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71-652: There are two main geographical and linguistic groups in the Antilles or Caribbean Islands : the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles . Intercomprehension between these two groups is possible, but despite a large proportion of shared vocabulary and largely similar grammatical functioning, it is limited by varying key vocabulary and different words for basic grammar. Nevertheless, it is easy to begin to understand each other completely, as long as one of

142-619: A Governor-General . Kennedy Simmonds went on to win elections in 1984 , 1989 and 1993 , before being unseated when the SKNLP returned to power in 1995 under Denzil Douglas . In Nevis, growing discontent with their perceived marginalisation within the federation led to a referendum to separate from St Kitts in 1998, which though resulting a 62% vote to secede, fell short of the required two-thirds majority to be legally enacted. In late-September 1998, Hurricane Georges caused approximately $ 458,000,000 in damages and limited GDP growth for

213-611: A unicameral legislature, known as the National Assembly . It is composed of fourteen members: eleven elected representatives (three from the island of Nevis ) and three senators, who are appointed by the Governor-General . Two of the senators are appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister, and one, on the advice of the leader of the opposition. Unlike in other countries, the senators do not constitute

284-458: A 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.55/10, ranking it 121st globally out of 172 countries. The national bird is the brown pelican . 176 species of bird have been reported from the country. The national flower is Delonix regia . Common plants include palmetto , hibiscus , bougainvillea , and tamarind . Pinus species are common in the dense forests of islands, and are usually covered by various species of ferns . By

355-536: A : If a word ends in a nasal vowel , it becomes an : If the last sound is a nasal consonant , it becomes nan , but this form is rare and is usually replaced by lan : Note that in Guadeloupean Creole there is no agreement of sounds between the noun and definite article and la is used for all nouns Demonstrative article Like the definite article this is placed after the noun. It varies widely by region. sa'a Antilles The Antilles

426-486: A Carib plan to expel or kill all European settlers. Thereafter, the English and French established large sugar plantations which were worked by imported African slaves. This made the planter-colonists rich, but drastically altered the islands' demographics as black slaves soon came to outnumber Europeans. A Spanish expedition of 1629 sent to enforce Spanish claims destroyed the English and French colonies and deported

497-642: A French settlement in Grenada in 1649. Despite the long history of British rule, Grenada's French heritage is still evident by the number of French loanwords in Grenadian Creole and the French-style buildings, cuisine and placenames ( Petit Martinique , Martinique Channel , etc.) In 1642, the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique received a 20-year extension of its charter. The king would name

568-640: A consonant and 'w' and 'y' after nouns ending in a vowel. All other possessive adjectives are invariable. Kaz ou - Your house, Kouto'w - Your knife Madanm li - His wife, Sésé'y - Her sister The indefinite article is placed before the noun and can be pronounced as on, an, yon, yan . The word yonn means "one". On chapo, Yon wavèt An moun, Yan tòti This exemples doesn't work for Guadeloupe Creole where article are always "la", and for haitian creole whose article are more similar but have "nan" in addition. In Creole, there are five definite articles (la, lan, a, an, nan) which are placed after

639-594: A defence force of 300 personnel. It is mostly involved in policing and drug trade interception. Male homosexuality has been legal in St. Kitts and Nevis since 29 August 2022. In 2011, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis said it had "no mandate from the people" to abolish the criminalisation of homosexuality among consenting adults. The federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis is divided into fourteen parishes, nine of them on Saint Kitts and five on Nevis. The capital city

710-512: A number of countries (including Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Brazil ( Lanc-Patuá ) and Venezuela) the language is referred to as patois . It has historically been spoken in nearly all of the Lesser Antilles , but its number of speakers has declined in Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada . Conversely, it is widely used on the islands of Dominica and Saint Lucia ; though they are officially English-speaking, there are efforts to preserve

781-439: A result, both parties agreed to partition the island into French and English sectors. From 1628 onward the English also began settling on Nevis. The French and English, intent on exploitation of the island's resources, encountered resistance from the native Caribs (Kalinago), who waged war during the first three years of the settlements' existence. The Europeans resolved to rid themselves of this problem. An ideological campaign

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852-399: A result, they were forced to develop a new form of communication by relying on what they heard from their colonial enslavers and other slaves. According to Jesuit missionary Pierre Pelleprat, French settlers would change their way of speaking to a simpler form to be more accommodating to the enslaved people. For example, to say "I have not eaten" settlers would say "moi point manger" even though

