St Kitts has a pretty impressive and often bloody history, but this has contributed greatly towards the colourful culture of this island. In fact the history of St Kitts is notable for being one of the longest written histories in the Caribbean.
The island was named St Christopher by Christopher Columbus after the patron saint of the travellers, but this was eventually shortened to just St Kitts. However the island was inhabited long before this as the first settlers arrived nearly 3,000 years BC, but these early settlers disappeared after just a few hundred years.
It wasn't until around 1300 AD that the Caribbean people arrived on the island, and if it hadn't been for the first European settlers they would have succeeded in colonising the island. Between the 15th and 18th centuries St Kitts saw many wars being fought over her lands.
During this time St Kitts became known for producing tobacco and many planters became very rich. However production was soon overtaken by the colony of Virginia who dominated the world market, and as profits started declining production switched to sugarcane in 1640. Sugarcane production required large amounts of labour and African slaves were brought in to make up the numbers.
This business proved very profitable until slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1834. The sugarcane industry was also affected by new competition in the market from countries such as India, Cuba and Brazil. In spite of this sugarcane production remained important for many years until the industry was finally shut down in 2005. By this stage St Kitts had begun to turn its attention towards its burgeoning tourism industry, and nowadays it is one of the most sought-after destinations in the Caribbean.
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