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

one and a half 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

predominantly black; some British, Portuguese, and Lebanese

Anglican, other Protestant, Roman Catholic

50,726 (July 2012 est.)

13.9 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

7.08 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

1.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

BASSETERRE (capital) 13,000 (2009)

1.79 children born/woman (2012 est.)

1.095 physicians/1,000 population (2000)

6 beds/1,000 population (2009)

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)

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt 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, CELAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, Petrocaribe, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, 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 depends on tourism; since the 1970s tourism has replaced sugar as the traditional mainstay of the economy. Following the 2005 harvest, the government closed the sugar industry, after several decades of losses. To compensate for lost jobs, the government has embarked on a program to diversify the agricultural sector and to stimulate other sectors of the economy, such as export-oriented manufacturing and offshore banking. Roughly 200,000 tourists visited the islands in 2009, but reduced tourism arrivals and foreign investment led to an economic contraction in 2009 and 2010. Like other tourist destinations in the Caribbean, St. Kitts and Nevis is vulnerable to damage from natural disasters and shifts in tourism demand. A mild recovery began in 2011. The current government is constrained by one of the world's highest public debt burdens -equivalent to roughly 200% of GDP in 2011 - largely attributable to public enterprise losses.

$886.2 million (2011 est.)

$905.1 million (2010 est.)

$930.2 million (2009 est.)

$715 million (2011 est.)

25.9% of GDP (2011 est.)

-5.2% of GDP (2011 est.)

200% of GDP (2011 est.)

185% of GDP (2009 est.)

6.5% (31 December 2009)

6.5% (31 December 2008)

8.84% (31 December 2011 est.)

8.625% (31 December 2010 est.)

$317.5 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$145 million (31 December 2010 est.)

$964.1 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$823.8 million (31 December 2009 est.)

$860 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$885.2 million (31 December 2010 est.)

$598.4 million (31 December 2011)

$623.9 million (31 December 2010)

$648 million (31 December 2009)

sugarcane, rice, yams, vegetables, bananas; fish

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

-$133.8 million (2011 est.)

-$114.6 million (2010 est.)

$58.6 million (2011 est.)

$78.76 million (2010 est.)

machinery, food, electronics, beverages, tobacco

US 57.8%, Canada 9.8%, Russia 5.2%, Germany 4.2% (2011)

$315.7 million (2011 est.)

$235.9 million (2010 est.)

machinery, manufactures, food, fuels

US 37.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 20.4%, Barbados 4.8% (2011)

$199.1 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$202.7 million (31 December 2010 est.)

East Caribbean dollars (XCD) per US dollar -

135 million kWh (2009 est.)

125.6 million kWh (2009 est.)

22,000 kW (2009 est.)

100% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

1,496 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

1,699 bbl/day (2008 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

303,500 Mt (2010 est.)

the government operates a national TV 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)

Basseterre, Charlestown

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 (2012)

joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which permits Venezuela to extend its Economic Exclusion Zone/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