Compare Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2003) - European Union (2008)

Compare Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2003) z European Union (2008)

	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2003)	European Union (2008)

Administrative divisions	6 parishes; Charlotte, Grenadines, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick	-
Age structure	0-14 years: 28.2% (male 16,755; female 16,163) 15-64 years: 65.5% (male 39,308; female 37,149) 65 years and over: 6.4% (male 3,215; female 4,222) (2003 est.)	0-14 years: 15.72% (male 37,208,905/female 35,254,445) 15-64 years: 67.16% (male 155,807,769/female 153,690,235) 65 years and over: 17.11% (male 32,592,595/female 46,273,197) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products	bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, spices; small numbers of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats; fish	wheat, barley, oilseeds, sugar beets, wine, grapes; dairy products, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry; fish
Airports	6 (2002)	3,393 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 2 (2002)	2,020 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002)	1,373 (2006)
Area	total: 389 sq km (Saint Vincent 344 sq km) land: 389 sq km water: 0 sq km	total: 4,324,782 sq km
Area - comparative	twice the size of Washington, DC	less than one-half the size of the US
Background	Disputed between France and the United Kingdom in the 18th century, Saint Vincent was ceded to the latter in 1783. Autonomy was granted in 1969 and independence in 1979.	Following the two devastating World Wars of the first half of the 20th century, a number of European leaders in the late 1940s became convinced that the only way to establish a lasting peace was to unite the two chief belligerent nations - France and Germany - both economically and politically. In 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed an eventual union of all Europe, the first step of which would be the integration of the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. The following year the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris. The ECSC was so successful that within a few years the decision was made to integrate other parts of the countries' economies. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the six member states undertook to eliminate trade barriers among themselves by forming a common market. In 1967, the institutions of all three communities were formally merged into the European Community (EC), creating a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament were initially selected by national parliaments, but in 1979 the first direct elections were undertaken and they have been held every five years since. In 1973, the first enlargement of the EC took place with the addition of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The 1980s saw further membership expansion with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs, and in the creation of an economic and monetary union - including a common currency. This further integration created the European Union (EU). In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU, raising the membership total to 15. A new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on 1 January 1999; it became the unit of exchange for all of the EU states except the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002, citizens of the 12 euro-area countries began using the euro banknotes and coins. Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - and in 2007 Bulgaria and Romania joined, bringing the current membership to 27. In order to ensure that the EU can continue to function efficiently with an expanded membership, the Treaty of Nice (in force as of 1 February 2003) set forth rules streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions. An effort to establish an EU constitution, begun in October 2004, failed to attain unanimous ratification. A new effort, undertaken in June 2007, calls for the creation of an Intergovernmental Conference to form a political agreement, known as the Reform Treaty, which is to serve as a constitution. Unlike the constitution, however, the Reform Treaty would amend existing treaties rather than replace them.
Birth rate	17.16 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)	10 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget	revenues: $94.6 million expenditures: $85.8 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)	-
Capital	Kingstown	name: Brussels (Belgium), Strasbourg (France), Luxembourg geographic coordinates: 50 50 N, 4 20 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October note: the Council of the European Union meets in Brussels, Belgium, the European Parliament meets in Brussels and Strasbourg, France, and the Court of Justice of the European Communities meets in Luxembourg
Climate	tropical; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November)	cold temperate; potentially subarctic in the north to temperate; mild wet winters; hot dry summers in the south
Coastline	84 km	65,992.9 km
Constitution	27 October 1979	based on a series of treaties: the Treaty of Paris, which set up the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951; the Treaties of Rome, which set up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957; the Single European Act in 1986; the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht) in 1992; the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997; and the Treaty of Nice in 2003; note - a new draft Constitutional Treaty, signed on 29 October 2004 in Rome, gave member states two years for ratification either by parliamentary vote or national referendum before it was scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006; defeat in French and Dutch referenda in May-June 2005 dealt a severe setback to the ratification process; in June 2007, the European Council agreed on a clear and concise mandate for an Intergovernmental Conference to form a political agreement and put it into legal form; this agreement, known as the Reform Treaty, is to serve as a constitution and will be presented to the European Council in October 2007, in order to begin the ratification process
Country name	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	-
Currency	East Caribbean dollar (XCD)	-
Death rate	6.08 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)	10 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external	$167.2 million (2000)	-
Diplomatic representation from the US	the US does not have an embassy in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; the US Ambassador in Barbados is accredited to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	chief of mission: Ambassador C. Boyden GRAY embassy: 13 Zinnerstraat/Rue Zinner, B-1000 Brussels mailing address: same as above telephone: [32] (2) 508-2222 FAX: [32] (2) 512-5720
