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123-813: Nevis ( / ˈ n iː v ɪ s / NEE -viss ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies . Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis , a singular nation state. Nevis is located near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles archipelago about 350 kilometres (220 mi) east-southeast of Puerto Rico and 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Antigua . Its area

246-399: A referendum on Nevis to separate from Saint Kitts had 2,427 votes in favour and 1,498 against, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed. Before 1967, the local government of Saint Kitts was also the government of Nevis and Anguilla. Nevis had two seats and Anguilla one seat in the government. The economic and infrastructural development of the two smaller islands was not a priority to

369-459: A spring called the "Source", located 1,800 feet (550 m) up the mountain, to storage tanks at Rawlins Village, and since 1912, to Butler's Village. Additional drinking water comes from Nelson's Spring near Cotton Ground and Bath Spring. Groundwater has been extracted since the 1990s, and mixed with the Source water. During the 17th and 18th centuries, massive deforestation was undertaken by

492-556: A Royal Patent for colonisation to the Earl of Carlisle . However, actual English settlement did not happen until 1628, when Anthony Hilton moved from nearby Saint Kitts following a murder plot against him. 80 English settlers accompanied him, soon boosted by a further 100 settlers from London who had initially hoped to settle Barbuda . Hilton became the first Governor of Nevis. After the Treaty of Madrid between Spain and England, Nevis became

615-471: A complex culture. There is also evidence that they modified the soil using various techniques such as adding charcoal to transform it into black earth , which even today is famed for its agricultural productivity. Maize and sweet potatoes were their main crops, though they also grew cassava and yautia. The Arawaks fished using nets made of fibers, bones, hooks, and harpoons. According to Heckenberger, pottery and other cultural traits show these people belonged to

738-542: A gallon from Saint Kitts yielded 16 ounces (0.47 litres). Twenty per cent of the English colonial empire 's total sugar production in 1700 was derived from Nevisian plantations. Exports from West Indian colonies like Nevis were worth more than all the exports from all the mainland Thirteen Colonies of North America combined at the time of the American Revolutionary War . The enslaved families formed

861-579: A large fleet of canoes along in support. In the same year, a Franco-Dutch invasion fleet was repelled off Nevis by an English fleet. Letters and other records from the era indicate that colonists on Nevis hated and feared the Kalinago. In 1674 and 1683, they participated in attacks on Kalinago villages in Dominica and St. Vincent , despite a lack of official approval from the Crown for the attack. On Nevis,

984-408: A lava dome, created in recent, pre-Columbian time. Pyroclastic flows and mudflows were deposited on the lower slopes of the cone simultaneously. Nevis Peak is located on the outer crater rim. Four other lava domes were constructed on the flanks of the volcano, one on the northeast flank (Madden's Mount), one on the eastern flank (Butlers Mountain), one on the northwest coast (Mount Lily) and one on

1107-602: A major part of the English West Indies and an admiralty court also sat in Nevis. Between 1675 and 1730, the island was the headquarters for the slave trade to the Leeward Islands, with approximately 6,000–7,000 enslaved West Africans passing through en route to other islands each year. The Royal African Company brought all its ships through Nevis. A 1678 census shows a community of Irish people – 22% of

1230-671: A miraculous snowfall in a hot climate. Nevis was part of the Spanish claim to the Caribbean islands, a claim pursued until the 1670 Treaty of Madrid , even though there were no Spanish settlements on the island. According to Vincent Hubbard, author of Swords, Ships & Sugar: History of Nevis , the Spanish ruling caused many of the Arawak groups who were not ethnically Caribs to "be redefined as Kalinago overnight". Records indicate that

1353-663: A relatively shallow sea compared to other bodies of water. The pressure of the South American Plate to the east of the Caribbean causes the region of the Lesser Antilles to have high volcanic activity. A very serious eruption of Mount Pelée in 1902 caused many casualties. The Caribbean sea floor is also home to two oceanic trenches : the Cayman Trench and the Puerto Rico Trench , which put

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1476-571: A sea route to Asia. At that time, the Americas were generally unknown to most Europeans, although they had been visited in the 10th century by the Vikings . Following Columbus's discovery of the islands, the area was quickly colonized by several Western cultures (initially Spain , then later England , the Dutch Republic , France , Courland and Denmark ). Following the colonization of

1599-701: A society with a majority of small, landowning farmers and entrepreneurs created a stronger middle class in Nevis than in Saint Kitts, where the sugar industry continued until 2006. Even though the 15 families in the wealthy planter elite no longer control the arable land, Saint Kitts still has a large, landless working class population. The population had reached 7,470 by 1842. Nevis was united with Saint Kitts and Anguilla in 1882, and they became an associated state with full internal autonomy in 1967, though Anguilla seceded in 1971. Together, Saint Kitts and Nevis became independent on 19 September 1983. On 10 August 1998,

1722-621: A year visit the area, including (in 1991–1992) about 8 million cruise ship tourists. Tourism based upon scuba diving and snorkeling on coral reefs of many Caribbean islands makes a major contribution to their economies. 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

1845-430: Is 93 square kilometres (36 sq mi) and the capital is Charlestown . Saint Kitts and Nevis are separated by The Narrows , a shallow 3-kilometre (2 mi) channel. Nevis is roughly conical in shape with a volcano, Nevis Peak , at its centre. The island is fringed on its western and northern coastlines by sandy beaches composed of a mixture of white coral sand with brown and black sand eroded and washed down from

1968-478: Is called coral bleaching , and can lead to the devastation of large areas of reef. Over 42% of corals are completely bleached, and 95% are experiencing some type of whitening. Historically the Caribbean is thought to contain 14% of the world's coral reefs. The habitats supported by the reefs are critical to such tourist activities as fishing and diving , and provide an annual economic value to Caribbean nations of US$ 3.1–4.6 billion. Continued destruction of

