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Country Guide > Caribbean > St Vincent and the Grenadines | |
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General Information Area St Vincent: 344 sq km (133 sq miles). Grenadines: 45.3 sq km (17.3 sq miles). Total: 389.3 sq km (150.3 sq miles). Population 119,000 (official estimate 2002). Population Density 305.7 per sq km (2002). Capital Kingstown. Population: 13,526 (2001). Geography St Vincent & the Grenadines make up part of the Windward Islands and lie south of St Lucia. St Vincent, like all the Windwards, is volcanic and mountainous with luxuriant vegetation and black sand beaches. The highest peak of St Vincent, La Soufrière (1219m/4000ft), is volcanic, and deep down in the crater is a lake. The ‘tail’ of the comet of St Vincent (the Grenadines) is a string of islands and cays that splays south from Bequia (pronounced Beck-Way), Petit Nevis, Isle à Quatre and Pigeon Island to Battowia, Baliceaux, Mustique, Petit Mustique, Savan, Canouan, Petit Canouan, Mayreau and the Tobago Cays, Union Island, Palm Island and Petit St Vincent. All of the Grenadines are famous for their white beaches, clear waters and verdant scenery. Government Constitutional monarachy. Gained independence from the UK in 1979. Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II, represented locally by Governor General Frederick Ballantyne since 2002. Head of Government: Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves since March 2001. Language English. Religion Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist and other Christian denominations. Time GMT - 4. Electricity 220/240 volts AC, 50Hz (except Petit St Vincent which has 110 volts AC, 60Hz). Communications Telephone IDD is available. Country code: 1 784. Outgoing international code: 0. Mobile telephone Providers Cable & Wireless Caribbean Cellular and Digicel. Visitors from North America can roam on all the islands. Fax Faxes can be sent from most hotels. Internet ISPs include Caribsurf (website: www.caribsurf.com). Telegram Facilities are limited to main towns and hotels. Post Airmail to Western Europe takes up to two weeks. Post office hours: Mon-Fri 0830-1500, Sat 0830-1130. Press All newspapers are in English and most are published weekly. The most popular papers are The News, Searchlight and The Vincentian; The Herald is published daily. Radio BBC World Service (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice) and Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov) can be received. From time to time the frequencies change and the most up-to-date can be found online. |