History
The documented history of Nevis begins with Christopher Columbus who sailed to Nevis in 1493. The name Nevis is derived from the Spanish 'Nuestra Senora de Las Nieves' meaning 'Our Lady of the Snows' since the cloud-capped mountain reminded Columbus of snow.
Prior to that, Nevis was named Dulcina 'sweet island' by the Arawaks and later Oualie 'land of beautiful waters' by the Caribs. Later in the 18th Century Nevis became known as 'Queen of the Caribees'. Evidence of pre-ceramic people has also been found in the form of finely crafted stone tools and intricately coloured pottery.
Nevis and it's associates have made a number of significant contributions to the surrounding Caribbean and the world. Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of America and it's first secretary of the Treasury was born on Nevis on 11 January 1757. Lord Horatio Nelson, Britain's most famous admiral used Nevis as a base of operations in the mid 1780's and married a Nevisian, Frances Nisbet in 1787.
During the 1960’s, the federation of St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla was formed by Britain. Anguilla chose to leave the federation shortly after it was formed. Nevis also has a right to do so, with a two thirds majority in public referendum. In 1983, Nevis and St. Kitts were granted independence from Britain. Since then Nevis has grown into one of the safest, most stable islands in the Caribbean community
Nevis remained part of the British Colonial holdings until 1967 when it achieved associated Statehood with St. Kitts and on 19 September 1983, Nevis became an independent nation and formed part of the democratic state of St. Christopher and Nevis. It has a unique constitutional arrangement in that it is part of the Federal Parliament while having a separate parliament and it's own Nevis Island Administration headed by a Premier.
The growth on Nevis in the last decade has been due mainly to tourism. However, in an effort to prevent the island becoming a tourist trap, the government has managed to keep growth to a limited scale.