2091-557: Is celebrated as Emancipation Day and is part of the annual Nevis Culturama festival. A four-year apprenticeship programme followed the abolishment of slavery on the plantations. In spite of the continued use of the labour force, the Nevisian slave owners were paid over £150,000 in compensation from the British Government for the loss of property, whereas the enslaved families received nothing for 200 years of labour. One of

2214-707: Is concentrated around coral reefs where there is little variation in water temperature, purity and salinity. Leeward side of lagoons provide areas of growth for sea grasses . Turtle grass ( Thalassia testudinum ) is common in the Caribbean as is manatee grass ( Syringodium filiforme ) which can grow together as well as in fields of single species at depths up to 20 m (66 ft). Another type shoal grass ( Halodule wrightii ) grows on sand and mud surfaces at depths of up to 5 m (16 ft). In brackish water of harbours and estuaries at depths less than 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) widgeongrass ( Ruppia maritima ) grows. Representatives of three species belonging to

2337-411: Is endangered. The Antilles along with Central America lie in the flight path of migrating birds from North America so the size of populations is subject to seasonal fluctuations. Parrots and bananaquits are found in forests. Over the open sea can be seen frigatebirds and tropicbirds . The Caribbean region has seen a significant increase in human activity since the colonization period. The sea

2460-484: Is endangered. The rhinoceros iguana from the island of Hispaniola which is shared between Haiti and the Dominican Republic is also endangered. The region has several types of sea turtle ( loggerhead , green turtle , hawksbill , leatherback turtle , Atlantic ridley and olive ridley ). Some species are threatened with extinction. Their populations have been greatly reduced since the 17th century –

2583-445: Is one of the largest oil production areas in the world, producing approximately 170 million tons per year. The area also generates a large fishing industry for the surrounding countries, accounting for 500,000 tonnes (490,000 long tons; 550,000 short tons) of fish a year. Human activity in the area also accounts for a significant amount of pollution . The Pan American Health Organization estimated in 1993 that only about 10% of

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2706-445: Is separated from these three by a deeper channel. There are visible wave-breaking reefs along the northern and eastern shorelines. To the south and west, the reefs are located in deeper water. The most developed beach on Nevis is the 4.8 km (3.0 mi) or 6.5 km long (4.0 mi) Pinney's Beach , on the western or Caribbean coast. There is sheltered swimming at Pinney, Nisbet, Lovers, and Oualie beaches. The eastern coast of

2829-694: Is the national flower of Jamaica and the Bayahibe rose ( Pereskia quisqueyana ) which is the national flower of the Dominican Republic and the ceiba which is the national tree of both Puerto Rico and Guatemala . The mahogany is the national tree of the Dominican Republic and Belize . The caimito ( Chrysophyllum cainito ) grows throughout the Caribbean. In coastal zones there are coconut palms and in lagoons and estuaries are found thick areas of black mangrove and red mangrove ( Rhizophora mangle ). In shallow water flora and fauna

2952-571: Is the official language, and its literacy rate of 98 per cent is one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere . In 1498, Christopher Columbus gave the island the name San Martín (Saint Martin). However, the confusion of numerous poorly-charted small islands in the Leeward Island chain meant that this name ended up being accidentally transferred to another island, which is still known as Saint-Martin . The current name Nevis

3075-463: Is the second most polluted sea. Pollution (in the form of up to 300,000 tonnes of solid garbage dumped into the Caribbean Sea each year) is progressively endangering marine ecosystems, wiping out species, and harming the livelihoods of the local people, which is primarily reliant on tourism and fishing. KfW took part in a €25.7 million funding agreement to eliminate marine trash and boost

3198-575: The Caribbean . The term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to different Indigenous groups, from the Lokono of South America to the Taíno (Island Arawaks), who lived in the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. All these groups spoke related Arawakan languages . Early Spanish explorers and administrators used the terms Arawak and Caribs to distinguish

3321-422: The Caribbean ; only one extant species is not endangered. There are 500 species of reptiles (94% of which are endemic ). Islands are inhabited by some endemic species such as rock iguanas and American crocodile . The blue iguana , endemic to the island of Grand Cayman , is endangered. The green iguana is invasive to Grand Cayman . The Mona ground iguana which inhabits the island of Mona, Puerto Rico ,

3444-811: The Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) exams, the Cambridge General Certificate of Education Examination (GCE) and the Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examinations is now consistently among the highest in the English-speaking Caribbean. The formation of the island began in mid-Pliocene times, approximately 3.45 million years ago. Nine distinct eruptive centres from different geological ages, ranging from mid-Pliocene to Pleistocene , have contributed to

3567-686: The Colombian Andes connected to the Arhuaco people , while the Amazonian model supports an origin in the Amazon basin, where the Arawakan languages developed. The Taíno were among the first American people to encounter Europeans. Christopher Columbus visited multiple islands and chiefdoms on his first voyage in 1492, which was followed by the establishment of La Navidad that same year on

3690-633: The Gulf of Gonâve , the Gulf of Venezuela , the Gulf of Darién , Golfo de los Mosquitos , the Gulf of Paria and the Gulf of Honduras . The Caribbean Sea has the world's second-largest barrier reef , the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef . It runs 1,000 km (620 mi) along the Mexico, Belize , Guatemala , and Honduras coasts. The name Caribbean derives from the Caribs , one of

3813-568: The Spanish phrase Nuestra Señora de las Nieves , which translates as Our Lady of the Snows ; the name was given by the island's Spanish discoverers and first appeared on maps in the 16th century. Nevis is also known by the sobriquet "Queen of the Caribees", which it earned in the 18th century because of its many sugar plantations. Nevis is both geographically smaller and less populous than Saint Kitts. It maintains significant autonomy within

