1.1 Geography

The twin island Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis is located in the northern part of the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean (Figures 1-1 and 1-2).

The country has a total landmass of 267 square kilometers making it the smallest independent country in the Western Hemisphere. St. Kitts, formally known as Saint Christopher, is the larger of the two islands. The island of Nevis is located southeast of St. Kitts across a two mile wide channel and can be reached by ferry in 15 minutes.

Administratively St. Kitts is divided into nine parishes, and the island of Nevis into five parishes. The administrative capital for both islands is Basseterre located on St. Kitts with a population of around 13,000. The capital and main town of Nevis is Charlestown. Both St. Kitts and Nevis are fairly easy to navigate with each island having one main road that passes through the major communities usually located on the coastline.

1.2 History

European settlement of St. Kitts and Nevis began in the early 17^th century. In 1623 St. Kitts became the first British colony of the Caribbean region, and was nicknamed “the mother colony of the West Indies.”*  The island of St. Kitts was the first on which an English settlement was made, and served as the base for colonization of the other Caribbean islands. Some historical texts refer to St. Kitts as the “mother colony”, see: J.O. Cutteridge. 1947. Geography of the West Indies and Adjacent Lands. Other texts refer to the island as the “cradle” of the British West Indian colonies, see: Rev. C. Jesse. 1964. Outlines of St. Lucia’s History. The island repeatedly alternated between British and French rule. The Treaty of Paris awarded both islands to the British in 1783. In 1967 Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla became a self-governing associated state of Great Britain. In 1980 Anguilla seceded and became a separate territory. St. Kitts and Nevis, the only federation in the Caribbean, gained independence on 19 September 1983. In 1998, 62 per cent of Nevisians voted for secession but narrowly fell short of the required 67 per cent.

1.3 Population

The most recent estimated population was 51,970 in 2009.*  See the Caricom Regional Statistics at: http://www.caricomstats.org/Files/Databases/Population/MP.htm Demographic statistics from the 2001 Census are shown in the table below:*  Caricom. 2009. National Census Report: St. Kitts and Nevis. www.caricomstats.org

The majority of the population is of African descent and the official language is English. Some Kittitians and Nevisians also speak an English-based creole.

The federation has historically had high rates of emigration. This has led to a large Diaspora residing in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. There were around 20,000 people born in St. Kitts and Nevis living in those three countries in 2000-01 or almost 40% of the country’s population.*  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. “Country-of-birth database.” www.oecd.org/dataoecd/18/23/34792376.xls It is therefore no surprise that remittances account for a significant portion of the economy. St. Kitts and Nevis accounted for 20% of all remittances among Eastern Caribbean Currency Union members during 1991-2009 and they contributed 7.1% of the country’s GDP in 2009.*  Benjamin-Mack, Seana. “Remittances Issues in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union 1991 to 2009” presented at the The World Bank, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and University of the West Indies Knowledge Sharing Forum on Remittances, March 24-25, 2010. University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica. http://go.worldbank.org/2AYU03ZUF0.

1.4 Education

The literacy rate for the federation is 98%, highest in the Eastern Caribbean (Figure 1-3). The implementation of universal secondary school education in the 1970s—where all final grade primary school students, irrespective of ability, are transferred to a secondary school—has contributed to high literacy.

There are twenty-four public primary schools and seven public secondary schools. St. Kitts and Nevis has the best teacher to student ratios in the Eastern Caribbean.

The Student Education Learning Fund (SELF) provides textbooks to students at no cost and also covers secondary school examination fees. Students may withdraw from secondary school in the fourth form (grade 11) and enroll in a program at the National Skills Training Programme (NSTP) or at the Advanced Vocational Centre (AVEC).

Graduating secondary school students can pursue post-secondary studies at the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College located in St. Kitts or the Sixth Form College in Nevis. The two-year program prepares students for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exam..

The University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus provides distance education programs to students in St. Kitts and Nevis.*  The UWI Open Campus is an online campus with over 40 physical locations throughout the English-speaking Caribbean. See: http://www.open.uwi.edu. Approximately 130 students attend the Open Campus in St. Kitts and 30 on Nevis with video conferencing to other campus sites. The country is also home to several offshore higher educational institutions.

1.5 Economy

The economy has traditionally been agriculture-based and particularly the production of sugar. In July 2005, after successive losses in the sugar industry due to low global prices, high production costs, and changes in the European Union Sugar Protocol, the government shut down the St. Kitts Sugar Manufacturing Corporation and the production of sugar for export virtually halted.

The country has since diversified into other sectors such as light manufacturing, fishing, and non-sugar agricultural production and the services sector particularly tourism and financial services.

St. Kitts has the largest electronics assembly industry in the eastern Caribbean region. Five electronics manufacturing companies, most established in the Government Industrial Park, produce a range of electronic components for export.

St. Kitts and Nevis has a well-developed offshore banking and financial services sector. It is estimated that more than 15,000 offshore companies are registered in Nevis alone where they are free from taxation and privacy is protected under the 1985 Confidential Relationship Act.

There is no tax on personal income. A 17 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) was introduced in November 2010.

The IMF estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita at US$ 9,918 for 2011 (12,502 in purchasing power parity).*  International Monetary Fund (MF). World Economic Outlook Database. April 2011.

The Federation is home to the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB). Established in 1985, the ECCB is responsible for the common currency used on the region. Also located on St. Kitts is the Eastern Caribbean Stock Exchange (ECSE), a regional securities market established by the ECCB.

Almost 550,000 tourists visited St. Kitts and Nevis in 2009. Recent investment has fuelled growth of the tourism sector with a 57 per cent increase in visitors between 2006 and 2009.*  See “Tourism Data” on the ECCB web site at: http://www.eccb-centralbank.org/Statistics/index.asp#tourismdata

1.6 Government

The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis has a unicameral National Assembly consisting of eleven elected members and three senators. The ruling Labour Party led by Dr Denzil Douglas, the longest-serving Prime Minister among the Eastern Caribbean islands, occupies six of the seats and has been in power since 1995.

The island of Nevis has its own administration, legislation and premier; three elected representatives from Nevis serve in the National Assembly. As a member of the Commonwealth, the Queen of England is the formal head of state of the federation.