Saint Kitts And Nevis

 

Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs                                          
June 2007                                                                     
                                                                       
  Background Note: Saint Kitts and Nevis                                      
                                                                       
  The flag of St. Kitts and Nevis is 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.                                                                        
                                                                       
  PROFILE                                                                     
                                                                       
  OFFICIAL NAME:                                                              
  Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis                                         
                                                                       
  Geography                                                                   
  Area: St. Kitts 168 sq. km. (65 sq. mi.); Nevis 93 sq. km. (36 sq. mi.).    
  Cities: Capital--Basseterre (pop. about 15,000).                            
  Terrain: Generally mountainous; highest elevations are 1,156 m. (3,792 ft.) 
  at Mt. Liamuiga on St. Kitts and 985 m; (3,232 ft.) at Nevis peak on Nevis. 
  Climate: Tropical.                                                          
                                                                       
  People                                                                      
  Nationality: Noun and adjective--Kittitian(s), Nevisian(s).                 
  Population (2006): 42,696 (31,515 on St. Kitts and 11,181 on Nevis).        
  Annual growth rate (2005): 2.1%.                                            
  Ethnic groups: Predominantly of African origin; some of British, Portuguese,
  and Lebanese descent.                                                       
  Religions: Principally Anglican, with Evangelical Protestant and Roman      
  Catholic minorities.                                                        
  Languages: English (official).                                              
  Education (2005): Adult literacy--97.8%.                                    
  Health (2006): Infant mortality rate--18/1,000. Life expectancy--men 66     
  years; women 73 years.                                                      
  Unemployment (2006): 5.1%.                                                  
                                                                       
  Government                                                                  
  Type: Parliamentary democracy; independent sovereign state within the       
  Commonwealth.                                                               
  Constitution: 1983.                                                         
  Independence: September 19, 1983.                                           
  Branches: Executive--governor general (representing Queen Elizabeth II, head
  of state), prime minister (head of government), cabinet.                    
  Legislative--bicameral Parliament. Judicial--magistrate's courts, Eastern   
  Caribbean Supreme Court (High Court and Court of Appeals), final appeal to  
  Privy Council in London.                                                    
  Administrative subdivisions: 14 parishes.                                   
  Political parties: St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (ruling), People's Action
  Movement (PAM), Concerned Citizens Movement (a Nevis-based party), and Nevis
  Reformation Party.                                                          
  Suffrage: Universal at 18.                                                  
                                                                       
  Economy                                                                     
  GDP (2005): $453.0 million.                                                 
  GDP growth rate (2006): 4.6%.                                               
  Per capita GDP (2005): $8,210.                                              
  Inflation (2005): 3.6%.                                                     
  Natural resources: Negligible.                                              
  Agriculture: Sugarcane, rice, yams, bananas, fish, cotton, peanuts,         
  vegetables.                                                                 
  Industry: Financial and business services, tourism, construction, clothing, 
  footwear, beverages, and tobacco.                                           
  Trade (2005): Exports--$34 million (merchandise) and $139 million (commercial
  services). Major markets--United States (91.9%), EU (3.0%), Trinidad and    
  Tobago (2%), Netherlands Antilles (0.8%), St. Vincent and the Grenadines    
  (0.3%). Imports--$210 million (merchandise) and $87 million (commercial     
  services). Major suppliers--United States (57.9%), Trinidad and Tobago      
  (14.1%), European Union (9.3%), Japan (3.8%), and Barbados (2.8%).          
  Official exchange rate: EC$2.70 = U.S. $1.                                  
                                                                       
  HISTORY                                                                     
  At the time of European discovery, Carib Indians inhabited the islands of St.
  Kitts and Nevis. Christopher Columbus landed on the larger island in 1493 on
  his second voyage and named it after St. Christopher, his patron saint.     
  Columbus also discovered Nevis on his second voyage, reportedly calling it  
  Nevis because of its resemblance to a snowcapped mountain (in Spanish,      
  "nuestra senora de las nieves" or our lady of the snows). European          
  colonization did not begin until 1623-24, when first English, then French   
  colonists arrived on St. Christopher's Island, whose name the English       
  shortened to St. Kitts Island. As the first English colony in the Caribbean,
  St. Kitts served as a base for further colonization in the region.          
                                                                       
