St. Kitts & Nevis
The two small islands of St. Kitts (formerly known as Saint
Christopher) and Nevis are located upon the Lesser Antilles chain of the Eastern Caribbean. They are situated 67 km
west from the island of Antigua and 12 km southeast from
Saint Eustatius (politically part of the
Netherlands Antilles grouping). Together the two islands comprise the nation
officially known as the Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis, covering an area of 269 km².
Largest and most northerly of the pair is the island of St. Kitts. Orientated northwest to southeast, St. Kitts measures 31 km in length and is up to 9 km in width across the centre, narrowing to around 500 m in width across the South East Peninsula. St. Kitts covers an area of 176 km².
The island is prominently marked by three volcanic centres running along the islands longest axis. In the north is the North West Range topped by the 1,156 m tall Mount Liamuiga (often still referred to by its former name of Mt. Misery). Mount Liamuiga contains a 1 km wide, steep-sided, summit crater — known as The Crater — in which active fumaroles are found; the last known eruption of Liamuiga is estimated to have occurred early in the first millennium. Adjoining this is the bulk of the Central Range, dominated by Verchilde Mountain (975 m). In the southeast the South Range reaches a height of 900 m. The slopes of the islands mountains are deeply dissected by ravines and river valleys that are easily picked out in the large size image. From these steep slopes, the mountain sides give way to shallow coastal slopes and plains often terminating in low cliffs of between 10 to 30 m in height that drop to narrow beaches composed of coarse black sand or rocks and boulders. The coastline of St.Kitts, measuring 78 km in length, is lined by cliffs and rocky slopes for 35 km of its length; stony and rocky shores amount to 17 km, with the remaining 26 km of coastline split evenly between beaches of black volcanic or yellow silica sands.
The drier southeastern section of St. Kitts is formed by the narrow South East Peninsula. Formed by low hills of around 200 m in height its southeastern extremity fans out to a hilly area with elevations of up to 335 m.
The island of Nevis lies 3.2 km southeast from St. Kitts, across a stretch of water known as The Narrows. The island is roughly circular in shape measuring 9 x 12 km in diameter and covering an area of 93 km². Nevis has the appearance of a low cone, with gentle slopes rising to a height of 985 m at the central summit of heavily-forested, and steep-sided, Nevis Peak. The summit of Nevis Peak contains a number of overlapping craters, although the last volcanic activity is thought to have taken place over 100,000 years ago. Other significant peaks in this range of ancient volcanic centres include Mount Lily in the north (309 m), Saddle Hill in the south (381 m) and Butlers Mountain (578 m) in the east. Like the neighbouring St. Kitts, active fumaroles and hot springs are located upon the island.
Both islands experience a tropical maritime climate that is strongly modified by northeast trade winds. Average temperatures of 27°C show little seasonal variation. Average annual rainfall varies with altitude but generally falls within the range 1,300 - 1,500 mm at sea level, without a pronounced wet season. The South East Peninsula of St. Kitts is particularly dry.
