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The small undistinguished capital of Basseterre sits on the edge of a wide bay backed by green hills, and is home to nearly half the population of St Kitts. The city's name, which means 'lowland', is one of the few remaining traces of French settlement on the island.

The dominant European influence in Basseterre, however, is overwhelmingly British, reflected in the buildings and even the layout of its streets. In a fit of anglophilic urban planning, Basseterre added a traffic roundabout and called it the Circus.