  The English and French held St. Kitts jointly from 1628 to 1713. During the 
  17th century, intermittent warfare between French and English settlers      
  ravaged the island's economy. Meanwhile Nevis, settled by English settlers in
  1628, grew prosperous under English rule. St. Kitts was ceded to Great      
  Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The French seized both St. Kitts  
  and Nevis in 1782. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 definitively awarded both    
  islands to Britain. They were part of the colony of the Leeward Islands from
  1871-1956, and of the West Indies Federation from 1958-62. In 1967, together
  with Anguilla, they became a self-governing state in association with Great 
  Britain; Anguilla seceded late that year and remains a British dependency.  
  The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis attained full independence on September
  19, 1983.                                                                   
                                                                       
  GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS                                         
  As head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is represented in St. Kitts and Nevis by
  a governor general, who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the    
  cabinet. The prime minister is the leader of the majority party of the House
  of Representatives, and the cabinet conducts affairs of state. St. Kitts and
  Nevis has a bicameral legislature: An 11-member Senate appointed by the     
  governor general (mainly on the advice of the prime minister and the leader 
  of the opposition); and an 11-member popularly elected House of             
  Representatives which has eight St. Kitts seats and three Nevis seats. The  
  prime minister and the cabinet are responsible to the Parliament.           
                                                                       
  St. Kitts and Nevis has enjoyed a long history of free and fair elections,  
  although the outcome of elections in 1993 was strongly protested by the     
  opposition and the Eastern Caribbean Regional Security System (RSS) was     
  briefly deployed to restore order. The elections in 1995 were contested by  
  the two major parties, the ruling People's Action Movement (PAM) and the St.
  Kitts and Nevis Labour Party. Labour won seven of the 11 seats, with Dr.    
  Denzil Douglas becoming prime minister. In the March 2000 elections, Denzil 
  Douglas and the Labour Party were returned to power, winning eight of the 11
  seats in Parliament. The Nevis-based Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) won  
  two seats and the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) won one seat. The PAM party 
  was unable to obtain a seat.                                                
                                                                       
  The constitution gives Nevis considerable autonomy. Nevis has an island     
  assembly, a premier, and a deputy governor general. Under certain specified 
  conditions, it may secede from the federation. In accordance with its rights
  under the Constitution, in 1996 the Nevis Island Administration under the   
  Concerned Citizens' Movement (CCM) of Premier Vance Amory initiated steps   
  towards secession from the Federation, the most recent being a referendum in
  1998 that failed to secure the required two-thirds majority for secession. In
  the July 10, 2006 Nevis elections for the Nevis Island Administration, the  
  NRP won three of the five seats; the CCM won two. The NRP's Joseph Parry    
  assumed the premiership of Nevis. While opposing secession, the Government  
  acknowledged the constitutional rights of Nevisians to determine their future
  independence. Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press,   
  worship, movement, and association. Like its neighbors in the               
  English-speaking Caribbean, St. Kitts and Nevis has an excellent human rights
  record. Its judicial system is modeled on British practice and procedure and
  its jurisprudence on English common law.                                    
                                                                       
  Principal Government Officials                                              
  Chief of State--Queen Elizabeth II                                          
  Governor General--Sir Cuthbert M. Sebastian                                 
  Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Sustainable Development, Information
  and Technology, Tourism, Culture and Sport--Dr. Denzil Llewellyn Douglas    
  Minister of Foreign Affairs--Dr. Timothy Sylvester Harris                   
  Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative to the OAS--Dr.
  Izben Williams                                                              
  Ambassador to the UN--Delano Bart                                           
  Principal Nevis Island Government Official, Premier--Joseph Parry           
                                                                       
  The embassy of St. Kitts and Nevis is located at 3216 New Mexico Ave., NW,  
  Washington, D.C. 20016 (tel. 202-686-2636).                                 
                                                                       
  ECONOMY                                                                     
  St. Kitts and Nevis was the last sugar monoculture in the Eastern Caribbean 
  until the government decided to close the sugar industry in 2005, after     
  decades of losses at the state-run sugar company. To compensate for the loss
  of the sugar industry, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has embarked on
  a program to diversify the agricultural sector and stimulate the development
  of other sectors of the economy.                                            
                                                                       