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3936-501: The circular economy in the Caribbean's Small Island Developing States . The project "Sustainable finance methods for marine preservation in the Caribbean" will assist remove solid waste and keep it out of the marine and coastal environment by establishing a new facility under the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF). Non-governmental organizations, universities, public institutions, civil society organizations, and

4059-469: The paper genocide . The paper genocide and the myth of extinction spread throughout colonial empires, Taíno people still continued to practice their culture and teachings passing it down from generation to generation. Much of this was done in secret or disguised through Catholicism in fear for their survival and of discrimination. With the modern invention of DNA testing, many Caribbean people have discovered they have Indigenous heritage. This has supported

4182-572: The trade winds . There is a slightly hotter and somewhat rainier season from May to November. Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest seas on Earth and has an area of about 2,754,000 km (1,063,000 sq mi). The sea's deepest point is the Cayman Trough , between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica , at 7,686 m (25,217 ft) below sea level . The Caribbean coastline has many gulfs and bays :

4305-533: The volcanic rock of which the island is made. Seven volcanic centers make up Nevis. These include Round Hill (3.43 Ma ), Cades Bay (3.22 Ma), Hurricane Hill (2.7 Ma), Saddle Hill (1.8 Ma), Butlers Mountain (1.1 Ma), Red Cliff and Nevis Peak (0.98 Ma). These are mainly andesite and dacite lava domes , with associated block and ash flows , plus lahars . Nevis Peak has the highest elevation, at 984 m. Cades Bay and Farm Estate Soufriere are noted areas of hydrothermal activity. Water has been piped since 1911 from

4428-507: The 16th century. In the early 17th century, they allied with the Spanish against the neighbouring Kalina (Caribs), who allied with the English and Dutch. The Lokono benefited from trade with European powers into the early 19th century, but suffered thereafter from economic and social changes in their region, including the end of the plantation economy. Their population declined until the 20th century, when it began to increase again. Most of

4551-608: The Arawak of the Antilles died out or intermarried after the Spanish conquest. In South America, Arawakan-speaking groups are widespread, from southwest Brazil to the Guianas in the north, representing a wide range of cultures. They are found mostly in the tropical forest areas north of the Amazon. As with all Amazonian native peoples, contact with European settlement has led to culture change and depopulation among these groups. During

4674-554: The Arawakan language family, a group that included the Tainos, the first Native Americans Columbus encountered. It was the largest language group that ever existed in the pre-Columbian Americas. At some point, the Arawakan-speaking Taíno culture emerged in the Caribbean. Two major models have been presented to account for the arrival of Taíno ancestors in the islands; the "Circum-Caribbean" model suggests an origin in

4797-491: The Bath Spring near Bath village, just south of the capital Charlestown. After heavy rains, powerful rivers of rainwater pour down the numerous ravines , known as ghauts. When the water reaches the coastline, the corresponding coastal ponds, both freshwater and brackish, fill to capacity and beyond, spilling over into the sea. With modern development, the existing freshwater springs are no longer enough to supply water to

4920-572: The Carib territory, killing a majority of the Yellow Caribs. After the eruption, 130 Yellow Caribs and 59 Black Caribs survived on St. Vincent . Unable to recover from the damage caused by the eruption, 120 of the Yellow Caribs, under Captain Baptiste, emigrated to Trinidad. In 1830, the Carib population numbered less than 100. The population made a remarkable recovery after that, although almost

5043-901: The Caribbean Islands and the Central American coast. Among them stands out the Belize Barrier Reef , with an area of 963 km (372 sq mi), which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. It forms part of the Great Mayan Reef (also known as the MBRS ) and, being over 1,000 km (600 mi) in length, is the world's second longest. It runs along the Caribbean coasts of Mexico , Belize , Guatemala and Honduras . Since 2005 unusually warm Caribbean waters have been increasingly threatening Caribbean coral reefs . Coral reefs support some of

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5166-587: The Caribbean Sea is estimated to be between 160 and 180 million years and was formed by a horizontal fracture that split the supercontinent called Pangea in the Mesozoic Era . It is assumed the proto-caribbean basin existed in the Devonian period and in the early Carboniferous movement of Gondwana to the north and its convergence with the Euramerica basin decreased in size. The next stage of

5289-464: The Caribbean Sea's formation began in the Triassic . Powerful rifting led to the formation of narrow troughs, stretching from modern Newfoundland to the Gulf of Mexico's west coast, forming siliciclastic sedimentary rocks . In the early Jurassic due to powerful marine transgression , water broke into the present area of the Gulf of Mexico creating a vast shallow pool. Deep basins emerged in

5412-604: The Caribbean during the Middle Jurassic rifting . The emergence of these basins marked the beginning of the Atlantic Ocean and contributed to the destruction of Pangaea at the end of the late Jurassic . During the Cretaceous the Caribbean acquired a shape close to today. In the early Paleogene due to marine regression the Caribbean became separated from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean by

5535-450: The Caribbean islands, the Caribbean Sea became a busy area for European-based marine trading and transports. This commerce eventually attracted pirates such as Samuel Bellamy and Blackbeard . As of 2015 the area is home to 22 island territories and borders 12 continental countries . The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Caribbean Sea as follows: Although Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados are on

5658-531: The Caribbean itself. The Caribbean hurricane season as a whole lasts from June through November, with the majority of hurricanes occurring during August and September. On average around nine tropical storms form each year, with five reaching hurricane strength. According to the National Hurricane Center 385 hurricanes occurred in the Caribbean between 1494 and 1900. The region has a high level of biodiversity and many species are endemic to

