Sobriquet: Saint Kitts |
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 Map of Saint Kitts |
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Caribbean Sea |
| Coordinates | 17°15′N 62°40′W / 17.25°N 62.667°W |
| Archipelago | Leeward Islands |
| Area | 168 square kilometres (65 sq mi) |
| Length | 29 kilometres (18 mi) |
| Width | 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) |
| Highest point | Mount Liamuiga (1,156 metres (3,793 ft)) |
| Country | |
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Saint Kitts and Nevis
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| Largest city | Basseterre (pop. 15,500) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 35,000 |
| Density | 208.33 /km2 (539.6 /sq mi) |
| Ethnic groups | African descent |
Saint Kitts (also known more formally as Saint Christopher Island (Saint-Christophe in French) is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Together with the island of Nevis, Saint Kitts constitutes one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The island is situated at about 1,300 miles (2,100 km) southeast of Miami, Florida, in the United States. It has a land area of about 68 sq. miles (168 km²), being 18 by 5 miles (29 by 8 km).
Saint Kitts has a population of around 35,000, the majority of whom are mainly of African descent. The primary language is English, with a literacy rate of approximately 98%. Residents call themselves Kittitians.
Saint Kitts is one of the historic centres of the Caribbean. The first successful British colony in the West Indies was founded on the island in 1624, and the island was subsequently used as a base to settle most of the neighbouring islands for Britain. It also became the site of the first successful French colony in the West Indies (with Britain and France splitting the island between them) in 1625, and was then used to settle other Caribbean territories for France.
Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site is the largest fortress ever built in the Eastern Caribbean. The island is also home to the Warner Park Cricket Stadium, which was used to host 2007 Cricket World Cup matches. This made St. Kitts and Nevis the smallest nation on Earth to ever host a World Cup event.
The island is also an education centre, with the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine [1], Windsor University School of Medicine, and the International University of Health Sciences[2](IUHS).
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The capital of the two-island nation, and also its largest port, is the town of Basseterre on Saint Kitts. There is a modern facility for handling large cruise ships here. There is a ring road which goes around the perimeter of the island; the interior of the island is too steep for habitation.
St. Kitts is six miles (10 km) away from Saint Eustatius to the north and two miles (3 km) from Nevis to the south. St. Kitts has three distinct groups of volcanic peaks: the North West or Mount Misery Range; the Middle or Verchilds Range and the South East or Olivees Range. The highest peak is Mount Liamuiga, formerly Mount Misery, a dormant volcano some 3,792 feet (1,156 m) high.
In February of 1782, a French fleet of nearly 50 ships appeared on the horizon off St. Kitt's and Nevis. Headed by Admiral Count François Joseph Paul de Grasse, whose flagship was the exceptionally imposing 130-gun Ville de Paris, the fleet had been dispatched to force the British from the rich sugar colonies of St. Kitts & Nevis—and that meant dislodging them from Brimstone Hill, otherwise known as The Gibraltar of the West Indies. Situated almost 800 feet above sea level, this remarkable fortress is one of the most dramatic spots in the entire Caribbean, both historically and aesthetically. It commands astounding views of the Caribbean, including Nevis, Sint Eustatius, Montserrat, Saba, St. Martin and Saint Barthélemy. Brimstone Hill sprawls over 38 acres, and its massive Fort George citadel is defended by seven-foot-thick walls of black volcanic stone - then better known as brimstone. In 1782 Brimstone Hill had been under nearly continuous construction (by slave labour) for almost nine decades. The 8,000-man French siege force, supported by de Grasse's substantial fleet, calmly set to its task. After a month of almost continuous bombardment, and despite staunch resistance by Brimstone's 1,000 British troops, the French succeeded finally in punching 40-foot holes in the citadel's thick walls. Knowing their situation finally to be without hope, the British surrendered. The French siege commander, the Marquis de Bouille, paid tribute to their heroic defence by allowing the British garrison to leave Brimstone Hill as an undefeated force, in full uniform and with standards held aloft. One year later, when the Treaty of Versailles returned St. Kitts to British rule, the same honor was accorded to the French garrison.
