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The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis , also known as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis,〔Both the names Saint Christopher and Saint Kitts are given in the (Constitution of Saint Christopher and Nevis )〕 is a two-island country in the West Indies. Located in the Leeward Islands chain of the Lesser Antilles, it is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas, in both area and population. The country is a Commonwealth realm, with the British Monarch (currently, Elizabeth II) as its head of state. The capital city is Basseterre on the larger island of Saint Kitts. The smaller island of Nevis lies about 2 miles (3 km) southeast of Saint Kitts across a shallow channel called "The Narrows." The British dependency of Anguilla was historically also a part of this union, which was then known collectively as Saint Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla. To the north-northwest lie the islands of Sint Eustatius, Saba (the Netherlands), Saint Barthélemy, Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten and Anguilla. To the east and northeast are Antigua and Barbuda, and to the southeast is the small uninhabited island of Redonda, and the island of Montserrat, which currently has an active volcano (see Soufrière Hills). Saint Kitts and Nevis were among the first islands in the Caribbean to be settled by Europeans. Saint Kitts was home to the first British and French colonies in the Caribbean, and thus has also been titled "The Mother Colony of the West Indies." == Etymology == Saint Kitts was named "Liamuiga", which roughly translates as "fertile land", by the Kalinago (Carib) Indians who originally inhabited the island. The name is preserved via St. Kitts's western peak, Mount Liamuiga. Nevis's pre-Columbian name was "Oualie", meaning "land of beautiful waters". Christopher Columbus upon sighting what we now call Nevis in 1493 gave that island the name ''San Martín'' . The current name "Nevis" is derived from a Spanish name ''Nuestra Señora de las Nieves'' . This Spanish name means Our Lady of the Snows. It is not known who chose this name for the island, but it is a reference to the story of a fourth-century Catholic miracle: a summertime snowfall on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. Presumably the white clouds which usually wreathe the top of Nevis Peak reminded someone of the story of a miraculous snowfall in a hot climate. The island of Nevis upon first British settlement was referred to as "Dulcina," a name meaning "sweet one" in Spanish. Eventually the original Spanish name was restored to use in the shortened form "Nevis". There is some disagreement over the name which Christopher Columbus gave to St. Kitts. For many years it was thought that he named the island ''San Cristóbal'', after Saint Christopher, his patron saint and the patron hallow of travellers. New studies suggest that Columbus named the island ''Sant Yago'' (Saint James). The name "San Cristóbal" was apparently given by Columbus to the island now known as Saba, 20 miles northwest. It seems that "San Cristóbal" came to be applied to the island of St. Kitts only as the result of a mapping error. No matter the origin of the name, the island was well documented as "San Cristóbal" by the 17th century. The first English colonists kept the English translation of this name, and dubbed it "St. Christopher's Island." In the 17th century, a common nickname for Christopher was Kit, or Kitt. This is why the island was often informally referred to as "Saint Kitt's Island", further shortened to "Saint Kitts." Today the Constitution refers to the state as both "Saint Kitts and Nevis" and "Saint Christopher and Nevis," but the former is the one most commonly used. == History == (詳細はKalinago people, arrived approximately three centuries before the Europeans. The islands were discovered by the Europeans through a Spanish expedition under Columbus in 1493. In 1538, French Huguenots established a settlement on St. Kitts. The settlement was destroyed by the Spanish soon afterwards and the survivors were deported. In 1623 an English settlement was established. This was soon followed by French settlements, and the island being divided by an agreement. In contrast to the inhabitants of other islands, the local Kalinago people allowed Europeans to colonise Saint Kitts. In 1626, the Anglo-French settlers joined forces and massacred the Kalinago, to pre-empt an imminent genocide of the European settlers by the islanders. A Spanish expedition sent to enforce Spanish claims destroyed the English and French colonies and deported the settlers back to their respective countries in 1629. As part of the war settlement in 1630, the Spanish permitted the re-establishment of the English and French colonies. As Spanish power went into decline Saint Kitts became the premier base for English and French expansion into the Caribbean. From St. Kitts the British settled the islands of Antigua, Montserrat, Anguilla and Tortola, and the French settled Martinique, the Guadeloupe archipelago and St. Barts. During the late 17th century France and England battled for control over St Kitts. The French ceded the territory to Britain in 1713. Although small in size and separated by only of water, the two islands were viewed and governed as different states until the late 19th century when they were forcibly unified along with the island of Anguilla by the British. To this day relations are strained with Nevis accusing Saint Kitts of neglecting its needs. Saint Kitts and Nevis along with Anguilla, became an associated state with full internal autonomy in 1967. Anguillians rebelled and separated from the others in 1971. St. Kitts and Nevis achieved independence in 1983. It is the newest sovereign state in the Americas. In August 1998, a vote in Nevis on a referendum to separate from St. Kitts fell short of the two-thirds majority needed. In late September 1998, Hurricane Georges caused approximately $458,000,000 in damages and property and limited GDP growth for the year and beyond. Georges was the worst hurricane to hit the region in the century. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Saint Kitts and Nevis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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