5781-1053: The Caribbean marine life, such as Caribbean Conservation Corporation which seeks to study and protect sea turtles while educating others about them. In connection with the foregoing, the Institute of Marine Sciences and Limnology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico , conducted a regional study, funded by the Department of Technical Cooperation of the International Atomic Energy Agency , in which specialists from 11 Latin American countries (Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic, Venezuela) plus Jamaica participated. The findings indicate that heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, and lead, have been identified in

5904-412: The Caribbean there is industrial catching of lobster and sardines (off the coast of Yucatán Peninsula ). There are 90 species of mammals in the Caribbean including sperm whales , humpback whales and dolphins . The island of Jamaica is home to seals and manatees . The Caribbean monk seal which lived in the Caribbean is considered extinct. Solenodons and hutias are mammals found only in

6027-604: The Caribbean through the Anegada Passage between the Lesser Antilles and the Virgin Islands and the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti . The Yucatán Channel between Mexico and Cuba links the Gulf of Mexico with the Caribbean. The deepest points of the sea lie in Cayman Trough with depths reaching approximately 7,686 m (25,220 ft). Despite this, the Caribbean Sea is considered

6150-666: The Caribbean, 600 species of birds have been recorded, of which 163 are endemic such as todies , Fernandina's flicker and palmchat . The American yellow warbler is found in many areas, as is the green heron . Of the endemic species 48 are threatened with extinction including the Puerto Rican amazon , and the Zapata wren . According to Birdlife International in 2006 in Cuba 29 species of bird are in danger of extinction and two species officially extinct. The black-fronted piping guan

6273-417: The Caribbean. The vegetation of the region is mostly tropical but differences in topography , soil and climatic conditions increase species diversity . Where there are porous limestone terraced islands these are generally poor in nutrients. It is estimated that 13,000 species of plants grow in the Caribbean of which 6,500 are endemic . For example, guaiac wood ( Guaiacum officinale ), the flower of which

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6396-462: The DNA confirmation in the scientific community, Taíno peoples within the Caribbean and its diasporas had started a movement around the late 1980s and early 1990s calling for the protection, revival or restoration of Taíno culture. By coming together and sharing individual knowledge passed down by either oral history or maintained practice, these groups were able to use that knowledge and cross-reference

6519-535: The English built Fort Charles and a series of smaller fortifications to aid in defending the island. This included Saddle Hill Battery, built in 1740 to replace a deodand on Mount Nevis. In 1706, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville , the French Canadian founder of Louisiana in North America, decided to drive the English out of Nevis and thus also stop pirate attacks on French ships; he considered Nevis

6642-468: The Europeans. Others survived in isolated communities with escaped and free Black people, called Maroons. Many of the explorers and early colonists also raped Indigenous women they came across, resulting in children who were considered mestizo . Some of these mestizo groups retained Indigenous culture and customs over many generations, especially among rural communities such as the jíbaro . In time,

6765-525: The French were driven off the island. Among the Nevisian men, women and children carried away on d'Iberville's ships, six ended up in Louisiana, the first persons of African descent to arrive there. One consequence of the French attack was a collapsed sugar industry and during the ensuing hardship on Nevis, small plots of land on the plantations were made available to the enslaved families in order to control

6888-417: The Island Main Road, a new airport terminal and control tower, and a major airport expansion, which required the relocation of an entire village in order to make room for the runway extension. Modernised classrooms and better-equipped schools, as well as improvements in the educational system, have contributed to a leap in academic performance on the island. The pass rate among the Nevisian students sitting for

7011-416: The Leeward Island Amerindian groups popularly referred to as Arawaks and Kalinago , a complex mosaic of ethnic groups with similar culture and language. Dominican anthropologist Lennox Honychurch traces the European use of the term "Carib" to refer to the Leeward Island aborigines to Columbus, who picked it up from the Taínos on Hispaniola . It was not a name the Kalinago called themselves. "Carib Indians"

7134-425: The Lokono population is growing. The Spaniards who arrived in the Bahamas , Cuba, Hispaniola (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and the Virgin Islands in 1492, and later in Puerto Rico in 1493, first met the Indigenous peoples now known as the Taíno , and then the Kalinago and other groups. Some of these groups—most notably the Kalinago—were able to survive despite warfare, disease and slavery brought by

7257-553: The Orinoco and Amazonian rivers and their tributaries. The group that self-identified as the Arawak, also known as the Lokono , settled the coastal areas of what is now Guyana , Suriname , Grenada , Bahamas , Jamaica and parts of the islands of Trinidad and Tobago . Michael Heckenberger , an anthropologist at the University of Florida who helped found the Central Amazon Project, and his team found elaborate pottery, ringed villages, raised fields, large mounds, and evidence for regional trade networks that are all indicators of

7380-422: The Spanish colonists over the now-subjugated Taíno. Over the next decade, the Spanish colonists presided over a genocide of the remaining Taíno on Hispaniola, who suffered enslavement, massacres, or exposure to diseases. The population of Hispaniola at the point of first European contact is estimated at between several hundred thousand to over a million people, but by 1514, it had dropped to a mere 35,000. By 1509,

7503-549: The Spanish enslaved large numbers of the native inhabitants on the more accessible of the Leeward Islands and sent them to Cubagua , Venezuela , to dive for pearls. Hubbard suggests that the reason the first European settlers found so few Kalinago on Nevis is that they had already been rounded up by the Spanish and shipped off to be used as slaves. Nevis had been settled for more than two thousand years by Amerindian peoples prior to having been sighted by Columbus in 1493. The indigenous people of Nevis during these periods belonged to

