Simple directory > Regional > Saint Kitts-Nevis

Country : Saint Kitts-Nevis Official name: Federation of St Christopher and Nevis Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II; represented by Governor General Sir Cuthbert Montroville-Sebastian (since 1996) Head of government: Prime Minister Denzil Douglas (SKNLP) (since Jul 1995) Ruling party: St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) (since Jul 1995; last re-elected Oct 2004) Area: 269 square km Population: 47,951 (2004) Capital: Basseterre (St Kitts) Official language: English Currency: East Caribbean dollar (EC$) = 100 cents Exchange rate: EC$2.70 per US$ (fixed) GDP per capita: US$8,800 (2003) GDP real growth: 1.20% (2003) Labour force: 18,172 (2003) Unemployment: 4.50% (2003) Inflation: 2.00% (2003) Balance of trade: -US$105.00 million (2003) Foreign debt: US$171.00 million (2003)

Historical profile

1623 Britain settled St Christopher (known as St Kitts), which became the first British colony in the West Indies.

1628 Nevis was settled by the British.

1816 Anguilla was joined to the territory.

1932 The St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) was formed and campaigned for independence for the islands.

1958 St Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla became a member of the attempted West Indies Federation.

1960 A new constitution was granted to each of the British territories in the Leeward Islands. It provided for government through an Administrator and an enlarged Legislative Council.

1962 The West Indies Federation was dissolved after the departure of Jamaica.

1967 St Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, led by the pro-independence SKNLP, attained Associated Statehood, giving them full internal autonomy, while the UK retained responsibility for defence and foreign relations. The Legislative Council was replaced by a House of Assembly, the administrator became governor and the chief minister became the state's first premier.

1971 Anguilla reverted to being a de facto British dependency after rebelling against rule from St Kitts.

1980 Anguilla was formally separated from St Kitts and Nevis. The SKNLP lost power for the first time in 30 years to a coalition of the People's Action Movement (PAM) and the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP).

1983 Independence from Britain.

1995 The SKNLP won the election.

1997 The Nevis Island Assembly elections were won by the Concerned Citizens' Movement (CCM) with three seats. The opposition, Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) secured the remaining two seats.

1998 A referendum on independence for Nevis failed to achieve the two-thirds majority required for approval.

2000 The ruling SKNLP was re-elected and Denzil Douglas began a second term as prime minister.

2001 The Nevis ruling party, the CCM , won four seats in the elections to the five-seat Nevis Island Assembly (NIA).

2002 At the end of the year, US Airways began flying a direct service from the US mainland to St Kitts.

2003 In March, the largest hotel complex in the eastern Caribbean region opened at Frigate Bay.

2004 A US$90 million private sector investment plan was approved in March; NaturalSweet Corporation is to proceed with the cultivation and commercial development of stevia, a natural herbal plant. The ruling SKNLP won the parliamentary elections in October.

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