Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

**Saint Vincent and the Grenadines** is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and CARICOM.

The country speaks English as its official language. The capital, and its main port, is Kingstown.

Its national bird is the Saint Vincent Amazon, an endemic bird of the Saint Vincent island.

## Politics

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy with King Charles III as head of state. The King does not live in the islands but he is represented in the country by the Governor-General, currently Sir Frederick Ballantyne.

Control of the government rests with the elected prime minister and his or her cabinet. The current Prime Minister is Ralph Gonsalves.

The country has no formal armed forces, although the police has a Special Service Unit that has a supporting role on the island.

The Parliament is unicameral is formed only by the House of Assembly with 21 seats: 15 representatives elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms and 6 appointed senators. The last elections were held on 5 November 2020 and the next will be held in November 2025.

## History

The island now known as Saint Vincent was originally named _Youloumain_  by the native Caribs. The Caribs inhabited Saint Vincent before the Europeans arrived, and it is possible still to find Carib artifacts in the island.

Christopher Columbus explored in 1498 the main island on Saint Vincent's Day. The Caribs did not allow Europeans to settle in Saint Vincent until 1719 when some French people came from Martinique and began to grow coffee, tobacco, indigo, cotton and sugar cane with the help of African slaves.

In 1763 by the Treaty of Paris, France gave control of Saint Vincent to Britain; France took the island again in 1779, but the British then regained Saint Vincent under the Treaty of Versailles (1783).

In 1834 slavery was abolished and people from the Portuguese island of Madeira and from India came to work as agricultural workers.

In 1871 the group of islands became part of the Windward Islands Colony and in 1956 a member of the Federation of the Windward Islands. In 1958 Saint Vincent joined the Federation of the West Indies and in 1969 it got full internal self-government. Finally in 1979 it became an Independent Sovereign State within the Commonwealth.

### Demographics

The estimated population in 2024 was 100,647. The population density is 259 persons per square kilometre.

The ethnic composition was 71% Black, 23% Mixed, 3% Carib Amerindian, 1.5% European (mainly Portuguese), 1.1% East Indian, 0.2% others.

### Language

The official language of the islands is English but most people use the Vicentian Creole English.

### Religion

The people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was 75% Protestant (27.6% Pentecostal, 13.9% Anglicans, 11.6% Seventh-Day Adventist, 8.9% Baptist, 8.7% Methodists, 4.4% other Protestant), 6.3% Catholic, 1.1% Rastafari, 0.8% Jehovah's Witness, 4.7% others, and 12.2% no religion or unknown.

## Geography

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a group of islands of the Caribbean Sea. It lies to the west of Barbados, south of Saint Lucia and north of Grenada in the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.

There are 32 islands and cays, including the main island of Saint Vincent () and the northern two-thirds of the Grenadines (), which are a chain of small islands stretching south from Saint Vincent to Grenada. The largest and most populated Grenadines islands are Bequia, Mustique, Canouan and Union Island.

The main island of **Saint Vincent**, at , is  long and  wide, and has an area of , or about 88% of the total country area, 19 times that of the country's second largest island Bequia. It is dominated by the highest mountain in the country and an active volcano, La Soufrière (), which erupted violently in 1812 and 1902. The most recent eruption was on April 13, 1979. The island has many mountains and forests. The island is tropical humid, with an average of between 18 and 31 °C depending on the altitude.

The Saint Vincent Passage is between the Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent islands, and the Bequia Channel is between the Grenadines and Saint Vincent islands.

The **Grenadines** islands lie between the islands of Saint Vincent in the north and Grenada in the south. Neither Saint Vincent nor Grenada are Grenadine islands. The islands north of the Martinique Channel belong to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the islands south of the channel belong to Grenada.

### Islands

These islands make up the Grenadines Parish
- Bequia, at , is the largest of the Grenadines. The capital of the Grenadines parish, Port Elizabeth , is here.
- Petit Nevis
- Isle à Quatre
- Bettowia
- Baliceaux
- Mustique
- Petit Mustique
- Savan
- Petit Canouan
- Canouan
- Mayreau
- Tobago Cays
- Union Island
- Petit Saint Vincent
- Palm Island

### Administrative divisions

Administratively, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is divided into six parishes. Five parishes are on Saint Vincent, while the sixth is made up of the Grenadine islands. Kingstown is located in the Parish of Saint George and is the capital city and central administrative centre of the country.

- 5 parishes on Saint Vincent:
    - Charlotte - 149 km² (capital: Georgetown)
    - Saint George - 52 km² (capital: Kingstown)
    - Saint Andrew - 29 km² (capital: Layou)
    - Saint Patrick - 37 km² (capital: Barrouallie)
    - Saint David - 80 km² (capital: Chateaubelair)
- 1 parish made up of the Grenadine islands:
    - Grenadines - 43 km² (capital: Port Elizabeth on the Bequia island)

### Climate

Tropical rainforest climate is a type of tropical climate in which there is no dry season - all months have mean precipitation values of at least . Tropical rainforest climates have no pronounced summer or winter; it is typically hot and wet throughout the year and rainfall is both heavy and frequent.

The Köppen climate classification subtype for this climate is **Af** (Tropical Rainforest Climate).

The average yearly temperature is . The coolest months are between November and February. During the rainy season, May through October, rain is frequent in the mountains of St. Vincent with the annual average rainfall being  away from the coast and  on the coast.

## Related pages

- List of rivers of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- List of Vincentian people
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at the Olympics
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines national football team

## Infobox (country)

- **languages type**: Vernacular language
- **languages**: Vincentian Creole
- **conventional long name**: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- **common name**: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- **image flag**: Flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.svg
- **image coat**: Coat of arms of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.svg
- **coa size**: 75
- **symbol**: Coat of arms of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- **symbol type**: Coat of arms
- **image map**: File: VCT_orthographic.svg
- **national motto**:
"Peace and Justice"
- **royal anthem**: "God Save the King"
- **national anthem**: "Saint Vincent, Land so Beautiful"
<div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;"></div>
- **official languages**: English language, English
- **ethnic groups year**: 2020
- **demonym**: Vincentian
- **capital**: Kingstown
- **largest city**: capital
- **government type**: Unitary state, Unitary Parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy
- **leader title1**: Monarchy, Monarch
- **leader name1**: Charles III
- **leader name2**: Susan Dougan
- **leader title3**: List of Prime Ministers of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Prime Minister
- **leader name3**: Godwin Friday
- **legislature**: House of Assembly of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, House of Assembly
- **sovereignty type**: Independence
- **established event1**: Associated Statehood Act 1967, Associated State
- **established date1**: 27 October 1969
- **established event2**: from the United Kingdom
- **established date2**: 27 October 1979
- **area rank**: 184th
- **area km2**: 389
- **percent water**: negligible
- **population estimate**: 110,872
- **population estimate rank**: 180th
- **population estimate year**: 2022
- **population census**: 109,991
- **population census year**: 2012
- **population density km2**: 307
- **population density sq mi**: 792
- **population density rank**: 39th
- **gdp ppp**: $2 billion
- **gdp ppp year**: 2023
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $17,840
- **gdp nominal**: $1 billion
- **gdp nominal year**: 2023
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $9,360
- **hdi year**: 2022
- **hdi change**: decrease
- **hdi**: 0.772
- **hdi rank**: 81st
- **currency**: East Caribbean dollar
- **currency code**: XCD
- **time zone**: Atlantic Standard Time, AST
- **utc offset**: -4
- **drives on**: left
- **calling code**: Area code 784, +1 784
- **cctld**: .vc