]! ^! 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. 
]" ^" Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago ^# 13 15 N, 61 12 W ^$ Central America and the Caribbean ^% `! 389 sq km (Saint Vincent 344 sq km) `" 389 sq km `# 0 sq km ^& twice the size of Washington, DC ^' 0 km ^( 84 km ^) `$ 12 nm `M 24 nm `N 200 nm `O 200 nm ^* tropical; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November) ^+ volcanic, mountainous ^, `% Caribbean Sea 0 m `& La Soufriere 1,234 m ^- hydropower, cropland ^. `' 17.95% `( 17.95% `) 64.1% (2005) ^/ 10 sq km (2003) ^0 hurricanes; Soufriere volcano on the island of Saint Vincent is a constant threat ^1 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 _P `P 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 `Q none of the selected agreements ^2 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 
]# ^3 118,149 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 25.9% (male 15,596/female 15,027) `, 67.6% (male 41,259/female 38,620) `- 6.5% (male 3,358/female 4,289) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 27.4 years `. 27.3 years `/ 27.6 years (2007 est.) ^6 0.248% (2007 est.) ^7 16.02 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 5.97 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 -7.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.03 male(s)/female `1 1.038 male(s)/female `, 1.068 male(s)/female `- 0.783 male(s)/female `2 1.039 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 14.01 deaths/1,000 live births `. 15.25 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 12.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 74.09 years `. 72.21 years `/ 76.04 years (2007 est.) ^= 1.81 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> NA ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `3 Saint Vincentian(s) or Vincentian(s) `4 Saint Vincentian or Vincentian ^B black 66%, mixed 19%, East Indian 6%, Carib Amerindian 2%, other 7% ^C Anglican 47%, Methodist 28%, Roman Catholic 13%, other (includes Hindu, Seventh-Day Adventist, other Protestant) 12% ^D English, French patois ^E `5 age 15 and over has ever attended school `2 96% `. 96% `/ 96% (1970 est.) 
]$ ^F `6 none `7 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ^H parliamentary democracy ^I `8 Kingstown `9 13 09 N, 61 14 W `: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^J 6 parishes; Charlotte, Grenadines, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick ^K 27 October 1979 (from UK) ^L Independence Day, 27 October (1979) ^M 27 October 1979 ^N based on English common law ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `; Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Sir Fredrick Nathaniel BALLANTYNE (since 2 September 2002) `< Prime Minister Ralph E. GONSALVES (since 29 March 2001) `= Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister `> 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 ^Q unicameral House of Assembly (21 seats, 15 elected representatives and six appointed senators; representatives are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) `> last held 7 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010) `? percent of vote by party - ULP 55.3%, NDP 44.7%; seats by party - ULP 12, NDP 3 ^R Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (based on Saint Lucia; one judge of the Supreme Court resides in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) ^S 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) ^T NA ^U 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 ^V `R Ambassador Ellsworth I. A. JOHN `S 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016 `T [1] (202) 364-6730 `U [1] (202) 364-6736 `V New York ^W 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 ^X three vertical bands of blue (hoist side), gold (double width), and green; the gold band bears three green diamonds arranged in a V pattern 
]% ^Y 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 suffered low arrivals in the immediate aftermath of 11 September 2001. The islands had more than 160,000 tourist arrivals in 2005, mostly to the Grenadines. 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. ^Z $342 million (2002 est.) ^[ $428 million (2005) ^\ 4.9% (2005 est.) ^] $3,600 (2005 est.) ^^ `@ 10% `A 26% `B 64% (2001 est.) ^_ 41,680 (1991 est.) ^` `@ 26% `A 17% `B 57% (1980 est.) ^a 15% (2001 est.) _! NA% _" `C NA% `D NA% _# 1% (2005 est.) _$ `E $94.6 million `F $85.8 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) _& bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, spices; small numbers of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats; fish _' food processing, cement, furniture, clothing, starch _( -0.9% (1997 est.) _) 114 million kWh (2004) _* 106 million kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh (2004) _, 0 kWh (2004) _- 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) _. 1,400 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ NA bbl/day _0 NA bbl/day _1 0 cu m (2004 est.) _2 0 cu m (2004 est.) _3 $37 million (2004 est.) _4 bananas 39%, eddoes and dasheen (taro), arrowroot starch; tennis racquets _5 UK 26.7%, Barbados 12.7%, Trinidad and Tobago 12.3%, Saint Lucia 10.9%, US 9.2%, Dominica 7.2%, Grenada 6.8%, Antigua and Barbuda 6.2% (2005) _6 $225 million (2004 est.) _7 foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, minerals and fuels _8 US 33.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 23.6%, UK 9.4%, Japan 4.2% (2005) _9 $223 million (2004) _: $10.5 million (1995); note - EU $34.5 million (2004) _; East Caribbean dollar (XCD) _< East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2006), 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002) _= calendar year 
]& _> 22,500 (2005) _? 70,600 (2005) _@ `G adequate system `H islandwide, fully automatic telephone system; VHF/UHF radiotelephone from Saint Vincent to the other islands of the Grenadines `I 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 _A AM 1, FM 6, shortwave 0 (2004) _B 1 (plus 3 repeaters) (2004) _C .vc _D 94 (2006) _E 8,000 (2005) 
]' _F 6 (2006) _G `! 5 `c 4 `W 1 (2006) _R `! 1 `W 1 (2006) _H `! 829 km `K 580 km `L 249 km (2003) _S `! 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 `X 529 (Bangladesh 1, Barbados 1, Belgium 3, Bulgaria 17, Canada 6, China 103, Croatia 9, Cyprus 1, Czech Republic 1, Denmark 14, Egypt 3, Estonia 25, France 8, Germany 8, Greece 82, Guyana 3, Hong Kong 6, Iceland 10, India 6, Iran 1, Ireland 1, Israel 2, Italy 18, Kenya 2, Latvia 18, Lebanon 4, Lithuania 3, Monaco 4, Montenegro 2, Netherlands 5, Norway 16, Pakistan 1, Poland 1, Puerto Rico 1, Romania 1, Russia 29, Singapore 5, Slovenia 5, Sweden 1, Switzerland 13, Syria 6, Turkey 25, UAE 11, UK 13, Ukraine 12, US 21, Vietnam 1) `d 1 (Comoros 1) (2006) _I Kingstown 
]( _J no regular military forces; Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (includes Special Service Unit), Coast Guard (2005) _K males age 18-49: 31,489 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 25,787 (2005 est.) _L males age 18-49: 1,204 (2005 est.) _U NA 
]) _N 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 _O transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; small-scale cannabis cultivation 