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Ellsworth I. A. JOHN chancery: 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016 telephone: [1] (202) 364-6730 FAX: [1] (202) 364-6736 consulate(s) general: New York	chief of mission: Ambassador John BRUTON chancery: 2300 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 862-9500 FAX: [1] (202) 429-1766
Disputes - international	protests Venezuela's claim to give full effect to Aves Island, which creates a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea	as a political union, the EU has no border disputes with neighboring countries, but Estonia has no land boundary agreements with Russia, Slovenia disputes its land and maritime boundaries with Croatia, and Spain has territorial and maritime disputes with Morocco and with the UK over Gibraltar; the EU has set up a Schengen area - consisting of 22 EU member states that have signed the convention implementing the Schengen agreements or "acquis" (1985 and 1990) on the free movement of persons and the harmonization of border controls in Europe; these agreements became incorporated into EU law with the implementation of the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999; in addition, non-EU states Iceland and Norway (as part of the Nordic Union) have been included in the Schengen area since 1996 (full members in 2001), bringing the total current membership to 24; the UK (since 2000) and Ireland (since 2002) take part in only some aspects of the Schengen area, especially with respect to police and criminal matters; nine of the 12 new member states that joined the EU in 2004 joined Schengen on 21 December 2007; of the three remaining EU states, Cyprus is expected to join by 2009, while Romania and Bulgaria continue to enhance their border security systems
Economic aid - recipient	$47.5 million (1995); note - EU $34.5 million (1998)	-
Economy - overview	Bananas and other agricultural products remain the staple of this lower-middle income country's economy. Although tourism and other services have been growing moderately in recent years, the government has been ineffective at introducing new industries. Unemployment remains high, and economic growth hinges upon seasonal variations in the agricultural and tourism sectors. Tropical storms wiped out substantial portions of crops in 1994, 1995, and 2002, and tourism in the Eastern Caribbean has suffered low arrivals following 11 September 2001. Saint Vincent is home to a small offshore banking sector, but its restrictive secrecy laws have come under international review. As of June 2001, it remained on the Financial Action Task Force's list of noncooperative jurisdictions. Saint Vincent is also the largest producer of marijuana in the Eastern Caribbean and is increasingly being used as a transshipment point for illegal narcotics from South America.	Internally, the EU is attempting to lower trade barriers, adopt a common currency, and move toward convergence of living standards. Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic power. Because of the great differences in per capita income among member states (from $7,000 to $69,000) and historic national animosities, the EU faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common policies. For example, since 2003 Germany and France have flouted the member states' treaty obligation to prevent their national budgets from running more than a 3% deficit. In 2004 and 2007, the EU admitted 10 and two countries, respectively, that are, in general, less advanced technologically and economically than the other 15. Eleven established EU member states introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999 (Greece did so two years later), but the UK, Sweden, and Denmark chose not to participate. Of the 12 most recent member states, only Slovenia (1 January 2007) and Cyprus and Malta (1 January 2008) have adopted the euro; the remaining nine are legally required to adopt the currency upon meeting EU's fiscal and monetary convergence criteria.
Electricity - consumption	86 million kWh (2001)	2.81 trillion kWh (2004 est.)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2001)	NA
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2001)	NA
Electricity - production	92.48 million kWh (2001)	3.007 trillion kWh (2004 est.)
Electricity - production by source	fossil fuel: 69.3% hydro: 30.7% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)	-
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Soufriere 1,234 m	lowest point: Lammefjord, Denmark -7 m; Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands -7 m highest point: Mont Blanc 4,807 m; note - situated on the border between France and Italy
Environment - current issues	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	NA
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol	party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 82, Tropical Timber 94 signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds
Ethnic groups	black 66%, mixed 19%, East Indian 6%, Carib Amerindian 2%, other 7%	-
Exchange rates	East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001), 2.7 (2000), 2.7 (1999), 2.7 (1998)	euros per US dollar - 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003)
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Fredrick Nathaniel BALLANTYNE (since 2 September 2002) 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: none; the monarch is hereditary; the governor general is appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister	chief of union: President of the European Commission Jose Manuel DURAO BARROSO (since 22 November 2004) cabinet: European Commission (composed of 27 members, one from each member country; each commissioner responsible for one or more policy areas) elections: the president of the European Commission is designated by member governments and is confirmed by the European Parliament; working from member state recommendations, the Commission president then assembles a "college" of Commission members; the European Parliament confirms the entire Commission for a five-year term; the last confirmation process was held 18 November 2004 (next to be held in 2009) election results: European Parliament approved the European Commission by an approval vote of 449 to 149 with 82 abstentions note: the European Council brings together heads of state and government and the president of the European Commission and meets at least four times a year; its aim is to provide the impetus for the major political issues relating to European integration and to issue general policy guidelines
Exports	NA (2001)	6.971 million bbl/day (2001)
Exports - commodities	bananas 39%, eddoes and dasheen (taro), arrowroot starch, tennis racquets	machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, fuels, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, wood pulp and paper products, textiles, meat, dairy products, fish, alcoholic beverages.
