f the way
from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago

Geographic coordinates:

17 20 N, 62 45 W

Map references:

Central America and the Caribbean

Area:

total: 261 sq km (Saint Kitts 168 sq km; Nevis 93 sq km)
land: 261 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative:

1.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:

0 km

Coastline:

135 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate:

tropical, tempered by constant sea breezes; little seasonal
temperature variation; rainy season (May to November)

Terrain:

volcanic with mountainous interiors

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Liamuiga 1,156 m

Natural resources:

arable land

Land use:

arable land: 19.44%
permanent crops: 2.78%
other: 77.78% (2005)

Irrigated land:

NA

Total renewable water resources:

0.02 cu km (2000)

Natural hazards:

hurricanes (July to October)

Environment - current issues:

NA

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

with coastlines in the shape of a baseball bat and ball, the two
volcanic islands are separated by a 3-km-wide channel called The
Narrows; on the southern tip of long, baseball bat-shaped Saint
Kitts lies the Great Salt Pond; Nevis Peak sits in the center of its
almost circular namesake island and its ball shape complements that
of its sister island

People
Saint Kitts and Nevis

Population:

39,817 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 26.7% (male 5,439/female 5,186)
15-64 years: 65.3% (male 13,018/female 12,968)
65 years and over: 8.1% (male 1,334/female 1,872) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 28.4 years
male: 27.7 years
female: 29.1 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.723% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

17.73 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

8.19 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

-2.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 yea