                                                                       
  The economy of St. Kitts and Nevis experienced strong growth for most of the
  1990s, but hurricanes in 1998 and 1999 and the September 11, 2001 terrorist 
  attacks hurt the tourism-dependent economy. Economic growth picked up in    
  2004, with a real GDP growth rate of 6.4%, followed by 4.1% growth in 2005. 
  Tourism has shown the greatest growth and is now a major foreign exchange   
  earner for St. Kitts and Nevis, as evidenced by an 83% increase in foreign  
  direct investment in a range of tourism-related projects. Significant new   
  investment included a 648-room Marriott hotel and convention center that    
  opened in December 2002, as well as other resort projects. In 2006, the     
  economy of St. Kitts and Nevis posted growth of 4.6%, mostly as a result of 
  diversification into tourism and construction related to the Cricket World  
  Cup. The government instituted a program of investment incentives for       
  businesses considering the possibility of locating in St. Kitts or Nevis,   
  encouraging domestic and foreign private investment. Government policies    
  provide liberal tax holidays, duty-free import of equipment and materials,  
  and subsidies for training provided to local personnel.                     
                                                                       
  However, the debt of public enterprises has increased, and total public debt
  is projected to reach 180% in the coming year. Consumer prices have risen   
  marginally over the past few years. The rate of inflation, as measured by the
  change in the CPI, rose on average by 3.6% in 2005, compared with 2.3% in   
  2004 and 2.2% in 2003.                                                      
                                                                       
  St. Kitts and Nevis is a member of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union     
  (ECCU). The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) issues the Eastern        
  Caribbean dollar (EC$) for all members of the ECCU. The ECCB also manages   
  monetary policy, and regulates and supervises commercial banking activities 
  in its member countries. The ECCB has kept the EC$ pegged at EC$2.7 to U.S. 
  $1.                                                                         
                                                                       
  FOREIGN RELATIONS                                                           
  St. Kitts and Nevis maintains diplomatic relations with the United States,  
  Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Taiwan, Cuba and South Korea, as
  well as with many Latin American countries and neighboring Eastern Caribbean
  states. It is a member of the Commonwealth, the United Nations, the World   
  Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the Organization of American      
  States, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, the Eastern Caribbean 
  Regional Security System (RSS), and the Caribbean Community and Common Market
  (CARICOM). The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank is headquartered in St. Kitts.
                                                                       
  U.S.-ST. KITTS AND NEVIS RELATIONS                                          
  Since St. Kitts and Nevis attained full independence in 1983, relations with
  the United States have been friendly. The United States seeks to help St.   
  Kitts and Nevis develop economically and to help strengthen its moderate,   
  democratic, parliamentary form of government. St. Kitts and Nevis is a      
  beneficiary of the U.S. Caribbean Basin Initiative. U.S. assistance is      
  primarily channeled through multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and
  the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), as well as the USAID office in        
  Bridgetown, Barbados. In addition, St. Kitts and Nevis benefits from U.S.   
  military exercises and humanitarian civic action construction projects.     
                                                                       
  St. Kitts and Nevis is strategically placed in the Leeward Islands, near    
  maritime transport lanes of major importance to the United States. St. Kitts
  and Nevis' location close to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands makes  
  the two-island federation attractive to narcotics traffickers. To counter   
  this threat, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis cooperates with the United
  States in the fight against illegal narcotics. In 1995, the Government signed
  a maritime law enforcement treaty with the United States, later amended with
  an overflight/order-to-land amendment in 1996. St. Kitts and Nevis also     
  signed an updated extradition treaty with the United States in 1996, and a  
  mutual legal assistance treaty in 1997.                                     
                                                                       
  St. Kitts and Nevis is a popular American tourist destination. In the       
  aftermath of September 11, 2001, tourism declined, but the islands have seen
  growing numbers of visitors in recent years. Fewer than 1,000 U.S. citizens 
  reside on the island, although students and staff of Ross University        
  Veterinary School and the Medical University of the Americas (Nevis)        
  constitute a significant population of U.S. citizens.                       
                                                                       
