Resistance by native Caribs prevented colonization on Saint Vincent until 1719. Disputed between France and the UK for most of the 18th century, the island was ceded to the latter in 1783. The British prized Saint Vincent due to its fertile soil, which allowed for thriving slave-run plantations of sugar, coffee, indigo, tobacco, cotton, and cocoa. In 1834, the British abolished slavery. Immigration of indentured servants eased the ensuing labor shortage, as did subsequent Portuguese immigrants from Madeira and East Indian laborers. Conditions remained harsh for both former slaves and immigrant agricultural workers, however, as depressed world sugar prices kept the economy stagnant until the early 1900s. The economy then went into a period of decline with many landowners abandoning their estates and leaving the land to be cultivated by liberated slaves. Between 1960 and 1962, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was a separate administrative unit of the Federation of the West Indies. Autonomy was granted in 1969 and independence in 1979.

Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago

13 15 N, 61 12 W

Central America and the Caribbean

twice the size of Washington, DC

tropical; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November)

volcanic, mountainous

lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m

highest point: La Soufriere 1,234 m

hydropower, arable land

most of the population is concentrated in and around the capital of Kingstown

hurricanes; La Soufriere volcano on the island of Saint Vincent is a constant threat

volcanism: La Soufriere (1,234 m) on the island of Saint Vincent last erupted in 1979; the island of Saint Vincent is part of the volcanic island arc of the Lesser Antilles that extends from Saba in the north to Grenada in the south

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; poor land use planning; deforestation; watershed management and squatter settlement control

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

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

noun: Saint Vincentian(s) or Vincentian(s)

adjective: Saint Vincentian or Vincentian

African descent 71.2%, mixed 23%, indigenous 3%, East Indian/Indian 1.1%, European 1.5%, other .2% (2012 est.)

English, Vincentian Creole English, French patois

Protestant 75% (Pentecostal 27.6%, Anglican 13.9%, Seventh Day Adventist 11.6%,  Baptist 8.9%, Methodist 8.7%, Evangelical 3.8%, Salvation Army .3%, Presbyterian/Congregational .3%), Roman Catholic 6.3%,  Rastafarian 1.1%, Jehovah's Witness 0.8%, other 4.7%, none 7.5%, unspecified 4.7% (2012 est.)

most of the population is concentrated in and around the capital of Kingstown

27,000 KINGSTOWN (capital) (2018)

conventional long form: none

conventional short form: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

etymology: Saint Vincent was named by explorer Christopher COLUMBUS after Saint VINCENT of Saragossa because the 22 January 1498 day of discovery was the saint's feast day

parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm

name: Kingstown

geographic coordinates: 13 08 N, 61 13 W

time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

6 parishes; Charlotte, Grenadines, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick

27 October 1979 (from the UK)

Independence Day, 27 October (1979)

history: previous 1969, 1975; latest drafted 26 July 1979, effective 27 October 1979 (The Saint Vincent Constitution Order 1979)

amendments: proposed by the House of Assembly; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote of the Assembly membership and assent of the governor general; passage of amendments to constitutional sections on fundamental rights and freedoms, citizen protections, various government functions and authorities, and constitutional amendment procedures requires approval by the Assembly membership, approval in a referendum of at least two thirds of the votes cast, and assent of the governor general (2018)

English common law

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

citizenship by birth: yes

citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

dual citizenship recognized: yes

residency requirement for naturalization: 7 years

18 years of age; universal

chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Susan DOUGAN (since 1 August 2019)

head of government: Prime Minister Ralph E. GONSALVES (since 29 March 2001)

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister

elections/appointments: the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister

description: unicameral House of Assembly (23 seats; 15 representatives directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote, 6 senators appointed by the governor general, and 2 ex officio members - the speaker of the house and the attorney general; members serve 5-year terms)

elections: last held on 9 December 2015 (next to be held in 2020)

election results: percent of vote by party - ULP 52.3%, NDP 47.4%, other 0.3%; seats by party - ULP 8, NDP 7; composition - men 20, women 3, percent of women 13%

highest courts: the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is the superior court of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States; the ECSC - headquartered on St. Lucia - consists of the Court of Appeal - headed by the chief justice and 4 judges - and the High Court with 18 judges; the Court of Appeal is itinerant, traveling to member states on a schedule to hear appeals from the High Court and subordinate courts; High Court judges reside in the member states, with 2 assigned to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; note - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is also a member of the Caribbean Court of Justice

judge selection and term of office: chief justice of Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court appointed by Her Majesty, Queen ELIZABETH II; other justices and judges appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, an independent body of judicial officials; Court of Appeal justices appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 65; High Court judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 62

subordinate courts: magistrates' courts

Democratic Republican Party or DRP [Anesia BAPTISTE]
New Democratic Party or NDP [Godwin L. FRIDAY]
Unity Labor Party or ULP [Dr. Ralph GONSALVES] (formed in 1994 by the coalition of Saint Vincent Labor Party or SVLP and the Movement for National Unity or MNU)
SVG Green Party or SVGP [Ivan O'NEAL]

