Saint Kitts and Nevis Geography Profile 2008

Location

Caribbean, islands in the Caribbean Sea, about one-third of 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, 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