South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2001) | Grenada (2002) | |
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: 35.9% (male 16,213; female 15,863)
15-64 years: 60.3% (male 28,460; female 25,307) 65 years and over: 3.8% (male 1,546; female 1,822) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | - | bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, mace, citrus, avocados, root crops, sugarcane, corn, vegetables |
Airports | none | 3 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | - | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
Area | 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 |
total: 344 sq km
land: 344 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Rhode Island | twice the size of Washington, DC |
Background | The islands lie approximately 1,000 km east of the Falkland Islands. Grytviken, on South Georgia, was a 19th and early 20th century whaling station. The 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 a small military garrison. 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 miles to 200 miles around each island. | 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. |
Birth rate | - | 23.05 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$291,777 expenditures: $451,000, including capital expenditures of $NA (1988 est.) |
revenues: $85.8 million
expenditures: $102.1 million, including capital expenditures of $28 million (1997) |
Capital | - | Saint George's |
Climate | variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year interspersed with periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow | tropical; tempered by northeast trade winds |
Coastline | NA km | 121 km |
Constitution | adopted 3 October 1985 | 19 December 1973 |
Country name | conventional long form:
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands conventional short form: none |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Grenada |
Currency | - | East Caribbean dollar (XCD) |
Death rate | - | 7.63 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $196 million (2000) (2000) |
Dependency status | overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by UK civil commissioner Donald A. LAMONT, representing Queen ELIZABETH II; Grytviken, formerly a whaling station on South Georgia, is the garrison town | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina) | chief of mission: the ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Grenada; Charge d'Affairs Nadia TONGOUR
embassy: Point Salines, 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 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina) | 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 |
Disputes - international | claimed by Argentina | none |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $8.3 million (1995) (1995) |
Economy - overview | Some fishing takes place in adjacent waters. There is a potential source of income from harvesting fin fish and krill. The islands receive income from postage stamps produced in the UK. | Despite government steadying of annual economic growth in recent years through progress in fiscal reform and prudent macroeconomic management, a downturn in tourist arrivals in 2001 threatens government spending in 2002. Grenada relies on tourism as its main source of foreign exchange, although it also supports a small agriculture sector and a developing offshore financial industry. Short-term concerns include a rising fiscal deficit and the deterioration in the external account balance. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 102.3 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | - | 110 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Paget (South Georgia) 2,934 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Saint Catherine 840 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | NA |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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 - 2.7000 (fixed rate since 1976) |
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 |
Exports | - | $78 million (2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | - | bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, fruit and vegetables, clothing, mace |
Exports - partners | - | Caricom 32.3%, UK 20%, US 13%, Netherlands 8.8% (1991) |
Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
Flag description | the flag of the UK is used | 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 |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $424 million (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 8%
industry: 24% services: 68% (2000) (2000) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $4,750 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 6.5% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 54 30 S, 37 00 W | 12 07 N, 61 40 W |
Geography - note | the north coast of South Georgia has several large bays, which provide good anchorage; reindeer, introduced early in this century, live on South Georgia | the administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada |
Highways | - | total: 1,040 km
paved: 638 km unpaved: 402 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | - | small-scale cannabis cultivation; lesser transshipment point for marijuana and cocaine to US |
Imports | - | $270 million (2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | - | food, manufactured goods, machinery, chemicals, fuel (1989) |
Imports - partners | - | US 31.2%, Caricom 23.6%, UK 13.8%, Japan 7.1% (1991) |
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 | - | 14.63 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 2.8% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | - | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 14 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 0 sq km (1993) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | - | West Indies Associate States Supreme Court (an associate judge resides in Grenada) |
Labor force | - | 42,300 (1996) (1996) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | services 62%, agriculture 24%, industry 14% (1999 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 100% (largely covered by permanent ice and snow with some sparse vegetation consisting of grass, moss, and lichen) |
arable land: 5.88%
permanent crops: 26.47% other: 67.65% (1998 est.) |
Languages | - | English (official), French patois |
Legal system | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply | based on English common law |
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 18 January 1999 (next to be held by NA October 2004) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NNP 14, GULP 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: 64.52 years
male: 62.74 years female: 66.31 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 98% female: 98% (1970 est.) |
Location | Southern South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the tip of South America | Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago |
Map references | Antarctic Region | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | exclusive fishing zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | none (2002 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK | - |
Military branches | - | Royal Grenada Police Force, Coast Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | NA% |
National holiday | Liberation Day, 14 June (1982) | Independence Day, 7 February (1974) |
Nationality | - | noun: Grenadian(s)
adjective: Grenadian |
Natural hazards | the South Sandwich Islands have prevailing weather conditions that generally make them difficult to approach by ship; they are also subject to active volcanism | lies on edge of hurricane belt; hurricane season lasts from June to November |
Natural resources | fish | timber, tropical fruit, deepwater harbors |
Net migration rate | - | -15.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | - | Grenada United Labor Party or GULP [Herbert PREUDHOMME]; National Democratic Congress or NDC [leader vacant]; New National Party or NNP [George McGUIRE] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | NA |
Population | 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 2001 est.) |
89,211 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | NA% |
Population growth rate | - | 0.02% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Grytviken | Grenville, Saint George's |
Radio broadcast stations | none | AM 2, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | - | 57,000 (1997) |
Railways | - | 0 km |
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: 0.85 male(s)/female total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
NA domestic: NA international: coastal radiotelephone station at Grytviken |
general assessment: automatic, islandwide telephone system
domestic: interisland VHF and UHF radiotelephone links international: new SHF radiotelephone links to Trinidad and Tobago and Saint Vincent; VHF and UHF radio links to Trinidad |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | 27,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 976 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 0 (1997) | 2 (1997) |
Terrain | 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 | volcanic in origin with central mountains |
Total fertility rate | - | 2.5 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | - | 11.5% (1999) (1999) |
Waterways | none | none |