ACP, AOSIS, C, Caricom, CDB, CELAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, Petrocaribe, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WTO

Ambassador Lou-Anne Gaylene GILCHRIST (since 18 January 2017)

chancery: 1627 K Street, NW, Suite 1202, Washington, DC 20006

telephone: [1] (202) 364-6730

FAX: [1] (202) 364-6730

consulate(s) general: New York

three vertical bands of blue (hoist side), gold (double width), and green; the gold band bears three green diamonds arranged in a V pattern, which stands for Vincent; the diamonds recall the islands as "the Gems of the Antilles" and are set slightly lowered in the gold band to reflect the nation's position in the Antilles; blue conveys the colors of a tropical sky and crystal waters, yellow signifies the golden Grenadine sands, and green represents lush vegetation

Saint Vincent parrot; national colors: blue, gold, green

name: St. Vincent! Land So Beautiful!

lyrics/music: Phyllis Joyce MCCLEAN PUNNETT/Joel Bertram MIGUEL

Success of the economy hinges upon seasonal variations in agriculture, tourism, and construction activity, as well as remittances. Much of the workforce is employed in banana production and tourism. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is home to a small offshore banking sector and continues to fully adopt international regulatory standards.

This lower-middle-income country remains vulnerable to natural and external shocks. The economy has shown some signs of recovery due to increased tourist arrivals, falling oil prices and renewed growth in the construction sector. The much anticipated international airport opened in early 2017 with hopes for increased airlift and tourism activity. The government's ability to invest in social programs and respond to external shocks is constrained by its high public debt burden, which was 67% of GDP at the end of 2013.

bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, spices; small numbers of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats; fish

tourism; food processing, cement, furniture, clothing, starch

calendar year

Jordan 40.7%, France 12.5%, Barbados 7%, St. Lucia 6.8%, Antigua and Barbuda 5.7%, US 5.5%, Trinidad and Tobago 4.7% (2017)

bananas, eddoes and dasheen (taro), arrowroot starch; tennis racquets

foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, minerals and fuels

US 36.8%, Trinidad and Tobago 19.1%, UK 7%, China 5.8% (2017)

East Caribbean dollars (XCD) per US dollar -

general assessment: adequate islandwide, fully automatic telephone system; broadband access; expand FttP (Fiber to the Home) markets; LTE launches; regulatory development (2018)

domestic: fixed-line teledensity exceeds 20 per 100 persons and mobile-cellular teledensity is about 114 per 100 persons (2018)

international: country code - 1-784; landing points for the ECFS, CARCIP and Southern Caribbean Fiber submarine cables providing connectivity to US and Caribbean Islands; connectivity also provided by VHF/UHF radiotelephone from Saint Vincent to Barbados; SHF radiotelephone to Grenada and Saint Lucia; access to Intelsat earth station in Martinique through Saint Lucia (2019)

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Broadcasting Corporation operates 1 TV station and 5 repeater stations that provide near total coverage to the multi-island state; multi-channel cable TV service available; a partially government-funded national radio service broadcasts on 1 station and has 2 repeater stations; about a dozen privately owned radio stations and repeater stations

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no regular military forces; the Special Services Unit (SSU) is the paramilitary arm of the Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVPF) (2019)

J8 (2016)

by type: bulk carrier 22, container ship 14, general cargo 184, oil tanker 17, other 652 (2018)

major seaport(s): Kingstown

joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea

current situation: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; some children under 18 are pressured to engage in sex acts in exchange for money or gifts; foreign workers may experience forced labor and are particularly vulnerable when employed by small, foreign-owned companies; adults and children are vulnerable to forced labor domestically, especially in the agriculture sector

tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government for the first time acknowledged a trafficking problem, launched an anti-trafficking public awareness campaign, and conducted anti-trafficking training for law enforcement, immigration, and labor officials; in 2014, authorities initiated three trafficking investigations, two of which were ultimately determined not to be trafficking cases, and did not prosecute or convict any trafficking offenders; the government did not identify or refer any potential trafficking victims to care (2015)

transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; small-scale cannabis cultivation