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St.kitts & Nevis
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Index of Articles
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ST. KITTS & NEVIS
About St Kitts & Nevis
Nevis is an island in the Caribbean near the top of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 220 miles (350 km) southeast of Puerto Rico and 50 miles (80 km) west of Antigua. The 36 square-mile (93 km²) island is part of the Leeward Islands and is located at latitude 17.15°N and longitude 62.58°W. The capital of Nevis is Charlestown.
Nevis is federated with Saint Kitts in the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The two islands are separated by a 2-mile (3.22 km) wide channel
St. Kitts became Britain's first colony in the West Indies with the founding of a settlement in 1623. The Federation of St Kitts and Nevis finally attained full political independence within the Commonwealth in 1983 and, in order to relieve the anxiety of Nevisvians, Nevis acquired autonomy within the Federation, together with its own Legislature and Cabinet. In 1998, a vote in Nevis on a referendum to separate from Saint Kitts fell short of the two-thirds majority needed. Unlike most other English speaking Caribbean jurisdictions,
St Kitts and Nevis is neither a dependency, nor a crown colony of Britain, which means that it is not subject to the EU's Savings Tax Directive.
The legal system is largely based on English Common Law, and appeal is to the Caribbean Court of Appeal based in Trinidad and Tobago.
Although sugar dominated the agricultural sector until 2005, when it was finally abandoned as a major crop, activities such as tourism, export-oriented manufacturing, and offshore banking have assumed larger roles in the economy. GDP was at best flat in 2002, but growth was good in 2004 and 2005. The Federation's currency is the East Caribbean dollar, pegged at 2.7 to the US dollar.
St Kitts and Nevis has offshore legislation as a Federation, but so does Nevis independently. On the whole,
St Kitts focuses on attracting inward industrial and tourist investment, while
Nevis concentrates more on offshore asset protection. Nevis has been particularly successful with its LLC (Limited Liability Company) legislation.
In 2000, St Kitts and Nevis found itself on the OECD and FATF blacklists, but was removed from both after promising to tidy up legislative problems, which was done with a number of enactments in 2001-2003
Sugar was the traditional mainstay of the Saint Kitts economy until the 1970s. Although the crop still dominates the agricultural sector, activities such as tourism, export-oriented manufacturing, and offshore banking have assumed larger roles in the economy. Tourism revenues are now the chief source of the islands' foreign exchange; about 40,000 tourist visited Nevis during the 2003-2004 season. Additional tourist facilities, including a second cruise ship pier, hotels, and golf courses are under construction.
Political dissension between Saint Kitts and Nevis has made the movement for Nevis secession a constant presence in the island's political arena, with many articles appearing in the press expressing concerns such as those compiled by Everton Powell in "What Motivates Our Call for Independence". The issues of dissension are mainly economical in nature:
- Many of the businesses that operate in Nevis are headquartered in Saint Kitts and pay the corporate taxes to Saint Kitts, despite the fact that profits for those businesses are derived from Nevis.
- The vast majority of Nevisians and residents of Nevis depart the Federation from Saint Kitts. This meant that departure taxes are paid in Saint Kitts.
- The bulk of cargo destined for Nevis enters the Federation through Saint Kitts. Custom duties are therefore paid in Saint Kitts.
- The largest expenditure for Nevis, approximately 29 percent of the Nevis Island Administration’s recurrent budget, is education and health services, but the Nevis Island Legislature has no power to legislate over these two areas.
- Police, defence and coast guard are a federal responsibility. Charlestown Police Station, which served as the Headquarters for police officers in Nevis, was destroyed by fire in December 1991. Police officers initially had to operate out of the ruin, until the Nevis Island Administration managed to raise the resources to re-house the police.
- Nevis experiences an economic disadvantage because of preferential treatment by the federal government for development of Saint Kitts. The prime minister answers to the voters of Saint Kitts, not to the voters of Nevis. The division of foreign aid and various forms of international assistance toward development and infrastructure are especially contentious issues.
| St Kitts and Nevis |
|
| Capital |
Basseterre
17 18 N, 62 43 W |
| Official languages |
English |
| Area |
261 km²
101 sq mi |
| Population
|
47,106 |
| GDP (PPP)
|
$339 million |
| per capita
|
$8,200 |
| Currency |
East Caribbean dollar (XCD) |
| Time zone |
(UTC-4) |
| Dialling code |
+1-869 |
St KITTS & NEVIS ECONOMY
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 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 British Leeward Islands.
The island outranked even larger islands like Jamaica in sugar
production in the late 17th century. The wealth of the planters on the island is
evident by the tax records in the Calendar State Papers in the British Colonial
Office Public Records, where the amount of tax collected on the Leeward Islands
was recorded.
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 of island-wide starvation. The sugar industry on the island never fully recovered and during 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. The European
Commission's Delegation in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean estimate the
annual per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on Nevis to be about 10 percent
higher than on St. Kitts.
The major source of revenue for Nevis today is tourism. During the 2003-2004 season, approximately 40,000 tourists visited Nevis. The island focuses on an upscale market in order to keep the island uncrowded.
A five star hotel, three exclusive, restored plantation inns and a couple of
smaller hotels are currently in operation. Larger developments along the west
coast have recently been approved and are in the process of being developed.
The introduction of new legislation has made offshore financial services a rapidly growing economic sector in
Nevis. Incorporation of companies, international insurance and reinsurance, as well as several international banks, trust companies, asset management firms, have created a boost in the economy.
The growing employment and economic activity on Nevis are
reflected in the latest numbers presented by the minister of finance. During
2005, the Nevis Island Treasury collected $94.6 million in annual revenue,
compared to $59.8 million during 2001. In 1998, 17,500 international banking companies were registered in Nevis. Registration and annual filing fees paid in 1999 by these entities amounted to over 10 percent of Nevis’ revenues.
In 2000 the Financial Action Task Force, part of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) issued a blacklist of 35 nations which were said to be non-cooperative in the campaign against tax evasion and money laundering. The list included the
Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. No alleged misconduct had taken place on Nevis, but the island was included in the blanket action against all offshore financial business centres, as such centres cause a considerable loss of tax revenue for the G-7 countries. With new regulations in place,
Saint Kitts and Nevis were removed from the list in 2002
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