923-467: A sentence, the word "point" to inflect the negative, and the non-distinguished adverbs and adjectives. The language emerged in a context of plantation slavery in the French Antilles . Due to differing native tongues, it was difficult for French settlers to communicate with the enslaved Africans and vice versa, as well as for slaves of different ethnic origins to communicate between each other. As

994-675: A separate senate or upper house of parliament, but sit in the National Assembly alongside representatives. All members serve five-year terms. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet answer to the Parliament. Nevis also maintains its own semi-autonomous assembly . Saint Kitts and Nevis has no major international disputes. Saint Kitts and Nevis is a full and participating member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ,

1065-463: A shallow channel called The Narrows . The British dependency of Anguilla was historically also a part of this union, which was known collectively as Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla . However, Anguilla chose to secede from the union in 1967, and remains a British overseas territory . Saint Kitts and Nevis were among the first islands in the Caribbean to be colonised by Europeans. Saint Kitts

1136-408: Is Basseterre , located on the larger island of Saint Kitts . Basseterre is also the main port for passenger entry (via cruise ships) and cargo. The smaller island of Nevis lies approximately 3 km (2 mi) to the southeast of Saint Kitts, across a shallow channel called The Narrows . The islands of Sint Eustatius , Saba , Saint Barthélemy , Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten and Anguilla lie to

1207-624: Is a sovereign, democratic, and federal state. It is a Commonwealth realm , a constitutional monarchy with the King of Saint Christopher and Nevis , Charles III , as its head of state . The King is represented in the country by a Governor-General , who acts on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. The Prime Minister is the leader of the majority party of the House, and the cabinet conducts affairs of state. St. Kitts and Nevis has

1278-639: Is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings: the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles . The Greater Antilles includes the Cayman Islands and larger islands of Cuba , Hispaniola (subdivided into the nations of

1349-640: Is derived from a Spanish name Nuestra Señora de las Nieves , meaning " Our Lady of the Snows ", a reference to the 4th-century Catholic miracle of a summertime snowfall on the Esquiline Hill in Rome . It is not known who chose this name for the island, but it is thought that white clouds which usually wreath the top of Nevis Peak reminded someone of the miracle. Today, the Constitution refers to

1420-464: Is some variation in orthography between the islands. In St. Lucia, Dominica and Martinique 'dj' and 'tj' are used whereas in Guadeloupe 'gy' and 'ky' are used. These represent differences in pronunciations. Several words may be pronounced in various ways depending on the region: The letter 'r' in St. Lucia and Dominica represents the English / ɹ / whereas in Guadeloupe and Martinique it represents

1491-599: Is still spoken as a secondary language because of Dominica's location between the French-speaking departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique. In Trinidad , the Spanish possessed the island but contributed little towards advancements, with El Dorado being their focus. Trinidad was perfect for its geographical location. Because Trinidad was considered underpopulated, Roume de St. Laurent, a Frenchman living in Grenada,

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1562-590: The Arawak peoples , or Taíno , around 1000 BC. The Island Caribs invaded around 800 AD. Christopher Columbus was the first European to sight the islands in 1493. The first settlers were the English in 1623, led by Thomas Warner , who established a settlement at Old Road Town on the west coast of St Kitts after achieving an agreement with the Carib chief Ouboutou Tegremante . The French later also settled on St Kitts in 1625 under Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc . As

1633-656: The Dominican Republic and Haiti ) and Navassa Island , Jamaica , and Puerto Rico . The Lesser Antilles contains the northerly Leeward Islands and the southeasterly Windward Islands as well as the Leeward Antilles just north of Venezuela . The Lucayan Archipelago (consisting of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands ), though a part of the West Indies , is generally not included among

1704-618: The Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis , is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis , both located in the West Indies , in the Leeward Islands chain of the Lesser Antilles . With 261 square kilometres (101 sq mi) of territory, and roughly 48,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere, in both area and population , as well as

1775-593: The Gulf of Mexico . The Antilles were called multiple names before their current name became the norm. Early Spanish visitors called them the Windward Islands (today having a narrower definition ). They were also called the Forward Islands by 18th-century British. Thereafter, the term Antilles was commonly assigned to the formation, and "Sea of the Antilles" became a common alternative name for

