Why Nevis?

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.

Nevis was officially settled by the British in 1628 but this was short-lived as the Spanish invaded and took control in 1629, and so the tug of war over Nevis went on between the British, Dutch, French and Spanish governments for the next 200 years.

In 1806, Nevis withstood her final military assault led by Jerome Bonaparte. The militia designed to protect Nevis was disbanded in 1833, and the forts left vacant in 1854. American power began emerging in the region and sugar was being produced much closer to home at a cheaper cost to the European interests. The Caribbean no longer proved economically viable which resulted in the economic decline of Nevis

Nevis limped into the 20th-century with the economy still reeling from the waning sugar industry. During World War I the sugar industry began to pick up but then almost collapsed again during the 1920’s. The last mill ceased operating in 1958. A victim of modern technology, the sugar industry on Nevis vanished

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.