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.
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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Saint Kitts and Nevis
