kingdom · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Origins
After Anguilla's separation, the remaining part of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla became independent on 19 September 1983 as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, with Kennedy Simmonds as prime minister and the British monarch as head of state.
Rule and society
The constitution gave Nevis its own island assembly and the right to secede by a two-thirds vote; a referendum in 1998 produced a majority for separation but fell short of the threshold. Denzil Douglas of the Labour Party governed from 1995 to 2015. The state-owned sugar industry, the islands' economic mainstay for over three centuries, was closed in 2005, and tourism and the citizenship by investment programme, begun in 1984, became the main sources of revenue.
To the present
The federation remains a parliamentary democracy within the Commonwealth. Terrance Drew became prime minister in 2022. Relations between Saint Kitts and Nevis, and dependence on passport sales, continue to shape its politics.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →More states of Mesoamerica and the Caribbean →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Saint Kitts and Nevis. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/saint-kitts-and-nevis
- MLA
- “Saint Kitts and Nevis.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/saint-kitts-and-nevis. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Saint Kitts and Nevis.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/saint-kitts-and-nevis.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Saint Kitts and Nevis’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/saint-kitts-and-nevis (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