Brimstone Hill was abandoned in 1851, and the fort suffered neglect and vandalism for the next century. In 1965, when the site became a national park, intensive restoration returned the imposing fortress perched atop the hill to its original grandeur. Tours of Brimstone Hill are conducted daily, and highlights include the hospital, ammunition stores, artillery officer's quarters, the Prince of Wales Bastion, and the Citadel of Fort George.
There are nine parishes on the island of St. Kitts:
Kittitians use the Eastern Caribbean dollar which maintains a fixed exchange rate of 2.67-to-one with the United States dollar. The US dollar is just as widely accepted as the Eastern Caribbean dollar.
For hundreds of years, St. Kitts operated as a sugar monoculture. But due to decreasing profitability, the government closed the industry in 2005. Tourism is a major and growing source of income to the island, although the number and density of resorts is less than on other Caribbean islands. Transportation, non-sugar agriculture, manufacturing and construction are the other growing sectors of the economy [3].
This Caribbean paradise is dependent on tourism to drive its economy. One such project driving the tourism of St. Kitts and Nevis is the new Ocean's Edge development. There is also the Christophe Harbour development which is now under way and will transform the South East Peninsulsa. As well as driving the economy through tourism Ocean’s Edge and Christophe Harbour are also approved projects of the Citizenship by Investment Programme of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis provided for in the Citizenship Act 1984. Purchasers who make a minimum investment of US$350,000* in a unit or a villa plot will be entitled to apply for Citizenship of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
In addition to this, in hopes of expanding tourism, the country hosts its annual St. Kitts Music Festival.
New programs are being developed to help improve the local communities in Saint Kitts and the economy. By 2012, A development on Saint Kitts, Kittitian Hill, will be a centre point for improving the economy by leading several new community programs such as:
During the last Ice Age, the sea level was 200 feet (60 m) lower and St. Kitts and Nevis were one island with Saint Eustatius (also known as Statia) and Saba.
St. Kitts was originally settled by pre-agricultural, pre-ceramic "Archaic people", who migrated down the archipelago from Florida. In a few hundred years they disappeared, to be replaced by the ceramic-using and agriculturalist Saladoid people around 100 BC, which migrated to St. Kitts up the archipelago from the banks of the Orinoco River in Venezuela. Around 800 AD, they were replaced by the Igneri people, members of the Arawak tribe.
Around 1300, the Kalinago, or Carib people arrived on the islands. These war-like people quickly dispersed the Igneri, and forced them northwards to the Greater Antilles. They named Saint Kitts "Liamuiga" meaning "fertile island", and would likely have expanded further north if not for the arrival of Europeans.
Early European contact with St. Kitts included the Spanish under Christopher Columbus, and a French Huguenot settlement at Dieppe in 1538. The first permanent settlement was an English colony in 1623, followed by a French colony in 1625. The British and French briefly united to massacre the local Kalinago (preempting a Kalinago plan to massacre the Europeans), and then partitioned the island, with the English in the middle and the French on either end.
The island alternated repeatedly between English and French control over the century, as one power took the whole island, only to have it switch hands due to treaties or further military action. Parts of the island were heavily fortified, as exemplified by UNESCO World Heritage Site at Brimstone Hill and the now-crumbling Fort Charles. The island became British for the final time in 1783.
Culture refers to the total way of life that is learnt and shared by any society. It is the combination of the arts, customs, beliefs and institutions created by a group of people at a particular time and place which forms part of our cultural heritage.
