from
CIA World Factbook 2006
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Introduction
Background: First settled by the British in 1623, the islands
became an associated state 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 try and separate from Saint Kitts.
Geography
Location: Caribbean, islands in the Caribbean Sea, about
one-third of the way from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and
Tobago
Geographic 17 20 N, 62 45 W
coordinates:
Map Central America and the Caribbean
references:
Area: total: 261 sq km (Saint Kitts 168 sq km; Nevis 93 sq
km)
land: 261 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC
comparative:
Land 0 km
boundaries:
Coastline: 135 km
Maritime territorial sea: 12 nm
claims: contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the
continental margin
Climate: tropical, tempered by constant sea breezes; little
seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to
November)
Terrain: volcanic with mountainous interiors
Elevation lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
extremes: highest point: Mount Liamuiga 1,156 m
Natural arable land
resources:
Land use: arable land: 19.44%
permanent crops: 2.78%
other: 77.78% (2005)
Irrigated NA
land:
Natural hurricanes (July to October)
hazards:
Environment - NA
current
issues:
Environment - party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change,
international Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes,
agreements: Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected
agreements
Geography - with coastlines in the shape of a baseball bat and
note: ball, the two volcanic islands are separated by a
three-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
People
Population: 39,129 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 27.5% (male 5,515/female 5,263)
15-64 years: 64.3% (male 12,605/female 12,572)
65 years and over: 8.1% (male 1,313/female 1,861) (2006
est.)
Median age: total: 27.8 years
male: 27.1 years
female: 28.6 years (2006 est.)
Population 0.5% (2006 est.)
growth rate:
Birth rate: 18.02 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 8.33 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration -4.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
rate:
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant total: 14.12 deaths/1,000 live births
mortality male: 15.85 deaths/1,000 live births
rate: female: 12.28 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life total population: 72.4 years
expectancy at male: 69.56 years
birth: female: 75.42 years (2006 est.)
Total 2.31 children born/woman (2006 est.)
fertility
rate:
HIV/AIDS - NA
adult
prevalence
rate:
HIV/AIDS - NA
people living
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - NA
deaths:
Nationality: noun: Kittitian(s), Nevisian(s)
adjective: Kittitian, Nevisian
Ethnic groups: predominantly black; some British, Portuguese, and
Lebanese
Religions: Anglican, other Protestant, Roman Catholic
Languages: English
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 97.8%
male: NA%
female: NA% (2003 est.)
Government
Country name: conventional long form: Federation of Saint Kitts and
Nevis
conventional short form: Saint Kitts and Nevis
former: Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis
Government parliamentary democracy
type:
Capital: name: Basseterre
geographic coordinates: 17 18 N, 62 43 W
time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC
during Standard Time)
Administrative 14 parishes; Christ Church Nichola Town, Saint Anne
divisions: 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
Independence: 19 September 1983 (from UK)
National Independence Day, 19 September (1983)
holiday:
Constitution: 19 September 1983
Legal system: based on English common law
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February
branch: 1952), represented by Governor General Cuthbert
Montraville SEBASTIAN (since 1 January 1996)
head of government: Prime Minister Dr. Denzil DOUGLAS
(since 6 July 1995) and Deputy Prime Minister Sam
CONDOR (since 6 July 1995)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general in
consultation with the prime minister
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the
governor general is appointed by the monarch; following
legislative elections, the leader of the majority party
or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed
prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime
minister appointed by the governor general
Legislative unicameral National Assembly (14 seats, 3 appointed and
branch: 11 popularly elected from single-member constituencies;
members serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 25 October 2004 (next to be held
by 2009)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats
by party - SKNLP 7, CCM 2, NRP 1, PAM 1
Judicial Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (based on Saint Lucia;
branch: one judge of the Supreme Court resides in Saint Kitts
and Nevis)
Political Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Vance AMORY]; Nevis
parties and Reformation Party or NRP [Joseph PARRY]; People's
leaders: Action Movement or PAM [Lindsey GRANT]; Saint Kitts and
Nevis Labor Party or SKNLP [Dr. Denzil DOUGLAS]
Political NA
pressure
groups and
leaders:
International ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt,
organization ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
participation: Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIGA, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WTO
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Izben Cordinal
representation WILLIAMS
in the US: chancery: 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20016
telephone: [1] (202) 686-2636
FAX: [1] (202) 686-5740
consulate(s) general: New York
Diplomatic the US does not have an embassy in Saint Kitts and
representation Nevis; the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to
from the US: Saint Kitts and Nevis
Flag divided diagonally from the lower hoist side by a broad
description: 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
Economy
Economy - Sugar was the traditional mainstay of the Saint Kitts
overview: economy until the 1970s. Although the crop still
dominates the agricultural sector, activities such as
tourism, export-oriented manufacturing, and offshore
banking have assumed larger roles in the economy.
