The Islands of the West Indies were occupied by Carib Indians for centuries before the British and the French arrived in 1623 and began to settle there. During the 17th century, Saint Kitts and Nevis was the premier base for both English and French expansion until the French ceded the territory to the UK in 1713. The sugar trade made Saint Kitts and Nevis the richest British Crown Colony per capita in the Caribbean.
The two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis were actually governed separately until the late-19th century when the British forcibly unified them along with the island of Anguilla. At this time the island territory was called Saint-Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla and it became an associated state of the UK with full internal autonomy in 1967. In 1971, the island of Anguilla rebelled and was allowed to secede.The island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis gained its independence from the UK in 1983. In 1983, Nevis attempted to separate from Saint Kitts but the referendum failed to achieve the two-thirds majority vote it needed. |
The national flag of St. Kitts and Nevis reflects the history of the island: the green triangle represents the fertile lands; the yellow stripes denote the year-round sunshine; black stripe represents the African heritage; and red triangle symbolizes the struggle from slavery through colonialism to independence;the white stars on a black diagonal bar stand for hope and liberty.
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Saint Kitts and Nevis has a total population of around 53,000 that is more concentrated around the periphery of the islands. 14,000 people live in the capital, Basseterre, located on the island of Saint Kitts. Kittitians and Nevisians have an average life expectancy of 76.2 years and a median age of 35.5 years old.
The political and legal systems of Saint Kitts and Nevis are modeled after that of the British. Its government is a federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy and its legal system is an English common law. Timothy Harris is the current Prime Minister and has served in this position since February 18, 2015. Since the initiation of social reforms in the mid-twentieth century, the government of St. Kitts has adopted a central ethos that places the prosperity of the population as a whole over that of individuals on the island through affordable care for all and disaster preparedness. The culture of St. Kitts and Nevis is reflective of the islands' indigenous heritage and traditions as well as European settlement, the African slave trade, and more recently American culture (Snyder, Audrey, Martin, et al, 2011). Traditional art forms practiced in Saint Kitts and Nevis include pottery, painting, carving, sculpture, and leather-tooling. Music on the island includes Soca and Calypso, which is often witty or can include social commentary focused on the government. There also is an infiltration of Jamaican influence in dance hall and reggae, along with rhythm and blues, pop, and soul partially influenced by American culture. |
(The Telegraph, 2012)
This video talks shows important historical sites on the island of Saint Kitts and gives accounts of how those sites have contributed to shaping the lives of Kittitians today. |