km (68 sq mi) of the country’s total area, and Nevis for 93
sq km (36 sq mi).
A | Climate |
Saint Kitts and Nevis has a tropical
climate moderated by northeasterly trade winds. The average annual temperature
is 27°C (80°F). Near sea level the annual rainfall is about 1,250 to 2,000 mm
(50 to 80 in) a year, with a wetter season from July to November. Rainfall
increases with altitude and on the windward slopes of the mountains. There is a
risk of hurricanes from August to October. Although serious storms are
relatively rare, Hurricane Luis caused extensive damage to sugar crops and
buildings in 1995.
B | Plants and Animals |
Although both Saint Kitts and Nevis are
heavily cultivated, they have between them a wide variety of habitats, including
oceanic rain forest and cloud forest, dry woodland, wetland, grassland, and salt
ponds. The rain forest on the slopes of the volcanic peaks on Saint Kitts and
the cloud forest on Nevis Peak are home to wild orchids, candlewoods, tree
ferns, and tropical vines. The brilliant red blossoms of the flamboyant tree, or
flame tree, are the national flower of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Trees include
several varieties of royal palm; the mahoe; the spiny-trunked sandbox tree; the
silk-cotton tree, or ceiba tree; the turpentine tree, a member of the pistachio
genus; and numerous species of tropical fruit trees such as papaya, mango, and
breadfruit. Nevis is known for its many coconut palms, which fringe the
coast.
Green vervet monkeys, introduced by the
French in the 17th century, live in the forests of both islands. The mongoose,
another imported animal, has contributed to the extinction of indigenous species
of lizards, iguanas, and tortoises, as well as birds that nest on the ground.
The anole is the most common of the many lizards, and there are also many
species of frogs, bats, and butterflies. Saint Kitts and Nevis has the earliest
documented evidence of honey bees in the Caribbean. Three species of hummingbird
and many sea birds, such as frigate birds and brown pelicans, are found on the
islands.
C | Environmental Concerns |
Fishing is taking its toll on the coral
reefs of Saint Kitts and Nevis. There has been some loss of forests and
woodlands in the past two decades, leading to soil erosion. Some pollution of
the coastline has occurred as a result of oil spills from nearby tanker
lanes.
III | PEOPLE |
The people of Saint Kitts and Nevis are
primarily descendants of west Africans brought to the islands as slaves. The
population is 95 percent black. Descendants of Europeans and east Asians
constitute small minorities. About 80 percent of the population lives on Saint
Kitts. The population is 68 percent rural, and most of the urban population
lives in Basseterre (population, 2003 estimate, 13,000), the country’s capital
and the chief port on Saint Kitts. Charlestown (population, 1991, 1,411) is the
chief port on Nevis and the birthplace of 18th-century statesman Alexander
Hamilton.
English is the official language of Saint
Kitts and Nevis, but an English-based Creole is the first language of nearly all
the people and is the language used most in everyday interactions.
About 80 percent of the people belong to
Protestant denominations, mostly Anglican or Methodist. Other communities on
Saint Kitts and Nevis include Baptists, Seventh-Day Adventists, Moravians, and
Plymouth Brethren. About 10 percent of the population is Roman Catholic.
Historically there was also an important Jewish community on Nevis; in the 17th
and 18th centuries about one quarter of the island’s population were Sephardic
Jews (Sephardim), who migrated there after being expelled from Brazil, bringing
the latest sugar technology with them.
The islands have a long tradition of
education, which is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 17. Adult literacy
rates are among the highest in the Western Hemisphere, averaging above 97
percent (1995) for both islands. University-level education is provided by a
branch of the University of the West Indies.
IV | ECONOMY |
Saint Kitts and Nevis has a gross domestic
product (GDP) of around US$477 million (2006), equivalent to $9,865.20 per
capita. Agriculture and tourism are the principal sectors of economic activity.
However, agriculture, especially the production of sugarcane, is declining in
importance, while tourism is rapidly growing. Although sugarcane remains the
leading crop, output has been hit by the effects of low world prices, hurricane
damage, droughts, and low wages. Other crops include coconuts, peanuts, sweet
potatoes, yams, sweet peppers (see Capsicum), bananas, rice, and
coffee.
The government is encouraging ecotourism,
travel based on respect for natural beauty and wildlife. Nature trails lead into
the rain forests and onto the mountains, and snorkeling and scuba diving are
popular along the coasts. Tourism is the single most important foreign-exchange
earner on the islands, bringing in more than $117 million annually.
