An Introduction to St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Part of the Lesser Antilles chain, the country consists of the main island of Saint Vincent and the northern two-thirds of the smaller Grenadines chain. The native Caribs, prevented European settlement on the main island, which they called called Hairouna ('The Land of the Blessed') until 1719 when it was settled by French speakers from Martinique. France ceded control of Saint Vincent to Britain in 1763 and again after a brief re-occupation in 1783. Independence came in October 1979, although a referendum to replace Queen Elizabeth II as head of state with a non-executive President was defeated in 2009. See full country profile.Latest Research News from Latin America
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GOVERNMENT: parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy (see right)
AREA: 389 sq km
POPULATION: 103,869 (2011 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Official Language: English.
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Trade and Industry in St. Vincent & the Grenadines
But not all is jolly. The country's small offshore financial sector has restrictive secrecy laws which have caused some international concern, and IWC subsistence quotas which allow the natives of Bequia to hunt up to four Humpback Whales per year are also, of course, highly controversial.
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Part of the Lesser Antilles chain, the country consists of the main island of Saint Vincent and the northern two-thirds of the smaller Grenadines chain. The native Caribs, prevented European settlement on the main island, which they called called Hairouna ('The Land of the Blessed') until 1719 when it was settled by French speakers from Martinique. France ceded control of Saint Vincent to Britain in 1763 and again after a brief re-occupation in 1783. Independence came in October 1979, although a referendum to replace Queen Elizabeth II as head of state with a non-executive President was defeated in 2009.
There is little level ground on St Vincent, especially on the leeward side. Eruptions of the La Soufrire volcano in 1902 and 1979 caused widespread disruption (and in the former case 2,000 deaths).
GDP: $1.26bn (2011 est.) - $11,561 per capita
Religions
Currency: East Caribbean dollar. 2.7 XCD = $US 1
Telephone Code: +1 784
St Vincent has a lower-middle-income economy. Agriculture is dominated by banana production (60% of the work force and 50% of merchandise exports), while the services sector is also important. Government schemes to diversify the economy have met little success and unemployment remained high at 15% in 2001.
Exports of c.$37m (2004 est.) consist of bananas (39%), other foodstuffs and (!) tennis racquets - 50 percent of 2005 exports went to France in 2005, with Italy (20.8%) and Greece (10.9%) also important. Imports were $225m in 2004 and included foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and minerals. Main partners in 2005 were France (37.5%), Singapore (13%) and Italy (12.2%).
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