Grenada (2005) | South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2005) | |
Administrative divisions | 6 parishes and 1 dependency*; Carriacou and Petit Martinique*, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick | - |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 33.9% (male 15,329/female 14,997)
15-64 years: 62.7% (male 29,711/female 26,436) 65 years and over: 3.4% (male 1,431/female 1,598) (2005 est.) |
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Agriculture - products | bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, mace, citrus, avocados, root crops, sugarcane, corn, vegetables | - |
Airports | 3 (2004 est.) | none (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
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Area | total: 344 sq km
land: 344 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 3,903 sq km
land: 3,903 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Shag Rocks, Black Rock, Clerke Rocks, South Georgia Island, Bird Island, and the South Sandwich Islands, which consist of some nine islands |
Area - comparative | twice the size of Washington, DC | slightly larger than Rhode Island |
Background | One of the smallest independent countries in the western hemisphere, Grenada was seized by a Marxist military council on 19 October 1983. Six days later the island was invaded by US forces and those of six other Caribbean nations, which quickly captured the ringleaders and their hundreds of Cuban advisers. Free elections were reinstituted the following year. | The islands lie approximately 1,000 km east of the Falkland Islands and have been under British administration since 1908, except for a brief period in 1982 when Argentina occupied them. Grytviken, on South Georgia, was a 19th and early 20th century whaling station. Famed explorer Ernest SHACKLETON stopped there in 1914 en route to his ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica on foot. He returned some 20 months later with a few companions in a small boat and arranged a successful rescue for the rest of his crew, stranded off the Antarctic Peninsula. He died in 1922 on a subsequent expedition and is buried in Grytviken. Today, the station houses scientists from the British Antarctic Survey. The islands have large bird and seal populations, and, recognizing the importance of preserving the marine stocks in adjacent waters, the UK, in 1993, extended the exclusive fishing zone from 12 nm to 200 nm around each island. |
Birth rate | 22.3 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | - |
Budget | revenues: $85.8 million
expenditures: $102.1 million, including capital expenditures of $28 million (1997) |
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Capital | Saint George's | - |
Climate | tropical; tempered by northeast trade winds | variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year interspersed with periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow |
Coastline | 121 km | NA km |
Constitution | 19 December 1973 | - |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Grenada |
conventional long form: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
conventional short form: none |
Death rate | 7.17 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | - |
Debt - external | $196 million (2000) | - |
Dependency status | - | overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by a commissioner, who is concurrently governor of the Falkland Islands, representing Queen ELIZABETH II; Grytviken, formerly a whaling station on South Georgia, is a scientific base |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Grenada
embassy: Lance-aux-Epines Stretch, Saint George's mailing address: P. O. Box 54, Saint George's, Grenada, West Indies telephone: [1] (473) 444-1173 through 1176 FAX: [1] (473) 444-4820 |
none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Denis G. ANTOINE
chancery: 1701 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 265-2561 FAX: [1] (202) 265-2468 consulate(s) general: New York |
none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina) |
Disputes - international | none | Argentina, which claims the islands in its constitution and briefly occupied the islands by force in 1982, agreed in 1995 to no longer seek settlement by force |
Economic aid - recipient | $8.3 million (1995) | - |
Economy - overview | Grenada relies on tourism as its main source of foreign exchange, especially since the construction of an international airport in 1985. Strong performances in construction and manufacturing, together with the development of an offshore financial industry, have also contributed to growth in national output. | Some fishing takes place in adjacent waters. There is a potential source of income from harvesting finfish and krill. The islands receive income from postage stamps produced in the UK, sale of fishing licenses, and harbor and landing fees from tourist vessels. Tourism from specialized cruise ships is increasing rapidly. |
Electricity - consumption | 138.6 million kWh (2002) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | - |
Electricity - production | 149 million kWh (2002) | - |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Saint Catherine 840 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Paget (South Georgia) 2,934 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | NA |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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Ethnic groups | black 82%, mixed black and European 13%, European and East Indian 5%, and trace of Arawak/Carib Amerindian | - |
Exchange rates | East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001), 2.7 (2000) | - |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Daniel WILLIAMS (since 9 August 1996)
head of government: Prime Minister Keith MITCHELL (since 22 June 1995) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general |
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Exports | NA | - |
Exports - commodities | bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, fruit and vegetables, clothing, mace | - |
Exports - partners | Saint Lucia 12.7%, US 12.2%, Antigua and Barbuda 8.7%, Netherlands 7.9%, Saint Kitts and Nevis 7.8%, Dominica 7.8%, Germany 7.1%, France 4.6% (2004) | - |
Fiscal year | calendar year | - |