1846-551: The Köppen climate classification , St Kitts has a tropical savanna climate ( Köppen Aw ) and Nevis has a tropical monsoon climate ( Köppen Am ). Mean monthly temperatures in Basseterre varies little from 23.9 °C (75.0 °F) to 26.6 °C (79.9 °F). Yearly rainfall is approximately 2,400 millimetres (90 in), although it has varied from 1,356 millimetres (53.4 in) to 3,183 millimetres (125.3 in) in

1917-690: The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), and the Organisation of American States (OAS). St Kitts & Nevis entered the OAS system on 16 September 1984. At a CARICOM meeting, representative of St. Kitts and Nevis Kennedy Simmons signed the Double Taxation Relief (CARICOM) Treaty 1994, on 6 July 1994. The representatives of seven CARICOM countries signed similar agreements at Sherbourne Conference Centre, St. Michael, Barbados. The countries whose representatives signed

1988-577: The Saintes . The Knights of Malta bought Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin and then sold them in 1665 to the Compagnie des Indes occidentales , formed one year earlier. Dominica is a former French and British colony in the Eastern Caribbean , about halfway between the French islands of Guadeloupe (to the north) and Martinique (to the south). Christopher Columbus named the island after

2059-480: The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The islands' economy, already shattered by war, was further harmed by natural disasters: In 1690 an earthquake destroyed Jamestown, capital of Nevis, forcing the construction of a new capital at Charlestown . Further damage was caused by a hurricane in 1707. The colony had recovered by the turn of the 18th century, and St Kitts had become the richest British Crown Colony per capita in

2130-676: The United States Virgin Islands , British Virgin Islands , and the Collectivity of Saint Martin . Antillean Creole has approximately thirteen million speakers and is a means of communication for migrant populations traveling between neighboring English- and French-speaking territories. Since French is a Romance language, French Antillean Creole is considered to be one of Latin America’s languages by some linguists. In

2201-658: The medieval charts , sometimes as an archipelago , sometimes as continuous land of greater or lesser extent, its location fluctuating in mid-ocean between the Canary Islands and India . After the 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus 's expedition in what was later called the West Indies, the European powers realized that the dispersed lands constituted an extensive archipelago in the Caribbean Sea and

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2272-413: The 17th century. The first English colonists kept the English translation of this name, and dubbed it St. Christopher's Island . In the 17th century, a common nickname for Christopher was Kit(t) ; hence, the island came to be informally referred to as Saint Kitt's Island , later further shortened to Saint Kitts . Columbus gave Nevis the name San Martín ( Saint Martin ). The current name Nevis

2343-664: The Antillean islands. Geographically , the Antillean islands are generally considered a subregion of North America . Culturally speaking, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico – and sometimes the whole of the Antilles – are included in Latin America , although some sources use the phrase " Latin America and the Caribbean " instead (see Latin America , "In Contemporary Usage"). In terms of geology ,

2414-580: The British. Fort Royal (now Fort-de-France) on Martinique was a major port for French battle ships in the region from which the French were able to explore the region. In 1638, Dyel du Parquet decided to have Fort Saint Louis built to protect the city against enemy attacks. From Fort Royal, Martinique, Du Parquet proceeded south in search for new territories, established the first settlement in Saint Lucia in 1643 and headed an expedition that established

2485-954: The Caribbean Sea in various European languages. These three form the SSS islands that with the ABC islands comprise the Dutch Caribbean , of which the BES islands are not direct Kingdom constituents but subsumed with the country of the Netherlands . Physiographically , these continental islands are not part of the volcanic Windward Islands arc, although sometimes grouped with them culturally and politically. Disputed territories administered by Guyana . Disputed territories administered by Colombia . Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis ( /- ˈ k ɪ t s  ...   ˈ n iː v ɪ s / ), officially

2556-465: The Caribbean as result of its slave-based sugar industry by the close of the 1700s. The 18th century also saw Nevis, formerly the richer of the two islands, being eclipsed by St Kitts in economic importance. Alexander Hamilton , the future U.S. secretary of the Treasury, was born on Nevis in 1755 or 1757. As Britain became embroiled in war with its American colonies , the French decided to use

2627-462: The Caribbean. From St Kitts the British settled the islands of Antigua , Montserrat , Anguilla and Tortola , and the French settled Martinique , the Guadeloupe archipelago and Saint Barthélemy . During the late 17th century, France and England fought for control over St Kitts and Nevis, fighting wars in 1667 , 1689–90 and 1701–13 . The French renounced their claim to the islands with

