Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Nevis

NEVIS, an island in the Federated Leeward group, British West Indies, in 17° 14′ N. lat. and 62° 33′ W. long., separated from St Christopher by a shallow strait 2 miles broad at the narrowest. It is a mountain rising gradually to a height of 3200 feet, the lower portion being cultivable; the total area is about 32,000 acres. The climate is healthy, the average height of the thermometer being 82° Fahr. Discovered by Columbus in 1498, and colonized by the English in 1628, it now forms one presidency with St Christopher, with one legislative council (meeting in St Kitts) of ten official and ten unofficial members, all nominated by the crown, Nevis sending three of the unofficial members. The revenue in 1882 was £9285, and the expenditure £8465. Its exports of sugar in the four years from 1879 to 1882 respectively were 3500, 1600, 1700, and 4000 tons,—the total exports in 1881 being £38,672, and in 1882 £75,000. The population is 11,864; the capital is Charlestown, on the shore of a wide bay on the south-west side of the island.