West Bank (2002) | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2008) | |
Administrative divisions | - | 6 parishes; Charlotte, Grenadines, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 44.4% (male 492,446; female 468,321)
15-64 years: 52% (male 575,282; female 550,793) 65 years and over: 3.6% (male 33,163; female 43,662) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 25.9% (male 15,596/female 15,027)
15-64 years: 67.6% (male 41,259/female 38,620) 65 years and over: 6.5% (male 3,358/female 4,289) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products | bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, spices; small numbers of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats; fish |
Airports | 3 (2001) | 6 (2007) |
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) |
total: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
Area | total: 5,860 sq km
land: 5,640 sq km water: 220 sq km note: includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. Scopus; East Jerusalem and Jerusalem No Man's Land are also included only as a means of depicting the entire area occupied by Israel in 1967 |
total: 389 sq km (Saint Vincent 344 sq km)
land: 389 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Delaware | twice the size of Washington, DC |
Background | The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993, provided for a transitional period not exceeding five years of Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Under the DOP, Israel agreed to transfer certain powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority, which includes the Palestinian Legislative Council elected in January 1996, as part of the interim self-governing arrangements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and in additional areas of the West Bank pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement. The DOP provides that Israel will retain responsibility during the transitional period for external security and for internal security and public order of settlements and Israeli citizens. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and West Bank had begun in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, but have been derailed by a second intifadah that broke out in September 2000. The resulting widespread violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's military response, and instability within the Palestinian Authority continue to undermine progress toward a permanent agreement. | 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. |
Birth rate | 34.94 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 16.02 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $930 million
expenditures: $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $15 million note: includes Gaza Strip (2000 est.) |
revenues: $94.6 million
expenditures: $85.8 million (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 | temperate; temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters | tropical; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November) |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 84 km |
Constitution | - | 27 October 1979 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: West Bank |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
Currency | new Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD) | - |
Death rate | 4.26 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 5.97 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $108 million (includes Gaza Strip) (1997 est.) | $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 | West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation | 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 eastern Caribbean Sea |
Economic aid - recipient | $800 million disbursed (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) | $4.89 million (1995); note - EU $34.5 million (2005) |
Economy - overview | Economic output in the West Bank is governed by the Paris Economic Protocol of April 1994 between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Real per capita GDP for the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) declined by about one-third between 1992 and 1996 due to the combined effect of falling aggregate incomes and rapid population growth. The downturn in economic activity was largely the result of Israeli closure policies - the imposition of border closures in response to security incidents in Israel - which disrupted labor and commodity market relationships between Israel and the WBGS. The most serious social effect of this downturn was rising unemployment; unemployment in the WBGS during the 1980s was generally under 5%; by 1995 it had risen to over 20%. Israel's use of comprehensive closures during the next five years decreased and, in 1998, Israel implemented new policies to reduce the impact of closures and other security procedures on the movement of Palestinian goods and labor. These changes fueled an almost three-year-long economic recovery in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; real GDP grew by 5% in 1998 and 6% in 1999. Recovery was upended in the last quarter of 2000 with the outbreak of Palestinian violence, which triggered tight Israeli closures of Palestinian self-rule areas and severely disrupted trade and labor movements. In 2001, and even more severely in 2002, internal turmoil and Israeli military measures in Palestinian Authority areas have resulted in the destruction of much capital plant and administrative structure, widespread business closures, and a sharp drop in GDP. Another major loss has been the decline in earnings of Palestinian workers in Israel. | Economic growth slowed slightly in 2007 after reaching a 10 year high of nearly 7% in 2006, but is expected to remain robust, hinging upon seasonal variations in the agricultural and tourism sectors and a recent increase in construction activity. This lower-middle-income country is vulnerable to natural disasters - tropical storms wiped out substantial portions of crops in 1994, 1995, and 2002. In 2005, the islands had more than 160,000 tourist arrivals, mostly to the Grenadines. Saint Vincent is home to a small offshore banking sector and has moved to adopt international regulatory standards. The government's ability to invest in social programs and respond to external shocks is constrained by its high debt burden - 25 percent of current revenues are directed towards debt servicing. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 107 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | NA kWh | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | NA kWh; note - most electricity imported from Israel; East Jerusalem Electric Company buys and distributes electricity to Palestinians in East Jerusalem and its concession in the West Bank; the Israel Electric Company directly supplies electricity to most Jewish residents and military facilities; at the same time, some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nablus and Janin, generate their own electricity from small power plants | 115 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: NA%
hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: La Soufriere 1,234 m |
Environment - current issues | adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment | 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 |
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 | Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17% | black 66%, mixed 19%, East Indian 6%, Carib Amerindian 2%, other 7% |
Exchange rates | new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.2757 (December 2001), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997); Jordanian dinars per US dollar - fixed rate of 0.7090 (from 1996) | East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2007), 2.7 (2006), 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (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 |
