PRAYING FOR THE WORLD Economy: The economy depends on tourism; since the 1970s, ONE COUNTRY AT A TIME tourism has replaced sugar as the economy’s traditional mainstay. “God so loved the world…” shouldn’t we? Roughly 200,000 tourists visited the islands in 2009, but reduced tourism arrivals and foreign investment led to an economic contraction Saint Kitts and Nevis in the 2009-2013 period, and the economy returned to growth only in Information compiled by Kim Latch 2014. Like other tourist destinations in the Caribbean, they are Sunday, May 23, 2021 vulnerable to damage from natural disasters and shifts in tourism Source: CIA World Factbook; www.nationsencyclopedia.com demand. Saint Kitts and Nevis is among other countries in the Caribbean that supplement their economic activity through economic citizenship programs, whereby foreigners can obtain citizenship from Saint Kitts and Nevis by investing there. Religion: Protestant 74.4% (includes Anglican 20.6%, Methodist 19.1%, Pentecostal 8.2%, Church of God 6.8%, Moravian 5.5%, Baptist 4.8%, Seventh Day Adventist 4.7%, Evangelical 2.6%, Bretheren 1.8%, other .3%), Roman Catholic 6.7%, Rastafarian 1.7%, Jehovah's Witness 1.3%, other 7.6%, none 5.2%, unspecified 3.2% (2001 est.) Overview: Carib Indians occupied the islands of the West Indies for hundreds of years before the British and French began settlement in 1623. During the course of 17th century, Saint Kitts became the premier base for English and French expansion into the Caribbean. The French ceded the territory to the UK in 1713. At the turn of the 18th century, Saint Kitts was the richest British Crown Colony per capita in the Caribbean, a result of the sugar trade. Although small in size and separated by only 3 km (2 mi) of water, Saint Kitts and Nevis were viewed and governed as different states until the late-19th century, when the British forcibly unified them along with the island of Anguilla. In 1967, the island territory of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla became an associated state of the UK with full internal autonomy. The island of Anguilla rebelled and was allowed to secede in 1971. The remaining islands achieved independence in 1983 as Saint Kitts and Nevis. In 1998, a referendum on Nevis to separate from Saint Kitts fell short of the two-thirds majority vote needed. CAPITAL: Basseterre Prayers for: LOCATION: Caribbean, islands in the Caribbean Sea, about • Drug problems: transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe one-third of the way from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago • Environmental issues: deforestation, erosion, and water pollution (Central America and the Caribbean) are among the most significant. Deforestation has affected the Population: 54,149 (July 2021 est.) nation's wildlife population and contributed to soil erosion. .