Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2006) | Spratly Islands (2007) | |
Administrative divisions | 6 parishes; Charlotte, Grenadines, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick | - |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 26.7% (male 16,007/female 15,426)
15-64 years: 66.9% (male 40,676/female 38,155) 65 years and over: 6.4% (male 3,315/female 4,269) (2006 est.) |
- |
Agriculture - products | bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, spices; small numbers of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats; fish | - |
Airports | 6 (2006) | 3 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2006) |
total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2006) |
total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007) |
Area | total: 389 sq km (Saint Vincent 344 sq km)
land: 389 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: less than 5 sq km
land: less than 5 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes 100 or so islets, coral reefs, and sea mounts scattered over an area of nearly 410,000 sq km of the central South China Sea |
Area - comparative | twice the size of Washington, DC | NA |
Background | Resistance by native Caribs prevented colonization on St. Vincent until 1719. Disputed between France and the United Kingdom for most of the 18th century, the island was ceded to the latter in 1783. Between 1960 and 1962, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was a separate administrative unit of the Federation of the West Indies. Autonomy was granted in 1969 and independence in 1979. | The Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs. They are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and potentially by gas and oil deposits. They are claimed in their entirety by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, while portions are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines. About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small numbers of military forces from China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Brunei has established a fishing zone that overlaps a southern reef but has not made any formal claim. |
Birth rate | 16.18 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) | - |
Budget | revenues: $94.6 million
expenditures: $85.8 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
- |
Capital | name: Kingstown
geographic coordinates: 13 09 N, 61 14 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
- |
Climate | tropical; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November) | tropical |
Coastline | 84 km | 926 km |
Constitution | 27 October 1979 | - |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Spratly Islands |
Death rate | 5.98 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) | - |
Debt - external | $223 million (2004) | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | the US does not have an embassy in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | - |
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 |
- |
Disputes - international | joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea | all of the Spratly Islands are claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam; parts of them are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines; in 1984, Brunei established an exclusive fishing zone that encompasses Louisa Reef in the southern Spratly Islands but has not publicly claimed the reef; claimants in November 2002 signed the "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," which has eased tensions but falls short of a legally binding "code of conduct"; in March 2005, the national oil companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam signed a joint accord to conduct marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands |
Economic aid - recipient | $10.5 million (1995); note - EU $34.5 million (2004) | - |
Economy - overview | Economic growth in this lower-middle-income country 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 and has moved to adopt international regulatory standards. Saint Vincent is also a producer of marijuana and is being used as a transshipment point for illegal narcotics from South America. | Economic activity is limited to commercial fishing. The proximity to nearby oil- and gas-producing sedimentary basins suggests the potential for oil and gas deposits, but the region is largely unexplored. There are no reliable estimates of potential reserves. Commercial exploitation has yet to be developed. |
Electricity - consumption | 88.35 million kWh (2003) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2003) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2003) | - |
Electricity - production | 95 million kWh (2003) | - |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: La Soufriere 1,234 m |
lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Southwest Cay 4 m |
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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
- |
Ethnic groups | black 66%, mixed 19%, East Indian 6%, Carib Amerindian 2%, other 7% | - |
Exchange rates | East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001) | - |
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 |
- |
Exports | NA bbl/day | - |
Exports - commodities | bananas 39%, eddoes and dasheen (taro), arrowroot starch; tennis racquets | - |
Exports - partners | France 50.3%, Italy 21%, Greece 11%, US 4.2% (2005) | - |
Fiscal year | calendar year | - |
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 | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 10%
industry: 26% services: 64% (2001 est.) |
- |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.9% (2005 est.) | - |
Geographic coordinates | 13 15 N, 61 12 W | 8 38 N, 111 55 E |
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 | strategically located near several primary shipping lanes in the central South China Sea; includes numerous small islands, atolls, shoals, and coral reefs |
Heliports | - | 3 (2007) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
- |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; small-scale cannabis cultivation | - |
Imports | NA bbl/day | - |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, minerals and fuels | - |
Imports - partners | France 36.1%, Singapore 12.5%, Italy 11.9%, Trinidad and Tobago 7.9%, US 7.2% (2005) | - |
Independence | 27 October 1979 (from UK) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | -0.9% (1997 est.) | - |
Industries | food processing, cement, furniture, clothing, starch | - |
Infant mortality rate | total: 14.4 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 15.67 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
- |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1% (2005 est.) | - |
International organization participation | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WTO | - |
Irrigated land | 10 sq km (2003) | 0 sq km |
Judicial branch | Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (based on Saint Lucia; one judge of the Supreme Court resides in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) | - |
Labor force | 41,680 (1991 est.) | - |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 26%
industry: 17% services: 57% (1980 est.) |
- |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 17.95%
permanent crops: 17.95% other: 64.1% (2005) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005) |
Languages | English, French patois | - |
Legal system | based on English common law | - |
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 7 December 2005 (next to be held 2010) election results: percent of vote by party - ULP 55.26%, NDP 44.68%; seats by party - ULP 12, NDP 3 |
- |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 73.85 years
male: 71.99 years female: 75.77 years (2006 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 | Southeastern Asia, group of reefs and islands in the South China Sea, about two-thirds of the way from southern Vietnam to the southern Philippines |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Southeast Asia |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm |
NA |
Merchant marine | total: 589 ships (1000 GRT or over) 5,449,699 GRT/8,051,250 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 106, cargo 351, chemical tanker 5, container 20, liquefied gas 7, livestock carrier 1, passenger 5, passenger/cargo 15, petroleum tanker 18, refrigerated cargo 38, roll on/roll off 20, specialized tanker 3 foreign-owned: 529 (Bangladesh 1, Barbados 1, Belgium 3, Bulgaria 17, Canada 6, China 103, Croatia 9, Cyprus 1, Czech Republic registered in other countries: 1 (Comoros 1) (2006) |
- |
Military - note | - | Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs of which about 45 are claimed and occupied by China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam |
Military branches | no regular military forces; Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (includes Special Service Unit), Coast Guard (2005) | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | NA | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 27 October (1979) | - |
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 | typhoons; numerous reefs and shoals pose a serious maritime hazard |
Natural resources | hydropower, cropland | fish, guano, undetermined oil and natural gas potential |
Net migration rate | -7.59 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) | - |
Political parties and leaders | New Democratic Party or NDP [Arnhim EUSTACE]; 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) | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
Population | 117,848 (July 2006 est.) | no indigenous inhabitants
note: there are scattered garrisons occupied by personnel of several claimant states |
Population below poverty line | NA% | - |
Population growth rate | 0.26% (2006 est.) | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 6, shortwave 0 (2004) | - |
Religions | Anglican 47%, Methodist 28%, Roman Catholic 13%, Hindu, Seventh-Day Adventist, other Protestant | - |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
- |
Suffrage | 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: country code - 1-784; 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 |
- |
Telephones - main lines in use | 22,500 (2005) | - |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 70,600 (2005) | - |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (plus three repeaters) (2004) | - |
Terrain | volcanic, mountainous | flat |
Total fertility rate | 1.83 children born/woman (2006 est.) | - |
Unemployment rate | 15% (2001 est.) | - |