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In general, information available as of 1 January 2003 was used in the preparation of The World Factbook 2003. This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003
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| Introduction | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Top of Page
Background: | Disputed between France and the United Kingdom in the 18th century, Saint Vincent was ceded to the latter in 1783. Autonomy was granted in 1969 and independence in 1979.
| Geography | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Top of Page
Location: | Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago
Geographic coordinates: | 13 15 N, 61 12 W
Map references: | Central America and the Caribbean
Area: | total: 389 sq km (Saint Vincent 344 sq km) water: 0 sq km land: 389 sq km
Area - comparative: | twice the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: | 0 km
Coastline: | 84 km
Maritime claims: | contiguous zone: 24 NM territorial sea: 12 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM continental shelf: 200 NM
Climate: | tropical; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November)
Terrain: | volcanic, mountainous
Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Soufriere 1,234 m
Natural resources: | hydropower, cropland
Land use: | arable land: 10.26% permanent crops: 17.95% other: 71.79% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: | 10 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: | hurricanes; Soufriere volcano on the island of Saint Vincent is a constant threat
Environment - current issues: | pollution of coastal waters and shorelines from discharges by pleasure yachts and other effluents; in some areas, pollution is severe enough to make swimming prohibitive
Environment - international agreements: | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note: | the administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is comprised of 32 islands and cays
| People | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Top of Page
Population: | 116,812 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure: | 0-14 years: 28.2% (male 16,755; female 16,163) 15-64 years: 65.5% (male 39,308; female 37,149) 65 years and over: 6.4% (male 3,215; female 4,222) (2003 est.)
Median age: | total: 25.3 years male: 25.1 years female: 25.5 years (2002)
Population growth rate: | 0.34% (2003 est.)
Birth rate: | 17.16 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate: | 6.08 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Net migration rate: | -7.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate: | total: 15.7 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.27 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) male: 17.08 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 73.08 years male: 71.3 years female: 74.92 years (2003 est.)
Total fertility rate: | 1.95 children born/woman (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | NA%
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths: | NA
Nationality: | noun: Saint Vincentian(s) or Vincentian(s) adjective: Saint Vincentian or Vincentian
Ethnic groups: | black 66%, mixed 19%, East Indian 6%, Carib Amerindian 2%, other 7%
Religions: | Anglican 47%, Methodist 28%, Roman Catholic 13%, Hindu Seventh-Day Adventist, other Protestant
Languages: | English, French patois
Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 96% male: 96% female: 96% (1970 est.)
| Government | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Top of Page
Country name: | conventional long form: none conventional short form: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Government type: | parliamentary democracy; independent sovereign state within the Commonwealth
Capital: | Kingstown
Administrative divisions: | 6 parishes; Charlotte, Grenadines, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick
Independence: | 27 October 1979 (from UK)
National holiday: | Independence Day, 27 October (1979)
Constitution: | 27 October 1979
Legal system: | based on English common law
Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Fredrick Nathaniel BALLANTYNE (since 2 September 2002) elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the governor general is appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister head of government: Prime Minister Ralph E. GONSALVES (since 29 March 2001)
Legislative branch: | unicameral House of Assembly (21 seats, 15 elected representatives and 6 appointed senators; representatives are elected by popular vote from single-member constituencies to serve five-year terms) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ULP 12, NDP 3 elections: last held 28 March 2001 (next to be held by March 2006)
Judicial branch: | Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (based on Saint Lucia; one judge of the Supreme Court resides in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
Political parties and leaders: | National Reform Party or NRP [Joel MIGUEL]; New Democratic Party or NDP [Arnhim EUSTACE]; People's Progressive Movement or PPM [Ken BOYEA]; Progressive Labor Party or PLP [leader NA]; United People's Movement or UPM [Adrian SAUNDERS]; Unity Labor Party or ULP [Ralph GONSALVES] (formed by the coalition of Saint Vincent Labor Party or SVLP and the Movement for National Unity or MNU)
Political pressure groups and leaders: | NA
International organization participation: | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Ellsworth I. A. JOHN chancery: 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016 telephone: [1] (202) 364-6730 FAX: [1] (202) 364-6736 consulate(s) general: New York
Diplomatic representation from the US: | the US does not have an embassy in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; the US Ambassador in Barbados is accredited to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Flag description: | three vertical bands of blue (hoist side), gold (double width), and green; the gold band bears three green diamonds arranged in a V pattern
| Economy | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Top of Page
Economy - overview: | Bananas and other agricultural products remain the staple of this lower-middle income country's economy. Although tourism and other services have been growing moderately in recent years, the government has been ineffective at introducing new industries. Unemployment remains high, and economic growth hinges upon seasonal variations in the agricultural and tourism sectors. Tropical storms wiped out substantial portions of crops in 1994, 1995, and 2002, and tourism in the Eastern Caribbean has suffered low arrivals following 11 September 2001. Saint Vincent is home to a small offshore banking sector, but its restrictive secrecy laws have come under international review. As of June 2001, it remained on the Financial Action Task Force's list of noncooperative jurisdictions. Saint Vincent is also the largest producer of marijuana in the Eastern Caribbean and is increasingly being used as a transshipment point for illegal narcotics from South America.