A small manufacturing sector also contributes
to the economy of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Sugar refining has been the leading
industry, but has declined in importance in recent years. Other industries
include brewing, garment assembly, and the assembly of electronic parts for
export.
The unit of currency is the East Caribbean
dollar (2.70 E.C. dollars equal U.S.$1; 2006 average).
V | GOVERNMENT |
Under the 1983 constitution, the Federation of
Saint Kitts and Nevis recognizes the British monarch as its own monarch and head
of state. The monarch is represented in the islands by a governor-general. The
head of government is the prime minister, who must command a majority of the
single-chamber legislature, the National Assembly.
The National Assembly has 15 members, 11 of
whom are elected by popular vote for terms of up to five years. Three members
represent Nevis constituencies, and eight represent Saint Kitts. Of the four
nonelected members, one is the speaker of the Assembly and the other three,
known as senators, are appointed—two on the advice of the prime minister and one
on the advice of the leader of the opposition. Nevis also has its own assembly
and the right to secede from Saint Kitts.
The main political parties are the St. Kitts
and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP), the People’s Action Movement (PAM), the Nevis
Reformation Party (NRP), and the Concerned Citizens’ Movement (CCM).
VI | HISTORY |
Christopher Columbus landed on the islands in
1493, on his second voyage to the Americas, and named Saint Kitts for his patron
saint, Saint Christopher. At that time Carib Indians were living on both
islands. They defended their territory against potential French and British
settlers but were eventually slaughtered or died of diseases introduced by the
Europeans. In 1623 Saint Kitts became the first British territory in the West
Indies; Nevis was colonized in 1628. In 1690 the islands were struck by a
devastating earthquake and tidal wave (see tsunami), which destroyed
Nevis’s first capital, Jamestown.
The French also claimed Saint Kitts and
settled Basseterre. For a while the French and British shared Saint Kitts, but
by the middle of the 17th century intermittent warfare between the two had
become the norm. The French drove the British from Saint Kitts in 1664, only to
be driven out themselves in 1689. French forces regained the island briefly in
the early 18th century, and again in 1782 following a month-long siege of the
British garrison in the Brimstone Hill fortress. This massive stronghold on the
northwestern coast was once known as the Gibraltar of the West Indies because of
its commanding strategic position. Nevis also came under periodic attack from
France and Spain. France finally ceded Saint Kitts to Great Britain by the
Treaty of Paris in 1783.
The islands’ first commercial crop was
tobacco, but later plantation owners found that the fertile soils produced
high-quality sugarcane. The sugar plantations were worked by large numbers of
slaves imported from Africa. After the British government abolished slavery
during the 1830s, the economy of the islands went into decline.
From 1816 until 1871 Saint Kitts, Nevis,
Anguilla, and the islands of what are now the British Virgin Islands were
administered as a single colony. In 1871 the Leeward Islands Federation united
Saint Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla as a British dependency. The three islands
became an internally self-governing member of the West Indies Associated States
in 1967. Anguilla was placed under direct British rule in 1971 and was
officially withdrawn from the dependency in 1980.
Saint Kitts and Nevis jointly attained full
independence within the Commonwealth of Nations on September 19, 1983. Kennedy
Simmonds, leader of the People’s Action Movement (PAM), became the nation’s
first prime minister and held that position for more than ten years. The PAM
remained in power until a scandal involving allegations of drug smuggling on
Saint Kitts rocked Simmonds’s government. An election was called in 1995, which
the Labour Party won, and Labour leader Denzil Douglas became the nation’s new
prime minister. His government moved to crack down on drug trafficking and the
crime associated with it. It also encouraged the development of tourism and of
manufacturing for export.
In 1997 lawmakers in Nevis authorized a
referendum on the issue of whether Nevis should pursue independence from Saint
Kitts. Pro-independence leaders claimed that the government in Saint Kitts had
ignored the needs of residents on the smaller island of Nevis. Saint Kitts had
an infrastructure that included paved roads, a state-of-the-art hospital, and a
modern port and international airport that cater to tourists. Nevis had a single
dirt road and a small, aging port. Pro-independence supporters also cited
cultural differences that had developed between the two islands, expressing
particular alarm at the perceived growth in drug smuggling and crime on Saint
Kitts. The referendum, however, failed to gain the necessary two-thirds majority
for ratification by the National Assembly.
In the 2000 legislative elections, the Labour
Party won a majority of the elected seats in the legislature, and the party’s
leader, Denzil Douglas, began a second term as prime minister. His third
consecutive term began in 2004. Although tourism increased while Douglas was in
office, drug trafficking and high crime rates remained a problem.
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