Located in the eastern Caribbean Sea, in the Leeward Islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas, in both area and population. The islands were discovered through a Spanish expedition under Columbus in 1493, and was home to the first British and French colonies in the Caribbean, being titled "The Mother Colony of the West Indies." They are of volcanic origin, with large central peaks covered in tropical rainforest; the steeper slopes leading to these peaks are mostly uninhabited. The majority of the population on both islands (consisting primarily of descendants of western Africans) lives closer to the sea where the terrain flattens out. Agriculture is the principal economic activity, although tourism is of increasing importance.
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