Flag description | a rectangle divided diagonally into yellow triangles (top and bottom) and green triangles (hoist side and outer side), with a red border around the flag; there are seven yellow, five-pointed stars with three centered in the top red border, three centered in the bottom red border, and one on a red disk superimposed at the center of the flag; there is also a symbolic nutmeg pod on the hoist-side triangle (Grenada is the world's second-largest producer of nutmeg, after Indonesia); the seven stars represent the seven administrative divisions | blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands coat of arms centered on the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms features a shield with a golden lion centered; the shield is supported by a fur seal on the left and a penguin on the right; a reindeer appears above the shield, and below it on a scroll is the motto LEO TERRAM PROPRIAM PROTEGAT (Let the Lion Protect its Own Land) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 7.7%
industry: 23.9% services: 68.4% (2000) |
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GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2002 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.5% (2002 est.) | - |
Geographic coordinates | 12 07 N, 61 40 W | 54 30 S, 37 00 W |
Geography - note | the administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada | the north coast of South Georgia has several large bays, which provide good anchorage; reindeer, introduced early in the 20th century, live on South Georgia |
Highways | total: 1,040 km
paved: 638 km unpaved: 402 km (1999 est.) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
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Illicit drugs | small-scale cannabis cultivation; lesser transshipment point for marijuana and cocaine to US | - |
Imports | NA | - |
Imports - commodities | food, manufactured goods, machinery, chemicals, fuel | - |
Imports - partners | Trinidad and Tobago 29.6%, US 27.8%, UK 4.8% (2004) | - |
Independence | 7 February 1974 (from UK) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | 0.7% (1997 est.) | - |
Industries | food and beverages, textiles, light assembly operations, tourism, construction | - |
Infant mortality rate | total: 14.62 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 14.18 deaths/1,000 live births female: 15.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.8% (2001 est.) | - |
International organization participation | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WTO | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 0 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | West Indies Associate States Supreme Court (an associate judge resides in Grenada) | - |
Labor force | 42,300 (1996) | - |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 24%, industry 14%, services 62% (1999 est.) | - |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 5.88%
permanent crops: 29.41% other: 64.71% (2001) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (largely covered by permanent ice and snow with some sparse vegetation consisting of grass, moss, and lichen) (2001) |
Languages | English (official), French patois | - |
Legal system | based on English common law | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply; the senior magistrate from the Falkland Islands presides over the Magistrates Court |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (a 13-member body, 10 appointed by the government and three by the leader of the opposition) and the House of Representatives (15 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held on 27 November 2003 (next to be held by November 2008) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NNP 8, NDC 7 |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population: 64.53 years
male: 62.74 years female: 66.31 years (2005 est.) |
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Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 98% female: 98% (1970 est.) |
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Location | Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago | Southern South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the tip of South America |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Antarctic Region |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the UK |
Military branches | no regular military forces; Royal Grenada Police Force | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | NA | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 7 February (1974) | - |
Nationality | noun: Grenadian(s)
adjective: Grenadian |
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Natural hazards | lies on edge of hurricane belt; hurricane season lasts from June to November | the South Sandwich Islands have prevailing weather conditions that generally make them difficult to approach by ship; they are also subject to active volcanism |
Natural resources | timber, tropical fruit, deepwater harbors | fish |
Net migration rate | -13.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Grenada United Labor Party or GULP [Gloria Payne BANFIELD]; National Democratic Congress or NDC [Tillman THOMAS]; New National Party or NNP [Keith MITCHELL]; People Labor Movement or PLM [Dr. Francis ALEXIS] | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
Population | 89,502 (July 2005 est.) | no indigenous inhabitants
note: the small military garrison on South Georgia withdrew in March 2001, to be replaced by a permanent group of scientists of the British Antarctic Survey, which also has a biological station on Bird Island; the South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 32% (2000) | - |
Population growth rate | 0.19% (2005 est.) | - |
Ports and harbors | Saint George's | Grytviken |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) | 0 (2003) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 53%, Anglican 13.8%, other Protestant 33.2% | - |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.12 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
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Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | - |
Telephone system | general assessment: automatic, islandwide telephone system
domestic: interisland VHF and UHF radiotelephone links international: country code - 1-473; new SHF radiotelephone links to Trinidad and Tobago and Saint Vincent; VHF and UHF radio links to Trinidad |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: coastal radiotelephone station at Grytviken |
Telephones - main lines in use | 33,500 (2002) | - |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 7,600 (2002) | - |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (1997) | 0 (2003) |
Terrain | volcanic in origin with central mountains | most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and mountainous; South Georgia is largely barren and has steep, glacier-covered mountains; the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin with some active volcanoes |
Total fertility rate | 2.37 children born/woman (2005 est.) | - |
Unemployment rate | 12.5% (2000) | - |