28 Facts About Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Kitts and Nevis is a dual-island country located between the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans.

It is famous for its cloud-covered mountains and beaches.

Many of its former sugar plantations have been converted into inns or atmospheric ruins.

Saint Kitts, the larger of the two islands, is dominated by the dormant Mount Liamuiga volcano, which is home to a crater lake, green vervet monkeys, and a rainforest crisscrossed with hiking trails.

Saint Kitts and Nevis is a Caribbean island nation that consists primarily of the two main islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

The islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis have most likely been inhabited since around 2,900 BC, but the lack of pottery by the Siboney people makes this difficult to confirm. Arawak Indians, or Taino, arrived between 500 and 600 AD, following the Siboney.

Christopher Columbus was the first European to set foot on the islands in 1493. Saint Kitts was named after Christopher, his patron saint.

Saint Kitts and Nevis is the Caribbean's smallest sovereign state and the world's eighth smallest in terms of population.

Saint Kitts and Nevis is also the Western Hemisphere's smallest sovereign state in terms of both area and population.

Saint Kitts and Nevis' flag is green and red with a diagonal black stripe and yellow borders with two white stars running between. Green represents the fertility of the islands, red represents the struggle against slavery and colonialism, black represents the people's African heritage, yellow represents the sun, and the two white stars represent the two islands as well as hope and liberty.

Britain established the first colonies on Saint Kitts in 1623 and Nevis in 1628. When France relinquished its claims to Saint Kitts in 1783, Britain took official control of both islands.

Saint Kitts and Nevis gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1983, with Kennedy Simmonds as Prime Minister.

Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on Saint Kitts and Nevis. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the well-preserved fortress was designed by the British and built by African slave labour.

The fortress was dubbed the "Gibraltar of the West Indies" because of its resemblance to the British Overseas Territory on the tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

Slavery was established to run the sugar plantations on Saint Kitts and later on Nevis, and it played a significant role in the nation's history, with thousands of slaves trafficked from Africa to work on tobacco and sugar plantations before the practise was abolished in 1834.

When Columbus first saw the island in 1493, he mistook the clouds surrounding its highest peak, Nevis Peak, for snow. He named it las nieves or "the snows".

Nevis held an independence referendum in 1998. The vote, however, fell short of the two-thirds majority required for the island to secede from Saint Kitts.

Kittitians are people from Saint Kitts, and Nevisians are people from Nevis.

The Broadway musical Hamilton is based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, a founding father of the United States who was born on the Caribbean island of Nevis in 1755.

As a result of the musical's success, Nevis Island saw an increase in tourism in 2016 as fans of the show visited. Some attractions saw a 30% increase in visitors, and as a result, some hotels are now offering Hamilton-themed packages. 

Horatio Nelson, the British naval commander and war hero, served as a colonial administrator on Nevis and married a local widow, Fanny Nisbet, in 1787. On the island, there is a museum dedicated to him.

The Wingfield Estate is a well-known landmark in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The sugar plantation, which was established in 1625, was in operation until the 1920s. It is now a picturesque ruin with some of the original buildings and structures restored.

Saint Kitts and Nevis has one of the highest murder rates in the world. With 34.2 intentional homicides per 100,000 people, it has the world's ninth highest rate.

Both the islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis are volcanic. Mount Liamuiga, the island's highest peak at 1,156 metres, is located on Saint Kitts (3,792ft). The island of Nevis could be considered one massive dormant volcano, with the central Nevis Peak reaching a height of 985 metres (3,232ft).

Basseterre, the country's capital, translates as "low land" in French. The reference is to the city's low-lying location within a valley, as well as the fact that it is on the leeward (downwind) side of the island and thus a sheltered anchorage.

The brown pelican, Pelecanus Occidentalis, is the national bird of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

"Limin" is the local term for hanging out, relaxing on island time, or having fun.

"Goat water," a stew made from goat bones and meat, is a popular dish on the islands.