Capital: Kingstown
Official Language: English
Status: Independent 27 October 1979
Area: 389 sq Km, 150 sq Mi
Population: 101,352 (2010)
Currency: East Caribbean dollar
Motto: Peace and Justice
Jewels of the Caribbeans
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles chain, in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean. Its 389 km territory consists of the main island of Saint Vincent and the northern two-thirds of the Grenadines, which are a chain of smaller islands stretching south from Saint Vincent Island to Grenada.
Minister of Urban Development, Energy, Airports, Seaport, Grenadine Affairs and Local Government
4th Floor Administrative Centre,
Bay Street, Kingstown
Tel: 784 451 2610
Email: office.urbandev@gov.vc
Tel: 784 451 2610
Email: office.urbandev@gov.vc
St. Vincent is situated in the Windward Island at the lower end of the Caribbean chain; the Grenadines comprise a chain of little islands and cays between St. Vincent and Grenada. It is volcanic and densely forested.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines was originally settled by Amerindians. Struggle for possession by the French and the British ended with the British in control in 1783. The island gained independence in 1979.
Economic activity is predominantly in agriculture, with bananas being the main export crop, and the country is the world’s main supplier of arrowroot. Flowers and foliage plants are among the export commodities. Plantains and sweet potatoes are exported to Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and other regional markets.
There is a small manufacturing sector catering primarily for the Regional market. A brewery and a rice and flour mill are in full operation, along with electronic components assembly ventures.
Tourism is concentrated mainly on the Grenadines island chain where there are high quality beaches featuring luxury villas, hotels and yachts.
A small offshore financial sector came on stream from about the mid-1990s.
Argyle International Airport, St. Vincent
James F. Mitchell, Bequia
Canouan Airport
Mustique Airport
Union Island Airport- Union Island
Commercial: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday
Government: 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday
New Year’s Day, January 1; National Heroes’ Day, March 14; Good Friday; Easter Monday; National Workers Day, May 1; Whit Monday; Carnival Monday and Tuesday (either the first or second weed in July) Emancipation Day, August 1; Independence Day October 27; Christmas Day, December 25; Boxing Day December 26. Holidays that fall on a Sunday are observed the following Monday.
1 May, 1974
Green diamonds – Gems of the Antilles