KEY FACTS

Joined Commonwealth: 1979
Population: 109,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: 2.7% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 83
Official language: English
Time: GMT minus 4hr
Currency: Eastern Caribbean dollar (EC$)

Geography

Area: 389.3 sq km
Coastline: 84 km
Capital: Kingstown

St Vincent and the Grenadines, one of the Windward Island countries of the Eastern Caribbean, lies near the southern end of the Caribbean chain, about 97 km north of Grenada. The country comprises six parishes, one of these being Grenadines.

Main towns:

Kingstown (capital, pop. 16,500 in 2010), Georgetown (1,400), Byera (1,200), Biabou (900) and Chateaubelair (630) on St Vincent; Port Elizabeth (770) on Bequia in the Grenadines.

Society

KEY FACTS 2012

Population per sq km: 281
Life expectancy: 72 years
Net primary enrolment: 95%

Population:

109,000 (2012); 50 per cent of people live in urban areas; growth 0.1 per cent p.a. 1990–2012, depressed over this period by emigration; birth rate 17 per 1,000 people (40 in 1970); life expectancy 72 years (63 in 1970). The population is mostly of African or mixed descent, with Indian, European, and Carib minorities.

Language:

English is the official language; an English-based Creole is widely spoken.

Education:

Public spending on education was five per cent of GDP in 2010. There are 12 years of school education starting at the age of five. Primary school comprises seven years and secondary five, with cycles of three and two years. The school year starts in September. Tertiary education is provided at the regional University of the West Indies, which has its main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.