page_title: Nevis
section_title: Politics
hierarchical_section_title: Nevis / Politics
caption_attribution_description: English: The seawall in Charlestown, Nevis, West Indies, with the island of St. Kitts in the background.
context_page_description: Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Nevis is located near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 350 kilometres east-southeast of Puerto Rico and 80 kilometres west of Antigua. Its area is 93 square kilometres and the capital is Charlestown.
  Saint Kitts and Nevis are separated by a shallow 3-kilometre channel known as "The Narrows". Nevis is roughly conical in shape with a volcano known as Nevis Peak at its centre. The island is fringed on its western and northern coastlines by sandy beaches which are composed of a mixture of white coral sand with brown and black sand which is eroded and washed down from the volcanic rocks that make up the island. The gently-sloping coastal plain has natural freshwater springs as well as non-potable volcanic hot springs, especially along the western coast.
  The island was named Oualie by the Caribs and Dulcina by the early British settlers.
context_section_description: The political structure for the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis is based on the Westminster Parliamentary system, but it is a unique structure in that Nevis has its own unicameral legislature, consisting of Her Majesty's representative (the Deputy Governor General) and members of the Nevis Island Assembly. Nevis has considerable autonomy in its legislative branch. The constitution actually empowers the Nevis Island Legislature to make laws that cannot be abrogated by the National Assembly. In addition, Nevis has a constitutionally protected right to secede from the federation, should a two-third majority of the island's population vote for independence in a local referendum. Section 113.(1) of the constitution states: "The Nevis Island Legislature may provide that the island of Nevis shall cease to be federated with the island of Saint Christopher and accordingly that this Constitution shall no longer have effect in the island of Nevis."
  Nevis has its own premier and its own government, the Nevis Island Administration. It collects its own taxes and has a separate budget, with a current account surplus. According to a statement released by the Nevis Ministry of Finance in 2005, Nevis had one of the highest growth rates in gross national product and per capita income in the Caribbean at that point.
caption: The new seawall at Charlestown, Nevis, in 2005. Saint Kitts is seen in the background, across the channel known as "The Narrows". The house where Alexander Hamilton was born is visible in the mid-distance.
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