Our cultural heritage includes everything that has been handed down to us by our ancestors that continues to affect our patterns of behaviour and the way we live. However, for a thought or action to be considered cultural, it must be commonly shared by some population or group of individuals. It includes the way we dance or sing or play music. It is the way we speak, the expressions and the languages we use. It is the special foods we cook, and the way they are prepared. It is the stories that we tell or write about ourselves and the land around us. It is the toys and handicrafts we create, the way we build our homes and the traditional methods we use to fish or farm. Our culture is made up of all these things, it even includes the way we enjoy ourselves. A great aspect of our culture is our folklore such as; Clowns, Moko-Jumbies, Masquerade, Bull, and Actors. All come on display in the tremendous exuberance at Christmas time during our carnival to entertain and educate the community about our culture.[1]
Modern communities in Saint Kitts are helping improve the economy and are helping to attract more tourists. Tourism levels between 2007 and 2008 increased by 9.4%[2]. This growth is supported by new quality destinations in Saint Kitts and some new communities have focused on embracing the historic arts and culture of the Island to create authentic growth. The planned Kittitian Hill community on Saint Kitts will complete in 2012 and has focused on enhancing the island art community. Because of this, these developers have included A Postproduction Facility & multi-media lab, A Professional Screening Room with 150 seats for film viewing, 12 Artist Studios for local businesses to produce and sell their art and crafts within the community, An Art Gallery that will curate several shows throughout the year drawn from local, regional and international talent, A Kittitian Hill Film Institute that is focused on giving back to the community and enhancing the film industry in the Caribbean, and to help complement the St. Kitts Music Festival, Kittitian Hill will be home to the Island's own Film Festival, expected to be on par with festivals such as the Sundance Film festival, run by the telluride film festival team. Author Neil Strauss recently gained citizenship with St. Kitts while writing his book Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life.
The island originally produced tobacco, but changed to sugar cane in 1640 due to stiff competition from the colony of Virginia. The labour-intensive farming of sugar cane was the reason for the large-scale importation of African slaves. The importation began almost immediately upon the arrival of Europeans to the region.
The purchasing of enslaved Africans was outlawed in the British Empire by an Act of Parliament in 1807. Slavery was abolished by an Act of Parliament that became law on 1 August 1834. This emancipation was followed by four years of apprenticeship, put in place to protect the plantation owners from losing their labour force. The 1st August is now celebrated as a public holiday and is called Emancipation Day. In 1883 St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla were all linked under one presidency, located on St. Kitts, to the dismay of the Nevisians and Anguillans. Anguilla eventually separated out of this arrangement in 1971, after an armed raid on St. Kitts.
Sugar production continued to dominate the local economy until 2005, when, after 365 years as a monoculture, the government closed the sugar industry. This was due to the industry's huge losses and European Union plans to cut sugar prices by large amounts in the near future.
Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport serves St. Kitts.
 The peninsula on the south-east tip of St. Kitts. The island on the left is Nevis. |
 Downtown Basseterre |
 Downtown Basseterre |
 Fishing boat, Basseterre harbour |
 Flamingo Tongue shell on a Sea Fan |
 Divers and anemone on the MV River Taw wreck |
 Juvenile Black or Grey Angelfish with a sunken van behind it |
 Diver and fish, MV River Taw wreck |
 Diver and sponges |
 Royal Gramma or Fairy Basslet |
 Brimstone Hill Fortress |
 Brimstone Hill Fortress |
 Flying over the island. |
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Saint Kitts is the larger of the two islands that make up the small Caribbean island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
As if it were the custom in the Caribbean, St-Kitts and Nevis changed hands many times between English and French, which has left it a heritage of cities with names from both countries. Contrariwise, the architecture there is very Anglo-Saxon (Style Victorian) with driving on left and especially in downtown Basseterre: Circus Place the reproduction of the 'Berkeley Memorial Clock'.
The islands became an associated state of the United Kingdom with full internal autonomy in 1967. The island of Anguilla rebelled and was allowed to secede in 1971. Saint Kitts and Nevis achieved independence in 1983. In 1998, a vote in Nevis on a referendum to separate from Saint Kitts fell short of the two-thirds majority needed.
There are also several ancient British fortifications which have been restored with minutiae and reproducing the tiniest details of original construction. St-Kitts and Nevis will be called to be developed in the near future, in fact many projects are in progress or completion, notably vast dockings to accommodate the largest liners and cruisers with terminals, loading docks, etc.
What is really remarkable on St-Kitts and Nevis is the natural aspect. Many tropical birds which one rarely finds elsewhere are present in great concentration in the nature and there are also the famous monkeys which, it is said, were introduced by the pirates. An all-new road permits going to the southeast end of St-kitts (Turtle Beach) where one feels that a certain febrility in the air will make of this part of the island an appreciated place. Indeed, one has only to take a little adventure in the underwoods with some fruit in hand to see onself quite soon surrounded by monkeys coming gently to meet one to get fed. For the inhabitants of the islands, on the other hand, the monkeys are not percieved as as big a joy, for these pretty little hairy beings plunder the harvest and nose around everywhere they can go.
