Preliminary Info about St. Kitts and Nevis

Some basic info about St. Kitts and Nevis.

1. Just because its an island in the caribbean, does not mean I'll be on vacation for 2 years.
2. Geography:
1. St. Kitts and Nevis looks like an exclamation point, or a baseball (Nevis) and bat (St. Kitts).
2. Its about 1/3 of the way from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago.
3. St Kitts: 64 sq miles Nevis: 36 sq miles. Roughly 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC.
4. Tropical Climate, rainy season from May to November.
5. Volcanic with mountainous interiors. Highest elevation: Mount Liamuiga: 1156 m.
6. Natural resources include: arable land.
7. Prone to Natural Disasters (Hurricanes).
3. People:
1. Total population: 50,000.
1. mostly age 15-65.
2. median age: 31.5 (practically the life expectancy of Lesotho in 2005, but has since increased to 50.67 in 2010)
3. life expectancy: 74 years
4. Ethnicity: predominately black, but some British, Portuguese, and Lebanese.
2. Religions: Anglican, Protestant, RC.
3. Language: English
4. Literacy Rate: 97% (Lesotho had 95% and was the highest for all of Africa)
4. Transportation:
1. 2 Airports.  Luckily both are paved (26 in Lesotho but only 3 are paved and they dont have the longest runways).
2. Roads: 237 miles. 101 miles paved, 136 miles unpaved.
5. Economy:
1. Dependent on tourism, which replaced sugar (officially closed in 2005).
2. GDP: Agriculture: 3.5%; Industry: 25.8%; Services: 70.7%
3. GDP per capita: $14,700.
4. Unemployment rate: 4.5%.
5. Public debt: 185% of GDP. this is the third highest in the world.
6. Agriculture products: sugarcane, rice, yams, vegetables, bananas, fish.
7. Industries: tourism, cotton, salt, copra, clothing, footwear, beverages.
8. Oil Consumption: 1000 bbl/day. (19 million bbl/day for the US).
9. Exports: Machinery, food, electronics, beverages, tobacco.  Primarily to US, Canada, and Azerbaijan.
10. Imports: machinery, manufactures, food, fuels. Primarily from US, Trinidad and Tobago, Italy.
6. Government:
1. Achieved Independence from UK in  Sept. 19,1983.  Nevis wants to be separate from St. Kitts.
2. Parliamentary Democracy and a Commonwealth realm.
3. Capital: Basseterre
4. Time zone: 1 hour ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time.
7. Transnational Issues:
1. Illicit Drugs: transshipment point for South American drugs destined for US and Europe.  Money Laundering activities.