2698-459: The French islands with wood and gradually become permanent settlers. France had a colony for several years and imported slaves from West Africa , Martinique and Guadeloupe to work on its plantations. The Antillean Creole language developed. France formally ceded possession of Dominica to Great Britain in 1763. The latter established a small colony on the island in 1805. As a result, Dominica uses English as an official language, but Antillean Creole

2769-732: The Greater Antilles are mostly made up of continental rock accreted on the North American Plate from relative movement of the Caribbean Plate . The Lesser Antilles are mostly young volcanic islands created by the Lesser Antilles subduction zone . The word Antilles originated in the period before the European colonization of the Americas , Antilia being one of those mysterious lands which figured on

2840-641: The PAM and the Nevis-based Concerned Citizens' Movement under the ' Team Unity ' banner. In June 2020, Team Unity coalition of the incumbent government, led by Prime Minister Timothy Harris, won general elections by defeating Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP). In snap general elections held in August 2022 , the SKNLP again won, and Terrance Drew became the fourth prime minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Saint Kitts and Nevis

2911-506: The colony from 1966 to 1978; he sought to gradually bring the sugar-based economy under greater state control. The more conservative-leaning People's Action Movement party (PAM) was founded in 1965. After a brief period as part of the West Indies Federation (1958–62), the islands became an associated state with full internal autonomy in 1967. Residents of Nevis and Anguilla were unhappy with St Kitts's domination of

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2982-493: The company and Martinique in the hands of his nephew, Jacques Dyel du Parquet , who inherited d'Esnambuc's authority over the French settlements in the Caribbean. Dyel du Parquet became governor of the island. He remained in Martinique and did not concern himself with the other islands. The French permanently settled on Martinique and Guadeloupe after being driven off Saint Kitts and Nevis ( French : Saint-Christophe ) by

3053-528: The constitutionally-protected right to unilaterally secede if a referendum on independence resulted in a two-thirds majority in favour. St Kitts and Nevis achieved full independence on 19 September 1983. Kennedy Simmonds of the PAM, Premier since 1980, duly became the country's first Prime Minister . St Kitts and Nevis opted to remain within the British Commonwealth , at that time retaining Queen Elizabeth as Monarch , represented locally by

3124-529: The day of the week on which he spotted it, a Sunday (Latin: dies Dominica ), on 3 November 1493. In the 100 years after Columbus's landing, Dominica remained isolated. At the time, it was inhabited by the Island Caribs , or Kalinago people. Over time, more settled there after they had been driven from surrounding islands, as European powers entered the region. In 1690, French woodcutters from Martinique and Guadeloupe begin to set up timber camps to supply

3195-518: The federation, and Anguilla unilaterally declared independence in 1967. In 1971 Britain resumed full control of Anguilla, but it was formally separated in 1980. Attention then focused on Nevis, with the Nevis Reformation Party seeking to safeguard the smaller island's interests in any future independent state. Eventually it was agreed that the island would have a degree of autonomy with its own Premier and Assembly , as well as

3266-437: The first European to see the islands in 1493, named the larger island San Cristóbal , after Saint Christopher , his patron saint and that of travellers. New studies suggest that Columbus named the island Sant Yago ( Saint James ), and that the name San Cristóbal was in fact given by Columbus to the island now known as Saba , 32 km (20 mi) northwest. Saint Kitts was well documented as San Cristóbal by

3337-647: The first few decades of the 20th century economic hardship and lack of opportunities led to the growth of a labour movement; the Great Depression prompted sugar workers to go on strike in 1935. The 1940s saw the founding of the St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla Labour Party (later renamed the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party, or SKNLP) under Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw . Bradshaw later became Chief Minister and then Premier of

3408-460: The governor general of the company, and the company would name the governors of the various islands. However, by the late 1640s, Cardinal Mazarin had little interest in colonial affairs, and the company languished. In 1651, it dissolved itself, selling its exploitation rights to various parties. The Du Paquet family bought Martinique, Grenada and Saint Lucia for 60,000 livres . The sieur d' Houël bought Guadeloupe , Marie-Galante , La Desirade and

