Saint Kitts and Nevis is a state in the eastern part of the Caribbean. consisting of two islands – St. Kitts and Nevis, belonging to the Lesser Antilles. The area of the country is 261 km2. The population is 50 thousand people. The capital city of Baster is located on the island of Saint Kitts.
According to smb, the capital is Basseterre. The official language is English. Currency – East Caribbean dollar. The official language is English. Religion – Anglicanism.
Saint Kitts and Nevis is the smallest state in the Western Hemisphere, both in terms of area and population. It is a member of the British Commonwealth, headed by the Queen of Great Britain. It borders Antigua and Barbuda to the east, Montserrat to the southeast, Sint Eustatius to the northwest, and Saint Barthelemy to the north. All borders are maritime.
St. Kitts and Nevis is in the path of strong tropical hurricanes, which are most likely from August to October and sometimes cause significant damage.
Resorts and attractions of St. Kitts and Nevis
Both islands are of volcanic origin and are mountainous. The slopes of the mountains are occupied by plantations of sugar cane and cotton, higher – bushes and small mountain rainforests.
Both islands are surrounded by coral reefs (the largest in the northern and western coasts), and between them and the coast stretches a shallow strip of lagoons. Both islands are cut through by numerous streams, abundantly irrigate their territory, with the exception of the southeastern peninsula, which is dry and covered with thickets of shrubs and grasses.
Vegetation in the interior mountainous regions of the islands is represented by dense tropical rainforests. Creepers, mangoes, breadfruit and cinnamon trees, tamarind, avocados, bananas, papaya grow. Numerous tropical birds and butterflies live in the forests, as well as monkeys. Many sea birds, including pelicans, nest on the coast. The water areas abound with fish.
St. Kitts Island stretched for 37 km from the northwest to the southeast. In the same direction along its central axis, strongly dissected peaked mountains with the highest point of the country – the extinct volcano Lyamiuga (1155 m), in the crater of which the lake is located, stretch. Southeast St. Kitts is a flat peninsula teeming with salt lakes, with a jagged coastline that forms many bays with sandy beaches. The sand of some beaches is dark, almost black.
Nevis Island lies 3 km south of St. Kitts and is separated from it by the Narrows Strait. The island has a rounded shape, almost the entire Nevis massif is formed by volcanic rocks of ancient eruptions, mainly the Nevis volcano (the highest point of the island is 985 m), as well as its side vents – Saddle Hill and Hurricane Hill. A strip of sandy beaches stretches along the coast.
The tropical climate of Saint Kitts and Nevis is formed under the influence of the trade winds. The climate is humid and hot, the average monthly temperatures are around 26*C, occasionally dropping to 18*C or rising to 32*C. There is no rainy season. Precipitation is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year.
Interesting facts
The indigenous inhabitants of the island of St. Kitts were the Carib Indians. The islands were discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493, but the Spaniards did not colonize them.
In 1623, an English settlement was founded on St. Christopher (the old name of St. Kitts), in 1624 – a French one.
Since 1625, the islands, together with the island of Anguilla (which became for her the base for the conquest of other islands in the region, for which she was called the mother of the English colonies in the West Indies), became a colony of Great Britain. In the north-west of the island, on the heights, is the well-preserved fortress of Brimstone, which is called the Gibraltar of the Caribbean.
In 1623, the general French-English punitive forces massacred the local Indian population, killing up to 4,000 people in the river valley, named in this connection Bloody, through the waters of which the bodies were carried out to sea for 3 days.
From the 18th century, there was a struggle between Great Britain and France for the possession of the islands, until, finally, under the Treaty of Versailles in 1783, they finally came under the rule of the British.
Since 1871, the islands have been part of the English colony of the Leeward Islands, and since 1958 – the West Indies Federation.
In 1967, Saint Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla received the status of a state associated with Great Britain with internal self-government. Questions of foreign policy and defense remained within the competence of Great Britain.
In 1980, Anguilla seceded from the federation of the three islands.
On September 19, 1983, an independent state, the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, was proclaimed.
In 1998, a referendum was held on the issue of secession of the island of Nevis from the federation and the formation of an independent state on it. 62% of voters voted in favor, but no decision was made, since for a positive decision, according to the law, at least 2/3 of voters must vote.