Exports | $603 million f.o.b., includes Gaza Strip (2001 est.) | 0 bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone | bananas 39%, eddoes and dasheen (taro), arrowroot starch; tennis racquets |
Exports - partners | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip | France 26.2%, Greece 21.3%, Italy 18.9%, Russia 7.2%, UK 6.8% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year (since 1 January 1992) | 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 | purchasing power parity - $2.1 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 9%
industry: 28% services: 63% note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 10%
industry: 26% services: 64% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | -35% (2001 est.) | 4.4% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 32 00 N, 35 15 E | 13 15 N, 61 12 W |
Geography - note | landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 242 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem (February 2002 est.) | 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 |
Highways | total: 4,500 km
paved: 2,700 km unpaved: 1,800 km (1997 est.) note: Israelis have developed many highways to service Jewish settlements |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
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 | $1.9 billion c.i.f., includes Gaza Strip (2001 est.) | 1,468 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | food, consumer goods, construction materials | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, minerals and fuels |
Imports - partners | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip | Singapore 17.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 12.1%, US 11.1%, Italy 11%, Spain 9.5%, Turkey 4.6%, Germany 4.4% (2006) |
Independence | - | 27 October 1979 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | -0.9% (1997 est.) |
Industries | generally small family businesses that produce cement, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have established some small-scale, modern industries in the settlements and industrial centers | food processing, cement, furniture, clothing, starch |
Infant mortality rate | 21.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 14.01 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 15.25 deaths/1,000 live births female: 12.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) | 1% (2005 est.) |
International organization participation | - | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 8 (1999) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 10 sq km (2003) |
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 | NA | 41,680 (1991 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996) | agriculture: 26%
industry: 17% services: 57% (1980 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 404 km
border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: NEGL%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 17.95%
permanent crops: 17.95% other: 64.1% (2005) |
Languages | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood) | English, French patois |
Legal system | - | based on English common law |
Legislative branch | - | unicameral House of Assembly (21 seats, 15 elected representatives and six appointed senators; representatives are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 7 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010) election results: percent of vote by party - ULP 55.3%, NDP 44.7%; seats by party - ULP 12, NDP 3 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 72.47 years
male: 70.76 years female: 74.29 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 74.09 years
male: 72.21 years female: 76.04 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school
total population: 96% male: 96% female: 96% (1970 est.) |
Location | Middle East, west of Jordan | Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago |
Map references | Middle East | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | - | total: 582 ships (1000 GRT or over) 5,598,917 GRT/8,255,014 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 92, cargo 353, carrier 19, chemical tanker 4, container 17, liquefied gas 6, livestock carrier 1, passenger 5, passenger/cargo 11, petroleum tanker 19, refrigerated cargo 31, roll on/roll off 21, specialized tanker 3 foreign-owned: 536 (Austria 2, Bangladesh 1, Barbados 1, Belgium 9, Bulgaria 13, Canada 6, China 106, Croatia 7, Cyprus 3, Czech Republic 1, Denmark 16, Egypt 4, Estonia 20, France 7, Germany 3, Greece 81, Guyana 2, Hong Kong 7, Iceland 15, India 5, Iran 1, Israel 4, Italy 19, Kenya 2, Latvia 20, Lebanon 7, Lithuania 7, Malta 1, Monaco 6, Montenegro 1, Netherlands 5, Norway 19, Pakistan 1, Philippines 1, Poland 1, Portugal 1, Puerto Rico 1, Romania 1, Russia 19, Singapore 6, Slovenia 5, Sweden 2, Switzerland 12, Syria 11, Turkey 20, Ukraine 12, UAE 12, UK 9, US 21) (2007) |
Military branches | - | no regular military forces; Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, Coast Guard (2007) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $NA | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | NA |
National holiday | - | Independence Day, 27 October (1979) |
Nationality | noun: NA
adjective: NA |
noun: Saint Vincentian(s) or Vincentian(s)
adjective: Saint Vincentian or Vincentian |
Natural hazards | droughts | hurricanes; Soufriere volcano on the island of Saint Vincent is a constant threat |
Natural resources | arable land | hydropower, cropland |
Net migration rate | 3.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | -7.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 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 | 2,163,667 (July 2002 est.)
note: in addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (February 2002 est.) |
118,149 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 50% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 3.39% (2002 est.) | 0.248% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0
note: the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts from an AM station in Ramallah on 675 kHz; numerous local, private stations are reported to be in operation (2000) |
AM 1, FM 6, shortwave 0 (2004) |
Radios | NA; note - most Palestinian households have radios (1999) | - |
Railways | 0 km | - |
Religions | Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8% | Anglican 47%, Methodist 28%, Roman Catholic 13%, other (includes Hindu, Seventh-Day Adventist, other Protestant) 12% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.038 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.068 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.783 male(s)/female total population: 1.039 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: NA note: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for communication services in the West Bank |
general assessment: adequate system
domestic: islandwide, fully automatic telephone system; VHF/UHF radiotelephone from Saint Vincent to the other islands of the Grenadines; mobile-cellular teledensity about 75 telephones per 100 persons international: country code - 1-784; the East Caribbean Fiber Optic System (ECFS) and Southern Caribbean fiber optic system (SCF) submarine cables carry international calls; connectivity also provided by VHF/UHF radiotelephone from Saint Vincent to Barbados; SHF radiotelephone to Grenada and Saint Lucia; access to Intelsat earth station in Martinique through Saint Lucia |
Telephones - main lines in use | 95,729 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (1997) | 22,600 (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 87,600 (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 1 (plus 3 repeaters) (2004) |
Terrain | mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east | volcanic, mountainous |
Total fertility rate | 4.77 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 1.81 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 26% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) | 15% (2001 est.) |
Waterways | none | - |