St Kitts and Nevis

St Kitts and Nevis

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Federation of St Christopher and St Nevis Area 262 sq km/101 sq mi (St Kitts 168 sq km/65 sq mi, Nevis 93 sq km/36 sq mi) Capital Basseterre (on St Kitts) (and chief port) Language English (official) Religion Anglican 36%, Methodist 32%, other Protestant 8%, Roman Catholic 10% Time difference GMT -4 Major holidays 1 January, 19 September, 25–26, 31 December; variable: Good Friday, Easter Monday, Whit Monday, Labour (May), Queen's Birthday (June), August Monday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Charlestown (Nevis), Newcastle, Sandy Point Town, Dieppe Bay Town, Saint Paul Physical features both islands are volcanic; fertile plains on coast; black beaches Airports three airports, of which one is equipped to handle international jets; aircraft arrivals: 19,400 (2000 est) Railways total length: 58 km/36 mi (serving sugar plantations) Roads total road network: 320 km/199 mi, of which 42.5% paved (1999 est); passenger cars: 297.4 per 1,000 people (1999)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Queen Elizabeth II from 1983, represented by Governor General Dr Cuthbert Montraville Sebastian from 1996 Head of government Denzil Douglas from 1995 Political system liberal democracy Political executive parliamentary Administrative divisions 14 parishes Political parties People's Action Movement (PAM), right of centre; Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), Nevis-separatist, centrist; Labour Party (SKLP), moderate left of centre Death penalty retained and used for ordinary crimes Armed forces army disbanded in 1981 and absorbed by Volunteer Defence Force; participates in US-sponsored Regional Security System established in 1982 Education spend (% GDP) 3.2 (2003 est) Health spend (% GDP) 3.4 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency East Caribbean dollar GDP (US$) 453 million (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 5.2 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 394 million (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 12,500 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 2% (2006 est) Unemployment 10% (2003 est) Labour force 14.7% agriculture, 20.9% industry, 64.4% services (1994) Foreign debt (US$) 314 million (2004 est) Major trading partners USA, UK, Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Canada, Barbados Industries electronic equipment, food and beverage processing (principally sugar and cane spirit), clothing, footwear, tourism Exports sugar and sugar products, manufactures, postage stamps. Principal market: USA 63.5% (2005) Imports machinery and transport equipment, foodstuffs, basic manufactures, mineral fuels. Principal source: USA 46.9% (2005) Arable land 19.4% (2006 est) Agricultural products sugar cane, coconuts, yams, sweet potatoes, groundnuts, sweet peppers, carrots, cabbages, bananas, cotton; fishing


POPULATION

Population 39,500 (2006 est) Population growth rate 0.5% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 151 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 32 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 31%, 15–59 58%, 60+ 11% (2001 est) Ethnic groups almost entirely of African descent Life expectancy 68 (men); 72 (women) (2000–05) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 21 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 12 Literacy rate 99% (men); 97% (women) (2003 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 11.8 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 5.5 (2003 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 99 (urban); 99 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 59.3 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 23.7 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 719 (1998 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 312 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 26.1 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 21.4 (2004 est)


CHRONOLOGY

1493 Visited by the explorer Christopher Columbus, after whom the main island is named, but for next two centuries the islands were left in the possession of the indigenous Caribs. 1623 and 1628 St Kitts and Nevis islands successively settled by British as their first Caribbean colony, with 2,000 Caribs brutally massacred in 1626. 1783 In the Treaty of Versailles France, which had long disputed British possession, rescinded its claims to the islands, on which sugar cane plantations developed, worked by imported African slaves. 1816 Anguilla was joined politically to the two islands. 1834 Abolition of slavery. 1871–1956 Part of the Leeward Islands Federation. 1937 Internal self-government granted. 1952 Universal adult suffrage granted. 1958–62 Part of the Federation of the West Indies. 1967 St Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla achieved internal self-government, within the British Commonwealth, with Robert Bradshaw, Labour Party leader, as prime minister. 1970 NRP formed, calling for separation for Nevis. 1971 Anguilla returned to being British dependency after rebelling against domination by St Kitts. 1980 People's Action Movement (PAM) and NRP centrist coalition government, led by Kennedy Simmonds, formed after inconclusive general election. 1983 Full independence achieved within Commonwealth. 1994 Three-week state of emergency imposed after violent antigovernment riots by Labour Party supporters in Basseterre. 1995 Labour Party won general election; Denzil Douglas became prime minister. 1997 Nevis withdrew from federation. 1998 Nevis referendum on secession failed to secure support. 1998–99 Widespread damage and economic slowdown caused by hurricanes. 2000 Denzil Douglas re-elected prime minister. 2004 Prime Minister Douglas began a third consecutive term in office. 2005 Government closed 300-year-old, loss-making sugar industry.


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