  Principal U.S. Embassy Officials                                            
  Ambassador--Mary M. Ourisman                                                
  Deputy Chief of Mission--Mary Ellen T. Gilroy                               
  Political/Economic Counselor--Martina Strong (Acting)                       
  Consul General--Clyde Howard Jr.                                            
  Regional Labor Attaché--Martina Strong                                      
  Economic-Commercial Affairs--Anthony Eterno                                 
  Public Affairs Officer--Julie O'Reagan                                      
  Peace Corps Director--Kate Raftery                                          
                                                                       
  The United States maintains no official presence in St. Kitts and Nevis. The
  ambassador and embassy officers are resident in Barbados and frequently     
  travel to St. Kitts and Nevis. A U.S. consular agent residing in nearby     
  Antigua, however, assists U.S. citizens in St. Kitts and Nevis.             
                                                                       
  The U.S. Embassy in Barbados is located in the Wildey Business Park, Wildey,
  St. Michael (tel: 246-436-4950; fax: 246-429-5246). Consular Agent: Rebecca 
  Simon, Hospital Hill, English Harbor, Antigua Tel: (268) 463-6531.          
                                                                       
  Other Contact Information                                                   
  U.S. Department of Commerce                                                 
  International Trade Administration                                          
  Trade Information Center                                                    
  14th and Constitution, NW                                                   
  Washington, DC 20230                                                        
  Tel: 1-800-USA-TRADE                                                        
                                                                       
  Caribbean/Latin American Action                                             
  1818 N Street, NW, Suite 310                                                
  Washington, DC 20036                                                        
  Tel: (202) 466-7464                                                         
  Fax: (202) 822-0075                                                         
                                                                       
  TRAVEL AND BUSINESS INFORMATION                                             
  The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program advises Americans
  traveling and residing abroad through Consular Information Sheets, Public   
  Announcements, and Travel Warnings. Consular Information Sheets exist for all
  countries and include information on entry and exit requirements, currency  
  regulations, health conditions, safety and security, crime, political       
  disturbances, and the addresses of the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.
  Public Announcements are issued to disseminate information quickly about    
  terrorist threats and other relatively short-term conditions overseas that  
  pose significant risks to the security of American travelers. Travel Warnings
  are issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel 
  to a certain country because the situation is dangerous or unstable.        
                                                                       
  For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad  
  should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet
  web site at http://www.travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Caution,
  Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings can be found. Consular Affairs    
  Publications, which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a
  safe trip abroad, are also available at http://www.travel.state.gov. For    
  additional information on international travel, see http://www.usa.gov/     
  Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml.                                  
                                                                       
  The Department of State encourages all U.S citizens who traveling or residing
  abroad to register via the State Department's travel registration website or
  at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. Registration will make your
  presence and whereabouts known in case it is necessary to contact you in an 
  emergency and will enable you to receive up-to-date information on security 
  conditions.                                                                 
                                                                       
  Emergency information concerning Americans traveling abroad may be obtained 
  by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and Canada or the regular   
  toll line 1-202-501-4444 for callers outside the U.S. and Canada.           
                                                                       
  The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is the U.S. Department of   
  State's single, centralized public contact center for U.S. passport         
  information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778). Customer service   
  representatives and operators for TDD/TTY are available Monday-Friday, 7:00 
  a.m. to 12:00 midnight, Eastern Time, excluding federal holidays.           
                                                                       
  Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S. Centers for 
  Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP
  (877-394-8747) and a web site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm give the
  most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations or requirements,
  and advice on food and drinking water safety for regions and countries. A   
  booklet entitled "Health Information for International Travel" (HHS         
  publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S. Government       
  Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202) 512-1800.                 
                                                                       
  Further Electronic Information                                              
  Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at http://          
  www.state.gov, the Department of State web site provides timely, global     
  access to official U.S. foreign policy information, including Background    
  Notes and daily press briefings along with the directory of key officers of 
  Foreign Service posts and more. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC)
  provides security information and regional news that impact U.S. companies  
  working abroad through its website http://www.osac.gov                      
                                                                       
  Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related assistance and market    
  information offered by the federal government and provides trade leads, free
  export counseling, help with the export process, and more.                  
  STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce, provides   
  authoritative economic, business, and international trade information from  
  the Federal government. The site includes current and historical            
  trade-related releases, international market research, trade opportunities, 
  and country analysis and provides access to the National Trade Data Bank.   

 

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