The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean.

[2][3] Along with the island of Nevis, Saint Kitts was a member of the British West Indies until gaining independence on 19 September 1983.

This made Saint Kitts and Nevis the smallest nation to ever host a World Cup event.

The Mansion Series of pyroclastic deposits and andesite with basalt layers occur on the northern flank, along with mudflows.

Brimstone Hill is noted for having limestone on its flanks, which was dragged upward with the formation of the dome 44,400 years ago.

[6][7][8][9] During the last ice age, the sea level was up to 91 metres (300 ft) lower and St. Kitts and Nevis were one island along with Saba and Sint Eustatius (also known as Statia).

[10] St. Kitts was originally settled by pre-agricultural, pre-ceramic "Archaic people", who migrated south down the archipelago from Florida.

In a few hundred years they disappeared, to be replaced by the ceramic-using and agriculturalist Saladoid people around 100 BC, who migrated to St. Kitts north up the archipelago from the banks of the Orinoco River in Venezuela.

They named Saint Kitts "Liamuiga" meaning "fertile island", and would likely have expanded further north if not for the arrival of Europeans.

Parts of the island were heavily fortified, as exemplified by the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Brimstone Hill and the now-crumbling Fort Charles.

[13] The island originally produced tobacco, but farmers switched to sugarcane in 1640 because of stiff competition from the colony of Virginia.

This decision was made because of huge losses and European Union plans to greatly cut sugar prices.

[19] For hundreds of years, Saint Kitts operated as a sugar monoculture, but due to decreasing profitability, the government closed the industry in 2005.

[citation needed] Saint Kitts & Nevis also acquires foreign direct investment from their unique citizenship-by-investment programme, outlined in their Citizenship Act of 1984.

[21] Interested parties can acquire citizenship if they pass the government's strict background checks and make an investment into an approved real estate development.

Purchasers who pass government due diligence and make a minimum investment of US$400,000, into qualifying government-approved real estate, are entitled to apply for citizenship of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.