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7626-448: The Spanish had successfully conquered Puerto Rico and subjugated the approximately 30,000 Taíno inhabitants. By 1530, there were 1,148 Taíno left alive in Puerto Rico. Taíno influence has survived even until today, though, as can be seen in the religions, languages, and music of Caribbean cultures. The Lokono and other South American groups resisted colonization for a longer period, and the Spanish remained unable to subdue them throughout

7749-403: The United States can be said to be a partial by-product of these wars, and the strategic trade aims that often ignored North America. Three privateers ( William Kidd being one of them) were employed by the Crown to help protect ships in Nevis' waters. During the 17th century, the French, based on Saint Kitts, launched many attacks on Nevis, sometimes assisted by the Kalinago, who in 1667 sent

7872-541: The amount of tax collected on the Leeward Islands was recorded. The sums recorded for 1676 as "head tax on slaves", a tax payable in sugar, amounted to 384,600 pounds in Nevis, as opposed to 67,000 each in Antigua and Saint Kitts, 62,500 in Montserrat , and 5,500 total in the other five islands. The profits on sugar cultivation in Nevis was enhanced by the fact that the cane juice from Nevis yielded an unusually high amount of sugar. A gallon (3.79 litres) of cane juice from Nevis yielded 24 ounces (0.71 litres) of sugar, whereas

7995-445: The area around Charlestown. In this regard, Nevis fared better than Anguilla, where there were no paved roads, no electricity and no telephones until 1967. However, electricity did not become available island-wide on Nevis until 1971. An ambitious infrastructure development programme was introduced in the early 2000s which included a transformation of the Charlestown port, construction of a new deep-water harbour, resurfacing and widening

8118-468: The area at a high risk of earthquakes . Underwater earthquakes pose a threat of generating tsunamis which could have a devastating effect on the Caribbean islands. Scientific data reveals that over the last 500 years, the area has seen a dozen earthquakes above 7.5 magnitude. Most recently, a 7.1 earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010. The hydrology of the sea has a high level of homogeneity. Annual variations in monthly average water temperatures at

8241-420: The area is tropical , varying from tropical rainforest in some areas to tropical savanna in others. There are also some locations that are arid climates with considerable drought in some years. Rainfall varies with elevation, size, and water currents (cool upwelling keep the ABC islands arid). Warm, moist trade winds blow consistently from the east, creating both rainforest and semi-arid climates across

8364-509: The beginning of the eighteenth century, the Island Carib population in St. Vincent was greater than that in Dominica. Both the Island Caribs (Yellow Caribs) and the Black Caribs ( Garifuna ) fought against the British during the Second Carib War . After the end of the war, the British deported the Garifuna (a population of 4,338) to Roatan Island , while the Island Caribs (whose population consisted of 80 people) were allowed to stay on St. Vincent. The 1812 eruption of La Soufrière destroyed

8487-746: The claims of individuals and communities with Taíno heritage living today, particularly in rural areas such as "campos" (meaning small villages/towns in the country side). Though many communities and individuals across the Caribbean have some amount of Indigenous DNA, not all of them identify as Indigenous or Taíno. Those who do identify as Indigenous Caribbean may also use other terms to describe themselves as well as or in addition to Taíno . There has been increasing scholarly attention paid to Taíno practices and culture, including communities with full or partial Taíno identities. Because of this, Taíno people started to become more open about sharing their identities, passed down Indigenous culture, and beliefs. Even before

8610-407: The coastal zone of the Caribbean Sea. Analysis of toxic metals and hydrocarbons is based on the investigation of coastal sediments that have accumulated less than 50 meters deep during the last hundred and fifty years. The project results were presented in Vienna in the forum "Water Matters", and the 2011 General Conference of said multilateral organization. After the Mediterranean, the Caribbean Sea

8733-428: The coastline of Nevis up to an altitude at which the mountain slopes were too steep and rocky to farm. Nonetheless, once the sugar industry was finally abandoned, vegetation on the leeward side of the island regrew reasonably well, as scrub and secondary forest. Nevis has several natural freshwater springs, including Nelson's Spring. The island also has numerous non-potable volcanic hot springs , including most notably

8856-652: The colonial capital for the Leeward Islands until the seat was transferred to Antigua for military reasons in 1698. During this period, Nevis was the richest of the English Leeward Islands. Nevis outranked larger islands like Jamaica in sugar production in the late 17th century. The planters' wealth on the island is evident in the tax records preserved at the Calendar State Papers in the Colonial Office 's Public Records, where

8979-548: The colonial federal government. When the hospital in Charlestown was destroyed in a hurricane in 1899, planting of trees in the squares of Saint Kitts and refurbishing of government buildings, also in Saint Kitts, took precedence over the rebuilding of the only hospital in Nevis. After five years without any proper medical facilities, the leaders in Nevis initiated a campaign, threatening to seek independence from Saint Kitts. The British Administrator in Saint Kitts, Charles Cox,

9102-498: The corporate sector are all eligible for financing. The project is estimated to prevent and remove at least 15 000 tonnes of marine trash, benefiting at least 20 000 individuals. The climate of the Caribbean is driven by the low latitude and tropical ocean currents that run through it. The principal ocean current is the North Equatorial Current , which enters the region from the tropical Atlantic . The climate of

9225-469: 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 . Arawak The Arawak are a group of Indigenous peoples of northern South America and of

9348-554: The entire tribe died out during the 1902 eruption of La Soufrière . As of 2008, a small population of around 3,400 Kalinago survived in the Kalinago Territory in northeast Dominica. The Kalinago of Dominica maintained their independence for many years by taking advantage of the island's rugged terrain. The island's east coast includes a 3,700-acre (15 km ) territory formerly known as the Carib Territory that

