The two islands of St. Kitts and Nevis (Nee-vis) were British possessions until 1983, when they became a tiny, independent two-island nation (a ministate, really), complete with U.N. membership. British traditions remain in evidence, however. Cricket is still fiercely popular and motorists drive on the left.

St. Kitts and Nevis slumbered as backwaters of the Caribbean for decades. The country's economy was dependent entirely on sugar cane, making it especially vulnerable to the ravages of hurricanes. (Hurricane Hugo, in 1990, caused particularly serious damage.) But in recent years, tourists, especially celebrities, have discovered the islands' average year-round temperature of 79ŶF (26ŶC), low humidity, white-sand beaches, and unspoiled natural beauty.

This doesn't mean that St. Kitts and Nevis are playgrounds for the rich and famous -- not yet. But people who can go anywhere have been spotted here in the near past: Britney Spears, Oprah Winfrey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sylvester Stallone, Danny Glover, Michael J. Fox, and Gerald and Betty Ford, to name a few.

Of the two islands, Nevis is the sleepier. It has fewer nonstop flights from North America, fewer luxury hotels, and almost no nightlife to speak of. It also has a reputation as being a money-laundering haven for drug traffickers and other suspicious businesses (despite adamant denials by Nevis officials). The tiny island has some 9,000 offshore businesses -- about one business per inhabitant -- registered and operating under strict secrecy laws.

In fact, disagreements about controls over offshore banking activities triggered a rift between the two islands that almost led to Nevis's secession. In the most recent referendum on the issue, in 1998, a majority of Nevisians (but not the two-thirds required) voted for independence from St. Kitts.