Visit St. Kitts

Downtown Basseterre

Basseterre Airport

Hillside Homes

West to Mt. Luamuiga

Ferry Terminal

St. Kitts

Location:   17° 30' N, 62° 35' W
Population:   50,700
Capital:   Basseterre (pop. 13,000)
Length/Width:   21 mi long, 14 mi wide
Area:   104 sq. miles
Avg Temp:   75.2°F - 80.6°F
Rainfall:   Coast 16 in,
                   Mountain Areas - 60 in.
Language:   English
Money:   US Dollar (USD)
                 US Dollars accepted
Commerce:   Services 76%
                        Manufacturing 15%
                        Agriculture 10%

                History:

When Christopher Columbus explored the islands in 1493, they were inhabited by the Carib people, like many of the other Caribbean islands. Today, most of the inhabitants are the descendants of African slaves.

The British settled on St. Kitts in 1623, and on Nevis (the island just 2 miles South) in 1628. In 1627 the French settled on St. Kitts resulting in an Anglo-French rivalry that lasted for more than 100 years. After a decisive British victory at Brimstone Hill in 1782 the islands came under permanent British control.

They started by cultivating tobacco and cotton, but by the 1640s they had switched to sugar, which was enormously profitable. Slaves from Africa were brought in to work sugar plantations, and eventually the population became about 90% black. A slave revolt took place in 1816 and was eventually abolished in the British Empire in 1834.

In 1958 they joined the West Indies Federation until its dissolution in 1962. St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla became an associated state of the United Kingdom in 1967. Anguilla seceded in 1980, and St. Kitts and Nevis gained their independence on Sept. 19, 1983.

Due to years of questionable practices and improprieties in its off-shore financial-services industry, the country was blacklisted by various international financial agencies. By 2002 it had been removed from all lists and has since regained a prominent place in the economy. A drop in world sugar prices hurt the nation's economy through the mid-1980s to the point that the government closed the sugar industry in 2005. Tourism and financial services have since taken over as the leading money makers.

Isthmus across Basseterre Bay

South end of St. Kitts

Nevis Island beyond Southern tip of St. Kitts