9471-468: The establishment of a second settlement, La Isabella, and the discovery of gold deposits on the island, the Spanish settler population on Hispaniola started to grow substantially, while disease and conflict with the Spanish began to kill tens of thousands of Taíno every year. By 1504, the Spanish had overthrown the last of the Taíno cacique chiefdoms on Hispaniola, and firmly established the supreme authority of

9594-446: The federation, including a separate government headed by the premier of Nevis and a separate legislature . Nevis has twice voted – in 1977 , in an unofficial referendum, and in 1998 , in an official one – to secede from the federation, but neither attempt succeeded. The majority of the approximately 12,000 Nevisians are of primarily African descent, with notable British, Portuguese , and Lebanese minority communities. English

9717-419: The fighting, 3,400 enslaved Nevisians were captured and sent off to Martinique, but about 1,000 more, poorly armed and militarily untrained, held the French troops at bay, by "murderous fire" according to an eyewitness account by an English militiaman. He wrote that "the slaves' brave behaviour and defence there shamed what some of their masters did, and they do not shrink to tell us so." After 18 days of fighting,

9840-473: The formation. No single model of the island's geological evolution can, therefore, be ascertained. Nevis Peak (985 m or 3,232 ft high) is the dormant remnant of one of these ancient stratovolcanoes . The last activity took place about 100,000 years ago, but active fumaroles and hot springs are still found on the island, the most recent formed in 1953. The composite cone of Nevis volcano has two overlapping summit craters that are partially filled by

9963-476: The funds assigned for the hospital could thus be spent on the construction of a new official residence in Nevis. After d'Iberville's invasion in 1704, records show Nevis' sugar industry in ruins and a decimated population begging the English Parliament and relatives for loans and monetary assistance to stave off island-wide starvation. The sugar industry on the island never fully recovered and during

10086-523: The general depression that followed the loss of the West Indian sugar monopoly , Nevis fell on hard times and the island became one of the poorest in the region. The island remained poorer than Saint Kitts until 1991, when the fiscal performance of Nevis edged ahead of the fiscal performance of Saint Kitts for the first time since the French invasion. Electricity was introduced in Nevis in 1954 when two generators were shipped in to provide electricity to

10209-488: The genus Halophila , ( Halophila baillonii , Halophila engelmannii and Halophila decipiens ) are found at depths of up to 30 m (98 ft) except for Halophila engelmani which does not grow below 5 m (16 ft) and is confined to the Bahamas , Florida , the Greater Antilles and the western part of the Caribbean. Halophila baillonii has been found only in the Lesser Antilles . Marine biota in

10332-587: The island and mainland groups. In the 20th century, scholars such as Irving Rouse resumed using " Taíno " for the Caribbean group to emphasize their distinct culture and language. The Arawakan languages may have emerged in the Orinoco River valley in present-day Venezuela. They subsequently spread widely, becoming by far the most extensive language family in South America at the time of European contact , with speakers located in various areas along

10455-490: The island faces into the Atlantic Ocean. The colour of the sand on the beaches of Nevis is variable: on a lot of the bigger beaches the sand is a yellow-grey in colour, but some beaches on the southern coast have darker, reddish, or even black sand. Under a microscope it becomes clear that Nevis sand is a mixture of tiny fragments of coral, many foraminifera , and small crystals of the various mineral constituents of

10578-611: The island in 1603, spending two weeks to cut 20 tons of lignum vitae wood. Gilbert sailed on to Virginia to seek out survivors of the Roanoke settlement in what is now North Carolina . Captain John Smith visited Nevis on his way to Virginia in 1607 on the voyage that founded Jamestown , the first permanent English settlement in the New World. On 30 August 1620, James I of England asserted sovereignty over Nevis by giving

10701-534: The land of Cuba and Haiti . The Caribbean remained like this for most of the Cenozoic until the Holocene when rising water levels of the oceans restored communication with the Atlantic Ocean. The Caribbean's floor is composed of sub-oceanic sediments of deep red clay in the deep basins and troughs. On continental slopes and ridges calcareous silts are found. Clay minerals have likely been deposited by

10824-528: The large labour force required to work the sugar plantations. After the 1650s, the supply of white indentured servants began to dry up due to increased wages in England and less incentive to migrate to the colonies. By the end of the 17th century, the population of Nevis consisted of a small, wealthy planter elite in control, a marginal population of poor Whites, a great majority of African-descended slaves, and an unknown number of maroons , escaped slaves living in

10947-563: The loss of life due to starvation. With less profitability for the absentee plantation owners, the import of food supplies for the plantation workers dwindled. Between 1776 and 1783, when the food supplies failed to arrive altogether due to the rebellion in North America , 300–400 enslaved Nevisians starved to death. On 1 August 1834, slavery was abolished in the British Empire . In Nevis, 8,815 slaves were freed. The first Monday in August

11070-722: The mainland river Orinoco and the Magdalena River . Deposits on the bottom of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico have a thickness of about 1 km (0.62 mi). Upper sedimentary layers relate to the period from the Mesozoic to the Cenozoic (250 million years ago) and the lower layers from the Paleozoic to the Mesozoic . The Caribbean seafloor is divided into five basins separated from each other by underwater ridges and mountain ranges. Atlantic Ocean water enters

11193-541: The metropolitan British Foreign Office gave result and the federal government in Saint Kitts was ordered by their superiors in London to take speedy action. The Legislative Council took another five years to consider their options. The final decision by the federal government was to not rebuild the old hospital after all but to instead convert the old Government House in Nevis into a hospital, named Alexandra Hospital after Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII . A majority of

11316-403: The most diverse marine habitats in the world, but they are fragile ecosystems. When tropical waters become unusually warm for extended periods of time, microscopic plants called zooxanthellae , which are symbiotic partners living within the coral polyp tissues, die off. These plants provide food for the corals and give them their color. The result of the death and dispersal of these tiny plants

