St. Kitts and Nevis, also known in its constitution as Saint Christopher and Nevis has been independent since 1983 and forms part of the group of islands known as the Lesser Antilles, located about 2000 km to the southeast of Miami, USA. The country borrowed its name from the famous Christopher Columbus.The Federation comprises two islands: St. Kitts with 168.4 km (23 miles long and 5 miles across at its widest, encompassing an area of 68 square miles) and Nevis, the smaller island with an area of some 93.2 km2 (approximately 7 miles in diameter, covering a total of 36 square miles) lies to the south.The two islands support a population of about 50,000 of whom about 9,000 live on the island of Nevis. St. Kitts & Nevis embody a kind of lush tropical paradise usually associated with the South Pacific, a tropical and close to perfect climate. The Island offers fine beaches and outstandingly attractive mountainous landscapes as well as dense tropical forest.The Primary language in St Kitts is English and it is a well-functioning democracy based on the British Parliamentary system; the Head of State is the Queen of England.The country enjoys stable diplomatic relations with other countries and is member of the United Nations (UN) and its various organizations, the Organization of the Americas (OAS), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the British Commonwealth, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the Eastern Caribbean Economic Union.