From the US:
Daily flights are available from San Juan, PR from American AirlinesEagle, as well as through BVI/Tortola. American has daily flights from Miami (3 flights during low tourist season), and US Air has direct flights from Philadelphia and Charlotte. American has also offered charter flights direct from Dallas on 767's.
American Airlines has a non-stop flight from JFK to St. Kitts two times weekly
Delta Airlines has a non-stop from Atlanta to St. Kitts on Saturdays
From Britain:
British Airways to commence flying direct between London Gatwick and St. Kitts in January 2009. Flights are once weekly, every Saturday.
From Canada:
Skyservice has a flight from Toronto to St. Kitts departing on Wednesday, December 19 and 26th and then on Saturday's starting January 12th. They also have Monday flights starting December 26th to St. Kitts.
Miami air does charters throughout the air from many us gateways
Daily ferries are available between St. Kitts and Nevis. There is an occasional ferry between St. Kitts and St. Maarten (roughly every three to four weeks).
Many cruise ships visit the island, more during high season. Large ships dock at the main pier at Basseterre.
Taxies and buses outnumber those needing them in St. Kitts. Be sure to negotiate upfront the costs of the trip, pay special attension to if the fare is in US or EC dollars. Temporary drivers licenses are available, as well as several rentals agencies.
Buses transit between the larger destinations on a regular basis during the day. The main bus stops in Basseterre include the ferry pier, Baker's Corner and points along Cayon Road.
Go on the scenic railroad tour that goes through portions of the narrow gauge railroad formerly used for the sugar mill. www.stkittsscenicrailway.com
The largest historical site is the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park. A British fortification this was once refered to as the Gibraltar of the Caribbean. In the past several decades the fort has been under significant restoration, and is now a popular tourist destination on the island.
(See discussion for Basseterre.)
A number of restaurants are located in Frigate Bay. Mr. X's Shiggity Shack, Monkey Bar [1] and Ziggy's on South Frigate Bay beach are more traditional, casual beach bar restaurants.
On the opposite side, on North Frigate Bay, there are several western-style restaurants, including Ciao (Italian), Rock Lobster (seafood, mixed American and Caribbean) and PJ's (American, delicious pasta).
South Friars is home to Godfather's, Mongoose and Shipwreck Beach Bar.
Cockleshell is home to Lion's Beach Bar and Reggae Beach Bar a new restaurant that has recently opened. (Home to Wilbur the 600 pound pig)
Around the island there is also the Royal Palm at Ottley's Plantation (upscale), the Golden Lemon in Dieppe Bay, Ottley's Plantation (upscale), Sprat Net (casual, seafood) and Rawlin's Plantation (popular lunch buffet).
In Basseterre you will find Circus Grill, Ballahoo, Stonewalls and in Fortlands there is Serendipity (upscale) and Ocean Terrace Inn's Fisherman's Wharf and Waterfall Restaurant (famous for their Friday Night West Indian Buffet)
There are a large number of local spots to get drinks (locally bottled soda and beer). These include little bars along the side of the road throughout the towns and cities, especially down by the ferry pier. On the southern peninsula there are a number of beach bars and bar/restaurants. On South Friar's Bay beach and South Frigate Bay beach in particular there are a number of beach bar 'shacks' along the beach serving drinks and some offering food.
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Contents |
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Singular |
Plural |
Saint Kitts
   | Saint Kitts Tourism Authority - St. Kitts Tourism..St.Kitts Vacation / Holiday packages |
| | Christmas Sports in Saint Kitts/Nevis - Christmas Sports in St Kitts-Nevis |
| | St. Kitts and Nevis History - History - St. Kitts and Nevis |
| | Grey's Island Excursions - Grey's Island Excursions-Take an exotic tour of the island of St. Kitts/St. Kitts Island Tour |
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