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)
water: 0 sq km
land: 261 sq km
Area - comparative:
1.5 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
135 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 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: 16.67%
permanent crops: 2.78%
other: 80.55% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
NA sq km
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, 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 three-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