ST KITTS-NEVIS-ANGUILLA
General
The island of St Kitts is about 23 miles long and has an area of 68 square miles. It is of volcanic origin and very mountainous, the highest point being 3,800 feet above sea level. The capital, Basseterre, is situated on the southern seaboard at the base of a large fertile valley. The island of Nevis is separated from St Kitts by a narrow strait about two miles wide. It is also volcanic and has similar characteristics to St Kitts. The only town is Charlestown. Anguilla lies some 65 miles north-west of St Kitts. It is a flat coralline island, covered with low shrub, about 16 miles long and 4 miles wide at its extreme. The islands are occasionally subject to hurricanes. The estimated population is 51,000, of whom 13,000 live in Nevis and 6,000 in Anguilla.
St Kitts and Nevis were discovered by Columbus in 1493. Sir Thomas Warner founded the first British Colony in the West Indies on St Kitts in 1623. Control of the islands was disputed between the French and the British during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Treaty of Versailles in 1783 finally passed St Kitts and Nevis to Britain. Anguilla, although frequently attacked by the French was continuously held by Britain. union of St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla into a single presidency was established in 1882.
Political
The
St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla has been an Associated State since 1967. Premier Bradshaw's Labour Party has been in power for more than 20 years, supported strongly by the sugar cane workers. In his platform in the December elections 1975, the Premier asked the electorate to give the Government a mandate to seek independence to vote "No" to secession for levis and "Yes" to nationalisation of sugar. The Government Labour Party won all seven seats in St Kitts with increased majorities, while the Nevis keform Party, which addocates secesiion and is opposed to independence under nr Bradshaw's administration, won the two seats in Nevis comfortably with 76% of the votes cast.
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