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| Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis1 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||
| Motto "Country Above Self" | ||||||
| Anthem O Land of Beauty! Royal anthem God Save the Queen | ||||||
 | ||||||
| Capital (and largest city) | Basseterre 17°18′N, 62°44′W | |||||
| Official languages | English | |||||
| Demonym | Kittitian, Nevisian | |||||
| Government | Parliamentary democracy (federal constitutional monarchy) | |||||
| - | Monarch | Queen Elizabeth II | ||||
| - | Governor-General | Sir Cuthbert Sebastian | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Dr. Denzil Douglas | ||||
| Independence | ||||||
| - | from the United Kingdom | 19 September 1983 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 261 km² (207th) 101 sq mi | ||||
| - | Water (%) | negligible | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | July 2005 estimate | 42,696 (209th) | ||||
| - | Density | 164 /km² (64th) 424 /sq mi | ||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2002 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $339 million (213th) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $14,649 (47th) | ||||
| HDI (2004) |  0.8252 (high) (51st) | |||||
| Currency | East Caribbean dollar (XCD) | |||||
| Time zone | (UTC-4) | |||||
| Internet TLD | .kn | |||||
| Calling code | +1 869 | |||||
| 1 | Or "Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis". | |||||
| 2 | hdr.undp.org | |||||
The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis (also known as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis ), located in the Leeward Islands, is a federal two-island nation in the West Indies It is the smallest nation in the Americas in both area and population.
The capital city and headquarters of government for the federated state is on the larger island of Saint Kitts. It is perhaps worth explaining that Kit or Kitt is an old-fashioned abbreviation for the name Christopher. This island was given the name by Christopher Columbus; the Spanish version was "San Cristóbal".
The smaller state of Nevis, formerly named "Nuestra Señora de las Nieves", which translated means Our Lady of the Snows, lies about 2 miles (3 km) southeast of Saint Kitts, across a shallow channel called "The Narrows".
Historically the British dependency of Anguilla was also a part of this union, which was then known collectively as Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla.
Saint Kitts and Nevis are geographically within the Leeward Islands, and they are relatively close to a cluster of several other islands. To the north-northwest lie the islands of Saint Eustatius, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, and Saint Martin. To the northeast are Antigua and Barbuda, and to the south-east is the very small uninhabited island of Redonda, and the island of Montserrat, which currently has an active volcano.
Saint Kitts Pictures
Note: Pictures above courtesy of Flickr.Com