Exports - partners	France 25.2%, Greece 19.1%, Spain 16.4%, UK 9.5%, US 7.1% (2002)	US 23.3%, Switzerland 7.6%, Russia 5.2%, China 4.8% (2006)
Fiscal year	calendar year	NA
Flag description	three vertical bands of blue (hoist side), gold (double width), and green; the gold band bears three green diamonds arranged in a V pattern	on a blue field, 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle, representing the union of the peoples of Europe; the number of stars is fixed
GDP	purchasing power parity - $339 million (2002 est.)	-
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 10% industry: 26% services: 64% (2001 est.)	agriculture: 2% industry: 27.1% services: 70.7% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $2,900 (2002 est.)	-
GDP - real growth rate	-0.5% (2002 est.)	3% (2007 est.)
Geographic coordinates	13 15 N, 61 12 W	-
Geography - note	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	-
Heliports	-	100 (2007)
Highways	total: 1,040 km paved: 320 km unpaved: 720 km (1999 est.)	-
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 25.2% (2001 est.)
Illicit drugs	transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; small-scale cannabis cultivation	-
Imports	NA (2001)	17.76 million bbl/day (2001)
Imports - commodities	foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, minerals and fuels	machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles, metals, foodstuffs, clothing
Imports - partners	France 32.7%, US 11.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 10.4%, Singapore 10.1%, Spain 7.9%, Greece 4.3% (2002)	US 13.8%, China 13.4%, Russia 8.2%, Japan 6.2% (2006)
Independence	27 October 1979 (from UK)	7 February 1992 (Maastricht Treaty signed establishing the EU); 1 November 1993 (Maastricht Treaty entered into force)
Industrial production growth rate	-0.9% (1997 est.)	2.6% (2006 est.)
Industries	food processing, cement, furniture, clothing, starch	among the world's largest and most technologically advanced, the European Union industrial base includes: ferrous and non-ferrous metal production and processing, metal products, petroleum, coal, cement, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, rail transportation equipment, passenger and commercial vehicles, construction equipment, industrial equipment, shipbuilding, electrical power equipment, machine tools and automated manufacturing systems, electronics and telecommunications equipment, fishing, food and beverage processing, furniture, paper, textiles, tourism
Infant mortality rate	total: 15.7 deaths/1,000 live births male: 17.08 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.27 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)	total: 4.8 deaths/1,000 live births male: 5.3 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-0.4% (2001 est.)	1.8% (2006 est.)
International organization participation	ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WTrO	European Union: ARF (dialogue member), ASEAN (dialogue member), IDA, OAS (observer), UN (observer) European Community: Australian Group, CBSS, CERN, FAO, EBRD, G-10, NAM (observer), NSG (observer), OECD, UNRWA, WCO, WTO, ZC (observer) European Central Bank: BIS European Investment Bank: EBRD, WADB (nonregional member)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)	15 (2000)	-
Irrigated land	10 sq km (1998 est.)	168,050 sq km (2003 est.)
Judicial branch	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (based on Saint Lucia; one judge of the Supreme Court resides in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)	Court of Justice of the European Communities (ensures that the treaties are interpreted and applied uniformly throughout the EU; resolve constitutional issues among the EU institutions) - 27 justices (one from each member state) appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of efficiency, the court can sit with 13 justices known as the "Grand Chamber"; Court of First Instance - 27 justices appointed for a six-year term
Labor force	67,000 (1984 est.)	222.4 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture 26%, industry 17%, services 57% (1980 est.)	agriculture: 4.4% industry: 27.1% services: 67.1% note: the remainder is in miscellaneous public and private sector industries and services (2002 est.)