3479-528: The influences from its origins, this creole has some distinctive linguistic features. Features of French included in Lesser Antillean Creole include infinitive forms of verbs, the use of only the masculine noun forms, oblique pronouns, and its subject to verb word order. Features from African languages include their verbal marking system as well as providing a West-African substrate. Other features of this creole also include doubling to emphasize

3550-558: The islands. It originated in the Guadeloupe and Martinique areas of the Lesser Antilles. It was not until 1700, when there was an increase in African influences, that this pidgin transitioned into the creole that it is today. The formation of this creole was influenced by many different dialects and languages. These include dialects of French, other European languages, Carib (both Karina and Arawakan), and African languages. Due to

3621-533: The language. Édouard Glissant has written theoretically and poetically about its significance and its history. Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc was a French trader and adventurer in the Caribbean who established the first permanent French colony, Saint-Pierre , on the island of Martinique in 1635. Belain sailed to the Caribbean in 1625, hoping to establish a French settlement on the island of St. Christopher (St. Kitts). In 1626, he returned to France , where he won

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3692-643: The largest body of water, the Great Salt Pond . To the southeast, in The Narrows, lies the small isle of Booby Island . There are numerous rivers descending from the mountains of both islands, which provide fresh water to the local population. Nevis, the smaller of the two main islands and roughly circular in shape, is dominated by Nevis Peak 985 metres (3,232 ft). Saint Kitts and Nevis contains two terrestrial ecoregions: Leeward Islands moist forests and Leeward Islands dry forests. The country had

3763-415: The more French-like sound / ɣ / . Form Personal pronouns in Antillean Creole are invariable so they do not inflect for case as in European languages such as French or English. This means that mwen, for example, can mean I, me or my; yo can mean they, them, their etc. Possessive adjectives are placed after the noun; kay mwen 'my house', manman'w 'your mother' 'ou' and 'li' are used after nouns ending in

3834-465: The north-northwest of the country. To the east and northeast are Antigua and Barbuda , and to the southeast is the small uninhabited island of Redonda (part of Antigua and Barbuda) and the island of Montserrat . The country consists of two main islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis , separated at a distance of 2 miles (3 km) by The Narrows strait. Both are of volcanic origin, with large central peaks covered in tropical rainforest . The majority of

3905-412: The nouns they modify, in contrast to French. The final syllable of the preceding word determines which is used with which nouns. If the last sound is an oral consonant and is preceded by an oral vowel , it becomes la : If the last sound is an oral consonant and is preceded by a nasal vowel , it becomes lan : If the last sound is an oral vowel and is preceded by an oral consonant , it becomes

3976-531: The opportunity to re-capture St Kitts in 1782; however St Kitts was given back and recognised as British territory in the Treaty of Versailles (1783) . The African slave trade was terminated within the British Empire in 1807, and slavery outlawed completely in 1834. A four-year "apprenticeship" period followed for each slave, in which they worked for their former owners for wages. On Nevis 8,815 slaves were freed, while St Kitts freed 19,780. Saint Kitts and Nevis, along with Anguilla, were federated in 1882. In

4047-442: The period 1901–2015. The population of Saint Kitts and Nevis is around 53,000 (July 2019 est.) and has remained relatively constant for many years. At the end of the nineteenth century there were 42,600 residents, the number slowly rising to a little over 50,000 by the mid-twentieth century. Between 1960 and 1990, the population dropped from 50,000 to 40,000, before rising again to its current level. Approximately three-quarters of

4118-436: The population live along the flatter coastal areas. St Kitts contains several mountain ranges (the North West Range, Central Range and South-West Range) in its centre, where the highest peak of the country, Mount Liamuiga 1,156 metres (3,793 ft) can be found. Along the east coast can be found the Canada Hills and Conaree Hills. The land narrows considerably in the south-east, forming a much flatter peninsula which contains

4189-577: The population live on Saint Kitts, with 15,500 of these living in the capital, Basseterre. Other large settlements include Cayon (population 3,000) and Sandy Point Town (3,000), both on Saint Kitts, and Gingerland (2,500) and Charlestown (1,900), both on Nevis. It ranks number 209 on the list of countries and dependencies by population. The population is primarily Afro-Caribbean (92.5%), with significant minorities of European (2.1%) and Indian (1.5%) descent (2001 estimate). As of 2021 , there were 47,606 inhabitants; their average life expectancy

