Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis

Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)

Governor-General: Sir Cuthbert Sebastian (1996)

Prime Minister: Denzil Douglas (1995)

Total area: 101 sq mi (261 sq km). St. Kitts, 65 sq mi (168 sq km); Nevis, 36 sq mi (93 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 39,129 (growth rate: 0.5%); birth rate: 18.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 14.1/1000; life expectancy: 72.4; density per sq mi: 282

Capital (2003 est.): Basseterre (on St. Kitts), 11,500

Largest town on Nevis: Charlestown, 1,300

Monetary unit: East Caribbean dollar

Language: English

Ethnicity/race: predominantly black; some British, Portuguese, and Lebanese

Religions: Anglican, other Protestant, Roman Catholic

Literacy rate: 97% (1980 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2002 est.): $339 million; per capita $8,800. Real growth rate: –1.9%. Inflation: 1.7% (2001 est.). Unemployment: 4.5% (1997). Arable land: 19%. Agriculture: sugarcane, rice, yams, vegetables, bananas; fish. Labor force: 18,170 (June 1995). Industries: sugar processing, tourism, cotton, salt, copra, clothing, footwear, beverages. Natural resources: arable land. Exports: $70 million (2004 est.): machinery, food, electronics, beverages, tobacco. Imports: $405 million (2004 est.): machinery, manufactures, food, fuels. Major trading partners: U.S., Canada, Portugal, UK, Ukraine, Trinidad and Tobago (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 17,000 (1997); mobile cellular: 205 (1997). Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998). Radios: 28,000 (1997). Television broadcast stations: 1 (plus three repeaters) (1997). Televisions: 10,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 16 (2000). Internet userss: 2,000 (2000).

Transportation: Railways: total: 50 km (2002). Highways: total: 320 km; paved: 136 km; unpaved: 184 km (1999 est.). Ports and harbors: Basseterre, Charlestown. Airports: 2 (2002).

International disputes: protests Venezuela's claim to give full effect to Aves Island, which creates a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea.


 

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