Land boundaries	0 km	total: 12,440.8 km border countries: Albania 282 km, Andorra 120.3 km, Belarus 1,050 km, Croatia 999 km, Holy See 3.2 km, Liechtenstein 34.9 km, Macedonia 394 km, Moldova 450 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Norway 2,348 km, Russia 2,257 km, San Marino 39 km, Serbia 945 km, Switzerland 1,811 km, Turkey 446 km, Ukraine 1,257 km note: data for European Continent only
Land use	arable land: 10.26% permanent crops: 17.95% other: 71.79% (1998 est.)	arable land: NA% permanent crops: NA% other: NA%
Languages	English, French patois	Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Gaelic, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish note: only official languages are listed; German, the major language of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, is the most widely spoken mother tongue - over 19% of the EU population; English is the most widely spoken language - about 49% of the EU population is conversant with it (2007)
Legal system	based on English common law	comparable to the legal systems of member states; first supranational law system
Legislative branch	unicameral House of Assembly (21 seats, 15 elected representatives and 6 appointed senators; representatives are elected by popular vote from single-member constituencies to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 28 March 2001 (next to be held by March 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ULP 12, NDP 3	two legislative bodies consists of the Council of the European Union (27 member-state ministers having 345 votes; the number of votes is roughly proportional to member-states' population; note - the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU) and the European Parliament (785 seats, as of 1 January 2007; seats allocated among member states by proportion to population; members elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term) elections: last held 10-13 June 2004 (next to be held June 2009) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats by party - EPP-ED 268, PES 202, ALDE 88, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 36, UEN 27, independents 28; note - seats by party as of 1 December 2007 - EPP-ED 275, PES 217, ALDE 104, UEN 44, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 24, independents 34, 4 unaccounted for
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 73.08 years male: 71.3 years female: 74.92 years (2003 est.)	total population: 78.7 years male: 75.6 years female: 82 years (2007 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 96% male: 96% female: 96% (1970 est.)	-
Location	Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago	Europe between the North Atlantic Ocean in the west and Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine to the east
Map references	Central America and the Caribbean	Europe
Maritime claims	contiguous zone: 24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM	NA
Merchant marine	total: 769 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,365,887 GRT/9,665,937 DWT ships by type: bulk 133, cargo 376, chemical tanker 21, combination bulk 7, container 58, liquefied gas 8, livestock carrier 4, multi-functional large-load carrier 2, passenger 5, petroleum tanker 43, refrigerated cargo 46, roll on/roll off 45, short-sea passenger 10, specialized tanker 10, vehicle carrier 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Albania 1, Anguilla 1, Argentina 1, Australia 2, The Bahamas 1, Bangladesh 1, Barbados 2, Belgium 4, Bulgaria 14, Canada 1, Cayman Islands 1, China 135, Colombia 1, Croatia 12, Cyprus 6, Denmark 16, Egypt 7, Estonia 6, France 27, Germany 12, Greece 156, Guyana 7, Hong Kong 23, Iceland 1, India 11, Indonesia 3, Israel 2, Italy 19, Japan 1, Kenya 4, Latvia 5, Lebanon 9, Liberia 5, Lithuania 1, Malta 1, Man, Isle of 1, Marshall Islands 3, Mexico 1, Monaco 6, Netherlands 14, Netherlands Antilles 1, Nigeria 3, Norway 33, Pakistan 5, Panama 2, Poland 2, Portugal 2, Puerto Rico 2, Russia 8, Saint Kitts and Nevis 1, Saudi Arabia 3, Singapore 4, Slovenia 7, South Korea 4, Spain 1, Sweden 6, Switzerland 10, Syria 2, Taiwan 1, Thailand 1, Trinidad and Tobago 1, Tunisia 1, Turkey 15, Ukraine 8, UAE 45, UK 16, US 25, Vietnam 1 (2002 est.)	-
Military - note	-	In November 2004, the EU heads of government signed a "Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe" that offers possibilities for increased defense and security cooperation. If ratified, this treaty will give operational effect to the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP), approved in the 2000 Nice Treaty. Despite limits of cooperation for some EU members, development of a EU military planning unit is likely to continue. The planning unit will support the EU Rapid Reaction Force, which EU ministers have said will deploy 2 "battle groups" in January 2007. France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Italy continue to press for wider coordination. The 5-nation Eurocorps - created in 1992 by France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg - has already deployed troops and police on peacekeeping missions to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and assumed