Saint Kitts and Nevis - Geography

Geography - People - Economy - Government - Communications - Transportation - Military - Transnational Issues

Saint Kitts and Nevis is located Caribbean, islands in the Caribbean Sea, about one-third of the way from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago. The climate is tropical, tempered by constant sea breezes; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November). The terrain is volcanic with mountainous interiors.

Location

This entry identifies the country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water.
Location : Caribbean, islands in the Caribbean Sea, about one-third of the way from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago

Geographic coordinates

This entry includes rounded latitude and longitude figures for the purpose of finding the approximate geographic center of an entity and is based on the locations provided in the Geographic Names Server (GNS), maintained by the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency on behalf of the US Board on Geographic Names.
Geographic coordinates : 17 20 N, 62 45 W

Map references

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Map references : Central America and the Caribbean

Area

This entry includes three subfields. Total area is the sum of all land and water areas delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines. Land area is the aggregate of all surfaces delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines, excluding inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers). Water area is the sum of the surfaces of all inland water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, or rivers, as delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines.
Area - total : 261 sq km (Saint Kitts 168 sq km; Nevis 93 sq km)
Area - land : 261 sq km
Area - water : 0 sq km

Area - comparative

This entry provides an area comparison based on total area equivalents. Most entities are compared with the entire US or one of the 50 states based on area measurements (1990 revised) provided by the US Bureau of the Census. The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178 sq km, 69 sq mi) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 sq km, 0.23 sq mi, 146 acres).
Area - comparative : 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries

This entry contains the total length of all land boundaries and the individual lengths for each of the contiguous border countries. When available, official lengths published by national statistical agencies are used. Because surveying methods may differ, country border lengths reported by contiguous countries may differ.
Land boundaries : 0 km

Coastline

This entry gives the total length of the boundary between the land area (including islands) and the sea.
Coastline : 135 km

Maritime claims

This entry includes the following claims, the definitions of which are excerpted from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which alone contains the full and definitive descriptions
Maritime claims - territorial sea : 12 nm
Maritime claims - contiguous zone : 24 nm
Maritime claims - exclusive economic zone : 200 nm
Maritime claims - continental shelf : 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate

This entry includes a brief description of typical weather regimes throughout the year.
Climate : tropical, tempered by constant sea breezes; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November)

Terrain

This entry contains a brief description of the topography.
Terrain : volcanic with mountainous interiors

Elevation extremes

This entry includes both the highest point and the lowest point.
Elevation extremes - lowest point : Caribbean Sea 0 m
Elevation extremes - highest point : Mount Liamuiga 1,156 m

Natural resources

This entry lists a country's mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance.
Natural resources : arable land

Land use

This entry contains the percentage shares of total land area for three different types of land use
Land use - arable land : 19.44%
Land use - permanent crops : 2.78%
Land use - other : 77.78% (2005)

Irrigated land

This entry gives the number of square kilometers of land area that is artificially supplied with water.
Irrigated land : NA

Total renewable water resources

This entry provides the long-term average water availability for a country in cubic kilometers of precipitation, recharged ground water, and surface inflows from surrounding countries. The values have been adjusted to account for overlap resulting from surface flow recharge of groundwater sources. Total renewable water resources provides the water total available to a country but does not include water resource totals that have been reserved for upstream or downstream countries through international agreements. Note that these values are averages and do not accurately reflect the total available in any given year. Annual available resources can vary greatly due to short-term and long-term climatic and weather variations.
Total renewable water resources : 0.02 cu km (2000)

Natural hazards

This entry lists potential natural disasters.
Natural hazards : hurricanes (July to October)

Environment - current issues

This entry lists the most pressing and important environmental problems. The following terms and abbreviations are used throughout the entry
Environment - current issues : NA

Environment


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
Environment - international agreements - signed, but not ratified : none of the selected agreements

Geography - note

This entry includes miscellaneous geographic information of significance not included elsewhere.
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


More Information about the country