4260-415: The proper French translation is "Je n'ai pas mangé". This simpler form of French, along with linguistic influences from other languages, eventually evolved into Antillean Creole. (or à before an n) p à n (when not followed by a vowel) nasalized [ a ] (when not followed by a vowel) nasalized [ ɛ ] (when not followed by a vowel) nasalized [ o ] There

4331-425: The settlers back to their respective countries. As part of the war settlement in 1630, the Spanish permitted the re-establishment of the English and French colonies. Spain later formally recognised Britain's claim to St Kitts with the Treaty of Madrid (1670) , in return for British cooperation in the fight against piracy. As Spanish power declined, Saint Kitts became a key base for English and French expansion in

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4402-406: The state as both Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Christopher and Nevis ; the former is the one most commonly used, but the latter is generally used for diplomatic relations. Passports list the nationality of citizens as St. Kitts and Nevis . The name of the first inhabitants, pre-Arawakan peoples who settled the islands perhaps as early as 3,000 years ago, is not known. They were followed by

4473-560: The support of Cardinal Richelieu to establish French colonies in the region. Richelieu became a shareholder in the Compagnie de Saint-Christophe , created to accomplish that with d'Esnambuc at its head. The company was not particularly successful, and Richelieu had it reorganised as the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique. In 1635, d'Esnambuc sailed to Martinique with 100 French settlers to clear land for sugarcane plantations . After six months on Martinique, d'Esnambuc returned to St. Christopher , where he soon died prematurely in 1636, leaving

4544-479: The treaties in Barbados were: Antigua & Barbuda, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. This treaty covered income, residence, tax jurisdictions, capital gains, business profits, interest, dividends, royalties and other areas. On 30 June 2014, St. Kitts and Nevis signed a Model 1 agreement with the United States of America in relation to Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Saint Kitts and Nevis has

4615-431: The two has a basic knowledge of the other's language. Antillean Creole is spoken natively, to varying degrees, in Haïti , Saint Lucia , Grenada , Guadeloupe , Îles des Saintes , Martinique , Saint-Barthélemy (St. Barts), Dominica , French Guiana , Trinidad and Tobago , and Venezuela (mainly in Macuro , Güiria and El Callao Municipality ). It is also spoken in various Creole-speaking immigrant communities in

4686-433: The use of Antillean Creole, as there are in Trinidad and Tobago and its neighbour, Venezuela . In recent decades, Creole has gone from being seen as a sign of lower socio-economic status, banned in school playgrounds, to a mark of national pride. Since the 1970s, there has been a literary revival of Creole in the French-speaking islands of the Lesser Antilles, with writers such as Raphaël Confiant and Monchoachi employing

4757-414: The world's smallest sovereign federation . The country is a Commonwealth realm , with Charles III as King and head of state . The capital city is Basseterre , located on the larger island of Saint Kitts . Basseterre is also the main port for passenger entry (via cruise ships) and cargo. The smaller island of Nevis lies approximately 3 km (2 mi) to the southeast of Saint Kitts, across

4828-408: The year and beyond. Meanwhile, the sugar industry, in decline for years and propped up only by government subsidies, was closed completely in 2005. In 2012, Saint Kitts and Nevis was declared free of malaria , according to the World Health Organization . The 2015 Saint Kitts and Nevis general election was won by Timothy Harris and his recently formed People's Labour Party , with backing from

4899-440: Was able to obtain a Cédula de Población from King Charles III of Spain on 4 November 1783. Trinidad's population jumped to over 15,000 by the end of 1789, from just under 1,400 in 1777. In 1797, Trinidad became a British crown colony, despite its French-speaking population. Antillean Creole began as the pidgin "baragouin" in 1635. It was spoken by French settlers, the Africans they enslaved, and Aboriginal peoples that resided on

4970-427: Was home to the first British and French Caribbean colonies, and thus has also been titled "The Mother Colony of the West Indies". It is also the most recent British territory in the Caribbean to become independent, gaining independence in 1983. The Kalinago , the pre-European inhabitants of Saint Kitts, called the island Liamuiga , roughly translating as 'fertile land'. It is thought that Christopher Columbus ,

5041-401: Was waged by colonial chroniclers, dating back to the Spanish, as they produced literature which denied the Kalinagos' humanity (a literary tradition carried through the late-seventeenth century by such authors as Jean-Baptiste du Tertre and Pere Labat). In 1626 the Anglo-French settlers joined forces to massacre the Kalinago at a place that became known as Bloody Point , allegedly to preempt

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