11439-492: The mountains. In 1780, 90 per cent of the 10,000 people living on Nevis were Black. Some of the maroons joined with the few remaining Kalinago in Nevis. Memories of the Nevisian maroons' struggle under the plantation system are preserved in place names such as Maroon Hill, an early centre of resistance. The great wealth generated by the colonies of the West Indies led to wars among the great powers of Europe. The formation of

11562-524: The northeast coast of Hispaniola , the first Spanish settlement in the Americas. Relationships between the Spaniards and the Taíno would ultimately sour. Some of the lower-level chiefs of the Taíno appeared to have assigned a supernatural origin to the explorers. When Columbus returned to La Navidad on his second voyage, he found the settlement burned down and the 39 men he had left there killed. With

11685-475: The northern Atlantic as the Guiana Current and part of the North Equatorial Current enter the sea on the east. On the western side of the sea, the trade winds influence a northerly current which causes an upwelling and a rich fishery near Yucatán . The Caribbean is home to about 9% of the world's coral reefs , covering about 50,000 km (19,000 sq mi), most of which are located off

11808-485: The northern tip of Yucatán Tropical cyclones are a threat to the nations that rim the Caribbean Sea. While landfalls are infrequent, the resulting loss of life and property damage makes them a significant hazard to life in the Caribbean. Tropical cyclones that impact the Caribbean often develop off the West coast of Africa and make their way west across the Atlantic Ocean toward the Caribbean, while other storms develop in

11931-439: The number of green turtles has declined from 91 million to 300,000 and hawksbill turtles from 11 million to less than 30,000 by 2006. All 170 species of amphibians that live in the region are endemic. The habitats of almost all members of the toad family, poison dart frogs , tree frogs and leptodactylidae (a type of frog) are limited to only one island. The Golden coqui is in serious threat of extinction. In

12054-545: The number of recorded Taíno was greatly diminished through forced labor, disease and warfare, but also through changes to how Indio groups were recorded in the Spanish Caribbean. For example, the 1787 census in Puerto Rico lists 2,300 "pure" Indios in the population, but on the next census, in 1802, not a single Indio is listed. This created the enduring belief that the Taíno people went extinct, also known as

12177-524: The ocean life sheltered by the reef that made it feasible for the Amerindians to settle this area around 600 BC. With the loss of the natural vegetation, the balance in runoff nutrients to the reef was disturbed, eventually causing as much as 80 per cent of the large eastern fringing reef to become inactive. As the reef broke apart, it, in turn, provided less protection for the coastline. During times of maximum cultivation, sugar cane fields stretched from

12300-430: The peoples of the Caribbean, with Carib reserved for Indigenous groups that they considered hostile and Arawak for groups that they considered friendly. In 1871, ethnologist Daniel Garrison Brinton proposed calling the Caribbean populace "Island Arawak" because of their cultural and linguistic similarities with the mainland Arawak. Subsequent scholars shortened this convention to "Arawak", creating confusion between

12423-484: The plantations, rather than letting the French have them, and hid in the mountains. It was the enslaved Africans who held the French at bay by taking up arms to defend their families and the island. The slave quarters had been looted and burned as well, as the main reward promised the men fighting on the French side in the attack was the right to capture as many slaves as possible and resell them in Martinique . During

12546-405: The planters as the land was initially cleared for sugar cultivation. This intense land exploitation by the sugar and cotton industry lasted almost 300 years, and greatly changed the island's ecosystem . In some places along the windswept southeast or "Windward" coast of the island, the landscape is radically altered compared with how it used to be in pre-colonial times. Due to extreme land erosion,

12669-416: The population – existing as either indentured servants or freemen. Due to the profitable slave trade and the high quality of Nevisian sugar cane , Nevis soon became a dominant source of wealth for the colonial slavocracy . When the Leeward Islands were separated from Barbados in 1671, Nevis became the seat of the Leeward Islands colony and was given the nickname "Queen of the Caribees". It remained

12792-773: The reefs could severely damage the region's economy. A Protocol of the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region came in effect in 1986 to protect the various endangered marine life of the Caribbean through forbidding human activities that would advance the continued destruction of such marine life in various areas. Currently this protocol has been ratified by 15 countries. Also, several charitable organisations have been formed to preserve

12915-612: The region have representatives of both the Indian and Pacific oceans which were caught in the Caribbean before the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama four million years ago. In the Caribbean Sea there are around 1,000 documented species of fish, including sharks ( bull shark , tiger shark , silky shark and Caribbean reef shark ), flying fish , giant oceanic manta ray , angel fish , spotfin butterflyfish , parrotfish , Atlantic Goliath grouper , tarpon and moray eels . Throughout

13038-514: The region remained undisputed during the first century of European colonization. From the 16th century, Europeans visiting the Caribbean region distinguished the "South Sea" (the Pacific Ocean south of the isthmus of Panama) from the "North Sea" (the Caribbean Sea north of the same isthmus). The Caribbean Sea had been unknown to the populations of Eurasia until after 1492 when Christopher Columbus sailed into Caribbean waters to find

13161-600: The region's dominant native people at the time of European contact during the late 15th century . After Christopher Columbus landed in The Bahamas in 1492 and later discovered some of the islands in The Caribbean, the Spanish term Antillas applied to the lands; stemming from this, the Sea of the Antilles became a common alternative name for the "Caribbean Sea" in various European languages. Spanish dominance in

13284-403: The region's headquarters for piracy against French trade. During d'Iberville's invasion of Nevis, French buccaneers were used in the front line, infamous for being ruthless killers after the pillaging during the wars with Spain where they gained a reputation for torturing and murdering non-combatants. In the face of the invading force, the English militiamen of Nevis fled. Some planters burned