command of the ISAF in Afghanistan in August 2004. Eurocorps directly commands the 5,000-man Franco-German Brigade, the Multinational Command Support Brigade, and EUFOR, which took over from SFOR in Bosnia in December 2004. Individual EU nations made commitments to provide 67,100 troops following the December 1999 EU summit in Helsinki. Some 56,000 troops from EU member states were actually deployed on various international operations in 2003. In August 2004, the new European Defense Agency, tasked with promoting cooperative European defense capabilities, began operations. In November 2004, the EU Council of Ministers formally committed to creating 13 1,500-man battle groups by the end of 2007, to respond to international crises on a rotating basis. Twenty-two of the EU's 25 nations have agreed to supply troops. France, Italy, and the UK formed the first of 3 battle groups in 2005. In May 2005, Norway, Sweden and Finland agreed to establish one of the battle groups, possibly to include Estonia forces. The remaining 9 groups are to be formed in 2007. A rapid-reaction naval EU Maritime Task Group was stood up in March 2007. (2005)
Military branches	Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (includes Special Service Unit), Coast Guard	-
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$NA	-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	NA%	-
National holiday	Independence Day, 27 October (1979)	Europe Day 9 May (1950); note - a Union-wide holiday, the day that Robert SCHUMAN proposed the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community to achieve an organized Europe
Nationality	noun: Saint Vincentian(s) or Vincentian(s) adjective: Saint Vincentian or Vincentian	-
Natural hazards	hurricanes; Soufriere volcano on the island of Saint Vincent is a constant threat	flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Baltic
Natural resources	hydropower, cropland	iron ore, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, bauxite, uranium, potash, salt, hydropower, arable land, timber, fish
Net migration rate	-7.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)	1.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Political parties and leaders	National Reform Party or NRP [Joel MIGUEL]; New Democratic Party or NDP [Arnhim EUSTACE]; People's Progressive Movement or PPM [Ken BOYEA]; Progressive Labor Party or PLP [leader NA]; United People's Movement or UPM [Adrian SAUNDERS]; Unity Labor Party or ULP [Ralph GONSALVES] (formed by the coalition of Saint Vincent Labor Party or SVLP and the Movement for National Unity or MNU)	Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left or EUL/NGL [Francis WURTZ]; European People's Party-European Democrats or EPP-ED [Joseph DAUL]; Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe or ALDE [Graham R. WATSON]; Group of Greens/European Free Alliance or Greens/EFA [Monica FRASSONI and Daniel Marc COHN-BENDIT]; Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty Group or ITS [Bruno GOLLNISCH]; Independence/Democracy Group or IND/DEM [Jens-Peter BONDE and Nigel FARAGE]; Socialist Group in the European Parliament or PES [Martin SCHULZ]; Union for Europe of the Nations Group or UEN [Brian CROWLEY and Cristiana MUSCARDINI]
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	-
Population	116,812 (July 2003 est.)	490,426,060 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA%	see individual country listings
Population growth rate	0.34% (2003 est.)	0.16% (2007 est.)
Ports and harbors	Kingstown	-
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998)	AM 930, FM 13,655, shortwave 71 (1998); note - sum of individual country radio broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Euroradio)
Railways	0 km	total: 236,656 km broad gauge: 28,240 km standard gauge: 200,532 km narrow gauge: 7,861 km other: 23 km (2006)
Religions	Anglican 47%, Methodist 28%, Roman Catholic 13%, Hindu Seventh-Day Adventist, other Protestant	Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2003 est.)	at birth: NA under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: adequate system domestic: islandwide, fully automatic telephone system; VHF/UHF radiotelephone from Saint Vincent to the other islands of the Grenadines international: VHF/UHF radiotelephone from Saint Vincent to Barbados; new SHF radiotelephone to Grenada and to Saint Lucia; access to Intelsat earth station in Martinique through Saint Lucia	note - see individual country entries of member states
Telephones - main lines in use	20,500 (1998)	238 million (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular	NA	466 million (2005)
Television broadcast stations	1 (plus three repeaters) (1997)	2,700 (1995); note - sum of individual country television broadcast stations excluding repeaters; there is also a European-wide station (Eurovision)
Terrain	volcanic, mountainous	fairly flat along the Baltic and Atlantic coast; mountainous in the central and southern areas
Total fertility rate	1.95 children born/woman (2003 est.)	1.5 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate	22% (1997 est.)	8.5% (2006 est.)
Waterways	none	52,332 km (2006)

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