Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Kitts and Nevis has two islands.

They are in the Caribbean Sea. Green mountains rise in the middle of each one.

Saint Kitts and Nevis is a small country made of two islands in the Lesser Antilles, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Together they cover 269 square kilometers. Saint Kitts is the bigger island, and Nevis lies just 3 kilometers to the southeast across a channel called The Narrows.

English is the official language, and the money is the Eastern Caribbean dollar. The capital is Basseterre, on Saint Kitts. The 2022 census counted 51,320 people. The photo shows the southern tip of Saint Kitts seen from the sea.

The federation consists of Saint Kitts (176 km², about 37 by 8 km) and Nevis (93 km²), together 269 km², in the Lesser Antilles of the eastern Caribbean. The Department of Statistics' 2022 census, its 14th, counted 51,320 people, 8.7 percent more than in 2011 (47,195): 38,138 on Saint Kitts (74 percent) and 13,182 on Nevis.

Independent within the Commonwealth since 1983, it has the British monarch as head of state, represented by a governor-general, and a prime minister as head of government. Nevis has its own premier and legislature, and the constitution lets it secede if set procedures are followed. The photo shows the southern tip of Saint Kitts from the sea.

Basseterre is the capital city.

An old stone fort sits on a steep hill called Brimstone Hill.

Basseterre, on the southwest coast of Saint Kitts, is the capital and main port. It was founded in 1627 and rebuilt after a fire in 1867. A road junction there called the Circus was modeled on London's Piccadilly Circus.

On a steep volcanic hill on Saint Kitts stands Brimstone Hill Fortress, built from the late 1600s by enslaved Africans to designs by British engineers. UNESCO lists it as a World Heritage site. Each island has an international airport.

Basseterre, founded in 1627 and rebuilt after the 1867 fire, is the chief port, with a deepwater harbor; landmarks include St. George's Church, Government House, Independence Square and the Circus. Charlestown, on a bay on the west coast, is the chief town and port of Nevis. Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport serves Saint Kitts and Vance Amory International Airport serves Nevis.

UNESCO inscribed Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park in 1999 as a well-preserved example of 17th- and 18th-century military architecture in the Caribbean. Designed by the British and built by enslaved Africans on a double-peaked volcanic hill rising 230 m, it was first used in 1690 and abandoned by the British army in 1853. More than two-thirds of the population is rural.

Saint Kitts has a mountain with a lake in its top.

Many beaches have black sand made from volcanic rock.

A ridge of volcanic mountains runs down the middle of Saint Kitts. The highest point is Mount Liamuiga, 1,156 meters, with a lake in its forested crater. Most beaches are black volcanic sand.

Nevis is round and is almost all one mountain, Nevis Peak, 985 meters high, ringed by coral reefs. It is warm all year, about 27 °C in winter and 30 °C in summer. The rainy season runs from May to November, and hurricanes can come from August to October.

Saint Kitts is oval, with a volcanic ridge forming a semicircle around a plain in the southeast. Mount Liamuiga (formerly Mount Misery), 1,156 m, holds a lake in its forested crater; soils away from the mountains are light and porous, and most beaches are black volcanic sand. Annual rainfall averages about 1,397 mm.

Nevis, surrounded by coral reefs, is nearly all Nevis Peak (985 m), flanked by Round Hill (309 m) to the north and Saddle Hill (564 m) to the south; its clay soil is studded with volcanic boulders. Both islands lie in the tropical cyclone belt, with a hurricane season from August to October. The photo is a long exposure of the Caribbean Sea, not taken here.

Monkeys called vervets live on Saint Kitts.

Their ancestors came from Africa long ago.

Saint Kitts has free-roaming vervet monkeys, small monkeys whose ancestors were brought to the island from Africa. They live in close contact with people. Scientists who studied them found that a tiny worm living inside the monkeys is an African kind.

Forest covers the crater of Mount Liamuiga, and coral reefs ring the island of Nevis. Farm crops include coconuts, fruits and vegetables.

Free-roaming African vervets (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus), introduced to Saint Kitts from Africa, live in close contact with people; scientists study them, for example for the parasites they carry, which match African types (Richins and colleagues, 2023).

Nevis is surrounded by coral reefs. Sugarcane growing ended in 2005; other crops include coconuts, fruits and vegetables.

Most people in Saint Kitts and Nevis speak English.

Tourism is the biggest business today.

Most people are of African descent, with small groups of mixed, South Asian and European heritage. English is the official language, and the main churches are Anglican and Methodist.

For centuries the islands grew sugarcane, but sugar farming ended in 2005. Tourism is now the most important business. Children must go to school from age 5 to 16, and free public schools serve both islands.

The population is largely Black, with a small mixed minority and very small South Asian and white groups; Anglicans and Methodists are the main denominations. High emigration has traditionally offset natural increase (Britannica), though the 2022 census counted 8.7 percent more people than 2011; remittances are an important source of income.

The nationalized sugar industry, once the economy's mainstay, closed after the 2005 harvest, and tourism, with offshore financial and service companies, became the leading source of income. Education is compulsory from 5 to 16. Most cultural activity is concentrated in Basseterre.