13407-443: The region. The tropical rainforest climates include lowland areas near the Caribbean Sea from Costa Rica north to Belize , as well as the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico , while the more seasonal dry tropical savanna climates are found in Cuba , northern Venezuela , and southern Yucatán, Mexico . Arid climates are found along the extreme northern coast of Venezuela out to the islands including Aruba and Curaçao , as well as

13530-528: The same continental shelf, they are considered to be in the Atlantic Ocean rather than in the Caribbean Sea. The Caribbean Sea is an oceanic sea on the Caribbean Plate . The Caribbean Sea is separated from the ocean by several island arcs of various ages. The youngest stretches from the Lesser Antilles to the Virgin Islands to north of Trinidad and Tobago , which is in the Atlantic. This arc

13653-451: The seawater is about 3.6%, and its density is 1,023.5–1,024.0 kg/m (63.90–63.93 lb/cu ft). The surface water color is blue-green to green . The Caribbean's depth in its wider basins and deep-water temperatures are similar to those of the Atlantic. Atlantic deep water is thought to spill into the Caribbean and contribute to the general deep water of its sea. The surface water (30 m; 100 ft) acts as an extension of

13776-540: The sewage from the Central American and Caribbean Island countries is properly treated before being released into the sea. The region has been famous for its rum production - the drink is first mentioned in records from Barbados in around 1650, although it was likely to have been produced beforehand across the other islands. The Caribbean region supports a large tourism industry. The Caribbean Tourism Organization calculates that about 12 million people

13899-424: The south coast (Saddle Hill, with a height of 375 metres or 1,230 feet). The southernmost point on the island is Dogwood Point which is also the southernmost point of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis . During the last ice age , when the sea level was 60 metres (200') lower, the three islands of Saint Kitts, Nevis and Sint Eustatius (also known as Statia) were connected as one island. Saba , however,

14022-410: The surface do not exceed 3 °C (5.4 °F). Over the past 50 years, the Caribbean has gone through three stages: cooling until 1974, a cold phase with peaks during 1974–1976 and 1984–1986, and finally a warming phase with an increase in temperature of 0.6 °C (1.1 °F) per year. Virtually all temperature extremes were associated with the phenomena of El Niño and La Niña . The salinity of

14145-475: The topsoil was swept away, and in some places at the coast, sheer cliffs as high as 25 metres (82 feet) have developed. Thick forest once covered the eastern coastal plain, where the Amerindians built their first settlements during the Aceramic period, complementing the ecosystem surrounding the coral reef just offshore. It was the easy access to fresh water on the island and the rich food source represented by

14268-467: The volcanic rocks that make up the island. The gently-sloping coastal plain (1 km (0.62 mi) wide) has natural freshwater springs as well as non-potable volcanic hot springs , especially along the western coast. The island was named Oualie , translated as "land of beautiful waters", by the Kalinago and Dulcina ("Sweet Island") by the early British settlers. The name Nevis is derived from

14391-572: The wealthiest planter families in Nevis, the Pinneys of Mountravers Plantation, claimed £36,396 (equivalent to £4,418,540 in 2023) in compensation for the slaves on the family-owned plantations around the Caribbean. Because of the early distribution of plots and because many of the planters departed from the island when sugar cultivation became unprofitable, a relatively large percentage of Nevisians already owned or controlled land at emancipation. Others settled on crown land. This early development of

14514-432: The whole island. The water supply now comes mostly from Government wells. The major source of potable water for the island is groundwater, obtained from 14 active wells. Water is pumped from the wells, stored and allowed to flow by gravity to the various locations. The climate is tropical with little variation, tempered all year round (but particularly from December through February) by the steady north-easterly winds, called

14637-563: Was derived from the Spanish name Nuestra Señora de las Nieves by process of abbreviation and anglicisation . The Spanish name means Our Lady of the Snows . It is not known who chose this name for the island, but it is a reference to the story of a 4th-century Catholic miracle related to a snowfall on the Esquiline Hill in Rome . Presumably the white clouds that usually cover the top of Nevis Peak reminded someone of this story of

14760-706: Was formed by the collision of the South American Plate with the Caribbean Plate . It included active and extinct volcanoes such as Mount Pelee , the Quill on Sint Eustatius in the Caribbean Netherlands , La Soufrière in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Morne Trois Pitons on Dominica . The larger islands in the northern part of the sea Cuba , Hispaniola , Jamaica and Puerto Rico lie on an older island arc. The geological age of

14883-645: Was granted to the people by the British government in 1903. The Dominican Kalinago elect their own chief. In July 2003, the Kalinago observed 100 Years of Territory, and in July 2014, Charles Williams was elected Kalinago Chief, succeeding Chief Garnette Joseph. In the 21st century, about 10,000 Lokono live primarily in Guyana, with smaller numbers present in Venezuela, Suriname, and French Guiana. Despite colonization,

15006-579: Was the generic name used for all groups believed involved in cannibalistic war rituals, more particularly, the consumption of parts of a killed enemy's body. The Amerindian name for Nevis was Oualie , land of beautiful waters. The structure of the Kalinago language has been linguistically identified as Arawakan . Despite the Spanish claim, Nevis continued to be a popular stop over point for English and Dutch ships on their way to North America . Captain Bartholomew Gilbert of Plymouth visited

15129-479: Was unmoved. He stated that Nevis did not need a hospital since there had been no significant rise in the number of deaths during the time Nevisians had been without a hospital. Therefore, no action was needed on behalf of the government, and besides, Cox continued, the Legislative Council regarded "Nevis and Anguilla as a drag on St. Kitts and would willingly see a separation". A letter of complaint to

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