Saint Kitts: Map & History
Saint Kitts, also known as Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies.
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Saint Kitts, also known as Saint Christopher, 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. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Saint Kitts and Nevis are separated by a shallow 3-kilometre (2 mi) channel known as "The Narrows".
Modern Countries Once Part of Saint Kitts
At its mapped extent, Saint Kitts covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Saint Kitts's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Saint Kitts in Depth
History
During the last ice age, the sea level was up to 91 metres (300 ft) lower and St. Kitts and Nevis were one island along with Saba and Sint Eustatius (also known as Statia).
St. Kitts was originally settled by pre-agricultural, pre-ceramic "Archaic people", who migrated south 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, who migrated to St. Kitts north up the archipelago from the banks of the Orinoco River in Venezuela. Around 800 AD, they were replaced by the Igneri people, members of an Arawakan-speaking group.
Around 1300 AD, the Kalinago, or Carib people arrived on the islands.
Economy
Saint Kitts & Nevis uses the Eastern Caribbean dollar, which maintains a fixed exchange rate of 2.7-to-one with the United States dollar. The US dollar is almost as widely accepted on the island as the Eastern Caribbean dollar.
For hundreds of years, Saint 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 many other Caribbean islands. Transportation, non-sugar agriculture, manufacturing and construction are the other growing sectors of the economy.
Saint Kitts is dependent on tourism to drive its economy. Tourism has been increasing since 1978.
Geography
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 there. A ring road goes around the perimeter of the island with smaller roads branching off it; the interior of the island is too steep for habitation.
Saint Kitts is 10 km (6.2 mi) away from Sint Eustatius to the north and 3 km (1.9 mi) 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 1,156 metres (3,793 ft) high.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Saint Kitts (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Saint Kitts: Key Facts
| Capital | Basseterre |
|---|
Facts from Wikidata Q204989 (CC0).
Saint Kitts: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Saint Kitts exist?
Saint Kitts is dated to 1967 CE – 2024 CE, in the Industrial era.
What was the capital of Saint Kitts?
The capital of Saint Kitts was Basseterre.
How large was Saint Kitts at its peak?
At its peak in 2024 Saint Kitts covered about 501 km².
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