Carib Indians occupied the islands for hundreds of years before the British began settlement in 1623. The islands became an associated state of the UK with full internal autonomy in 1967. The island of Anguilla rebelled and was allowed to secede in 1971. Saint Kitts and Nevis achieved independence in 1983. In 1998, a vote in Nevis on a referendum to separate from Saint Kitts fell short of the two-thirds majority needed. Nevis continues in its efforts to separate from Saint Kitts.

Caribbean, islands in the Caribbean Sea, about one-third of the way from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago

1.5 times the size of Washington, DC

tropical, tempered by constant sea breezes; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November)

volcanic with mountainous interiors

hurricanes (July to October)

with coastlines in the shape of a baseball bat and ball, the two volcanic islands are separated by a 3-km-wide channel called The Narrows; on the southern tip of long, baseball bat-shaped Saint Kitts lies the Great Salt Pond; Nevis Peak sits in the center of its almost circular namesake island and its ball shape complements that of its sister island

40,131 (July 2010 est.)

17.67 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

8.05 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

-1.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

1.79 children born/woman (2010 est.)

predominantly black; some British, Portuguese, and Lebanese

Anglican, other Protestant, Roman Catholic

parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm

14 parishes; Christ Church Nichola Town, Saint Anne Sandy Point, Saint George Basseterre, Saint George Gingerland, Saint James Windward, Saint John Capesterre, Saint John Figtree, Saint Mary Cayon, Saint Paul Capesterre, Saint Paul Charlestown, Saint Peter Basseterre, Saint Thomas Lowland, Saint Thomas Middle Island, Trinity Palmetto Point

19 September 1983 (from the UK)

Independence Day, 19 September (1983)

based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

unicameral National Assembly (14 seats, 3 appointed and 11 popularly elected from single-member constituencies; members serve five-year terms)

Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (consisting of a Court of Appeal and a High Court; based on Saint Lucia; two judges of the Supreme Court reside in Saint Kitts and Nevis); member of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)

Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Vance AMORY]; Nevis Reformation Party or NRP [Joseph PARRY]; People's Action Movement or PAM [Lindsay GRANT]; Saint Kitts and Nevis Labor Party or SKNLP [Dr. Denzil DOUGLAS]

ACP, AOSIS, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, PetroCaribe, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WTO

the US does not have an embassy in Saint Kitts and Nevis; the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Saint Kitts and Nevis

divided diagonally from the lower hoist side by a broad black band bearing two white, five-pointed stars; the black band is edged in yellow; the upper triangle is green, the lower triangle is red; green signifies the island's fertility, red symbolizes the struggles of the people from slavery, yellow denotes year-round sunshine, and black represents the African heritage of the people; the white stars stand for the islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, but can also express hope and liberty, or independence and optimism

The economy of Saint Kitts and Nevis is heavily dependent upon tourism revenues, which has replaced sugar, the traditional mainstay of the economy until the 1970s. Following the 2005 harvest, the government closed the sugar industry after decades of losses of 3-4% of GDP annually. To compensate for employment losses, the government has embarked on a program to diversify the agricultural sector and to stimulate other sectors of the economy, such as tourism, export-oriented manufacturing, and offshore banking. Economic growth was above average for Latin America from 2004 to 2006, but has since slowed. Tourism is projected to give the economy a boost in 2010, as large cruise ships add St. Kitts and Nevis to their itineraries. More than 200,000 tourists visited the islands in 2009. Like other tourist destinations in the Caribbean, St. Kitts and Nevis is vulnerable to damage from natural disasters and shifts in tourism demand. The current government is constrained by a high public debt burden equivalent to roughly 185% of GDP, largely attributable to public enterprise losses.

$725.8 million (2009 est.)

$767.8 million (2008 est.)

$733.8 million (2007 est.)

$557 million (2009 est.)

185% of GDP (2009 est.)

6.5% (31 December 2008)

6.5% (31 December 2007)

8.69% (31 December 2008)

8.89% (31 December 2007)

$107.2 million (31 December 2008)

$97.31 million (31 December 2007)

$680.6 million (31 December 2008)

$688.6 million (31 December 2007)

$790.8 million (31 December 2008)

$782.4 million (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2009)

$595.2 million (31 December 2008)

$439.7 million (31 December 2007)

sugarcane, rice, yams, vegetables, bananas; fish

tourism, cotton, salt, copra, clothing, footwear, beverages

130 million kWh (2007 est.)

120.9 million kWh (2007 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

1,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

1,225 bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

-$163 million (2007 est.)

machinery, food, electronics, beverages, tobacco

US 62.3%, Canada 7.93%, Azerbaijan 6.72% (2009)

machinery, manufactures, food, fuels

US 43.37%, Trinidad and Tobago 15.26%, Italy 11.83% (2009)

East Caribbean dollars (XCD) per US dollar - 2.7 (2007), 2.7 (2006), 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003)

the government operates a national television network that broadcasts on 2 channels; cable subscription services provide access to local and international channels; the government operates a national radio network; a mix of government-owned and privately-owned broadcasters operate roughly 15 radio stations (2007)

Royal Saint Kitts and Nevis Defense Force (includes Coast Guard), Royal Saint Kitts and Nevis Police Force; for national security, Saint Kitts and Nevis relies on the Regional Security System, headquartered in Barbados (2010)

18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2010)

joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea

transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; some money-laundering activity