Tourism revenues are now the chief source of the
islands' foreign exchange; about 40,000 tourist visited
Nevis during the 2003-2004 season. Additional tourist
facilities, including a second cruise ship pier,
hotels, and golf courses are under construction.
GDP $339 million (2002 est.)
(purchasing
power parity):
GDP (official $453 million
exchange
rate):
GDP - real 4.9% (2005 est.)
growth rate:
GDP - per $8,200 (2005 est.)
capita (PPP):
GDP - agriculture: 3.5%
composition by industry: 25.8%
sector: services: 70.7% (2001)
Labor force: 18,170 (June 1995)
Unemployment 4.5% (1997)
rate:
Population NA%
below poverty
line:
Household lowest 10%: NA%
income or highest 10%: NA%
consumption by
percentage
share:
Inflation rate 8.7% (2005 est.)
(consumer
prices):
Budget: revenues: $89.7 million
expenditures: $128.2 million; including capital
expenditures of $19.5 million (2003 est.)
Agriculture - sugarcane, rice, yams, vegetables, bananas; fish
products:
Industries: sugar processing, tourism, cotton, salt, copra,
clothing, footwear, beverages
Industrial NA%
production
growth rate:
Electricity - 111.7 million kWh (2003)
production:
Electricity - fossil fuel: 100%
production by hydro: 0%
source: nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - 103.9 million kWh (2003)
consumption:
Electricity - 0 kWh (2003)
exports:
Electricity - 0 kWh (2003)
imports:
Oil - 0 bbl/day (2003 est.)
production:
Oil - 700 bbl/day (2003 est.)
consumption:
Oil - exports: NA bbl/day
Oil - imports: NA bbl/day
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2003 est.)
production:
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2003 est.)
consumption:
Exports: $70 million (2004 est.)
Exports - machinery, food, electronics, beverages, tobacco
commodities:
Exports - US 63.5%, Canada 8.4%, UK 5.8% (2005)
partners:
Imports: $405 million (2004 est.)
Imports - machinery, manufactures, food, fuels
commodities:
Imports - US 46.9%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.7%, UK 5.4%, France
partners: 4.5%, Japan 4.2% (2005)
Debt - $314 million (2004)
external:
Economic aid - $-110,000 (2004)
recipient:
Currency East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
(code):
Currency code: XCD
Exchange East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2005), 2.7
rates: (2004), 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - 25,000 (2004)
main lines in
use:
Telephones - 10,000 (2004)
mobile
cellular:
Telephone general assessment: good inter-island and international
system: connections
domestic: inter-island links via Eastern Caribbean
Fiber Optic cable; construction of enhanced wireless
infrastructure launched in November 2004
international: country code - 1-869; international
calls are carried by submarine cable or Intelsat
Radio AM 3, FM 3, shortwave 0 (2004)
broadcast
stations:
Radios: 28,000 (1997)
Television 1 (plus three repeaters) (2004)
broadcast
stations:
Televisions: 10,000 (1997)
Internet .kn
country code:
Internet 50 (2006)
hosts:
Internet 16 (2000)
Service
Providers
(ISPs):
Internet 10,000 (2002)
users:
Transportation
Airports: 2 (2006)
Airports - total: 2
with paved 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
runways: 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2006)
Railways: total: 50 km
narrow gauge: 50 km 0.762-m gauge on Saint Kitts to
serve sugarcane plantations during harvest season and
for tourists (2005)
Roadways: total: 320 km
paved: 138 km
unpaved: 182 km (1999 est)
Merchant total: 50 ships (1000 GRT or over) 261,556 GRT/381,593
marine: DWT
by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 36, chemical tanker 5,
passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 5, refrigerated
cargo 1
foreign-owned: 41 (Greece 1, Monaco 1, Russia 5, Spain
2, Syria 3, Tanzania 1, Turkey 6, UAE 19, Ukraine 3)
(2006)
Ports and Basseterre, Charlestown
terminals:
Military
Military Saint Kitts and Nevis Defense Force (includes Coast
branches: Guard), Royal Saint Kitts and Nevis Police Force
Military 18 years of age (est.) (2004)
service age
and
obligation:
Manpower males age 18-49: 9,196
available for females age 18-49: 9,236 (2005 est.)
military
service:
Manpower fit males age 18-49: 7,119
for military females age 18-49: 7,645 (2005 est.)
service:
Manpower males age 18-49: 357
reaching females age 18-49: 347 (2005 est.)
military
service age
annually:
Military NA
expenditures -
dollar figure:
Military NA
expenditures -
percent of
GDP:
Transnational
Issues
Disputes - joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's
international: claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a
criterion under UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to
extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion
of the Caribbean Sea
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for South American drugs destined
for the US and Europe; some money-laundering activity