GDP: | purchasing power parity - $339 million (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: | -0.5% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita: | purchasing power parity - $2,900 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 10% industry: 26% services: 64% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line: | NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): | -0.4% (2001 est.)
Labor force: | 67,000 (1984 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture 26%, industry 17%, services 57% (1980 est.)
Unemployment rate: | 22% (1997 est.)
Budget: | revenues: $94.6 million expenditures: $85.8 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
Industries: | food processing, cement, furniture, clothing, starch
Industrial production growth rate: | -0.9% (1997 est.)
Electricity - production: | 92.48 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 69.3% hydro: 30.7% other: 0% (2001) nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: | 86 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports: | 0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports: | 0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production: | 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: | 1,250 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: | NA (2001)
Oil - imports: | NA (2001)
Agriculture - products: | bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, spices; small numbers of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats; fish
Exports: | $53.7 million (2000 est.)
Exports - commodities: | bananas 39%, eddoes and dasheen (taro), arrowroot starch, tennis racquets
Exports - partners: | France 25.2%, Greece 19.1%, Spain 16.4%, UK 9.5%, US 7.1% (2002)
Imports: | $185.6 million (2000 est.)
Imports - commodities: | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, minerals and fuels
Imports - partners: | France 32.7%, US 11.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 10.4%, Singapore 10.1%, Spain 7.9%, Greece 4.3% (2002)
Debt - external: | $167.2 million (2000)
Economic aid - recipient: | $47.5 million (1995); note - EU $34.5 million (1998)
Currency: | East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
Currency code: | XCD
Exchange rates: | East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001), 2.7 (2000), 2.7 (1999), 2.7 (1998)
Fiscal year: | calendar year
| Communications | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Top of Page
Telephones - main lines in use: | 20,500 (1998)
Telephones - mobile cellular: | NA
Telephone system: | general assessment: adequate system domestic: islandwide, fully automatic telephone system; VHF/UHF radiotelephone from Saint Vincent to the other islands of the Grenadines international: VHF/UHF radiotelephone from Saint Vincent to Barbados; new SHF radiotelephone to Grenada and to Saint Lucia; access to Intelsat earth station in Martinique through Saint Lucia
Radio broadcast stations: | AM 1, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998)
Television broadcast stations: | 1 (plus three repeaters) (1997)
Internet country code: | .vc
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 15 (2000)
Internet users: | 3,500 (2001)
| Transportation | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Top of Page
Railways: | 0 km
Highways: | total: 1,040 km paved: 320 km unpaved: 720 km (1999 est.)
Waterways: | none
Ports and harbors: | Kingstown
Merchant marine: | total: 769 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,365,887 GRT/9,665,937 DWT ships by type: bulk 133, cargo 376, chemical tanker 21, combination bulk 7, container 58, liquefied gas 8, livestock carrier 4, multi-functional large-load carrier 2, passenger 5, petroleum tanker 43, refrigerated cargo 46, roll on/roll off 45, short-sea passenger 10, specialized tanker 10, vehicle carrier 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Albania 1, Anguilla 1, Argentina 1, Australia 2, The Bahamas 1, Bangladesh 1, Barbados 2, Belgium 4, Bulgaria 14, Canada 1, Cayman Islands 1, China 135, Colombia 1, Croatia 12, Cyprus 6, Denmark 16, Egypt 7, Estonia 6, France 27, Germany 12, Greece 156, Guyana 7, Hong Kong 23, Iceland 1, India 11, Indonesia 3, Israel 2, Italy 19, Japan 1, Kenya 4, Latvia 5, Lebanon 9, Liberia 5, Lithuania 1, Malta 1, Man, Isle of 1, Marshall Islands 3, Mexico 1, Monaco 6, Netherlands 14, Netherlands Antilles 1, Nigeria 3, Norway 33, Pakistan 5, Panama 2, Poland 2, Portugal 2, Puerto Rico 2, Russia 8, Saint Kitts and Nevis 1, Saudi Arabia 3, Singapore 4, Slovenia 7, South Korea 4, Spain 1, Sweden 6, Switzerland 10, Syria 2, Taiwan 1, Thailand 1, Trinidad and Tobago 1, Tunisia 1, Turkey 15, Ukraine 8, UAE 45, UK 16, US 25, Vietnam 1 (2002 est.)
Airports: | 6 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 2 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002)
| Military | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Top of Page
Military branches: | Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (includes Special Service Unit), Coast Guard
Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | NA%
| Transnational Issues | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Top of Page
Disputes - international: | protests Venezuela's claim to give full effect to Aves Island, which creates a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea
Illicit drugs: | transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; small-scale cannabis cultivation
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003