St. KITTS and NEVIS

SEPARATED BY A MERE 2 miles (3.2 km), St. Kitts and Nevis (NEEV-is) constitute one of the world's tiniest nations. Their beauty and charm, however, are not proportional to their size. Dominated by 3,792-foot (1,156-rn) Mount Liamuiga (LEE-a-moo-EE-ga), mountainous St. Kitts contains some of the is-lands' finest beaches. Nevis embraces a single peak rising from the sea to a cloud-shrouded height of 3,232 feet (985 m). Beaches of coral sand are found along its shores. Missing from St. Kitts and Nevis is the profusion of towering resorts found on many of the bigger, more developed islands, as by law no building can be taller than the palm trees. Its visitors can still enjoy the rustic atmosphere and slow-paced "island time" that some say makes for real relaxation.
When Christopher Columbus discovered the two sister islands in 1493, the cloud-encircled volcanic peak of the smaller island inspired him to call it Las Nieves, meaning "the snows;" over the years the island's name has evolved into simply Nevis. The explorer named the larger island St. Christopher, but the British adopted the diminution St. Kitts after Sir Thomas Warner established a settlement, the first English colony in the West Indies, at Old Road Town in 1623. The next year the French also established a colony, and the Anglo-French rivalry for control of the islands was to last for the next 160 years.

After changing hands several times, the islands fell under British rule in 1783 through the Treaty
of Versailles. Evidence of their turbulent history remains in the battlegrounds and mined forts on St. Kitts. Today inhabitants pursue the more peaceful activities of accommodating tourists and growing sugarcane, sea island cotton and other products.

The two islands became an Associated British State in 1967. On Sept. 19, 1983, the British Union Jack was replaced by the green, red, yellow and black flag of the newly independent nation of St. Kitts and Nevis. The governmental structure includes a prime minister, governor-general and legislature for St. Kitts and an Island Assembly with a premier and deputy governor-general for Nevis.