Commonwealth realm of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Commonwealth realm


Motto Pax et justitia Peace and justice
Anthem St Vincent Land So Beautiful


Capital	Kingstown

Government	Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy
Monarch
- From 1979	Elizabeth II
Governor-General
- From 2002	Sir Frederick Ballantyne
Prime Minister
- From 2001	Ralph Gonsalves

Legislature	House of Assembly

History
- October 27, 1979	Independence from the United Kingdom

Commonwealth accession	October 27, 1979

Area	389 km²

Population
- 2008	120,000
Density	308.4/km²

GDP	2008 (PPP)
- Total	US$ 1.1 billion
- Per capita	US$ 9,976

Currency	East Caribbean dollar

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
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Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a commonwealth realm and a parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean.

Background

Resistance by native Caribs prevented colonization on Saint 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.^[1]

Economy

Success of the economy hinges upon seasonal variations in agriculture, tourism, and construction activity as well as remittance inflows. Much of the workforce is employed in banana production and tourism, but persistent high unemployment has prompted many to leave the islands. This lower-middle-income country is vulnerable to natural disasters - tropical storms wiped out substantial portions of crops in 1994, 1995, and 2002. In 2008, the islands had more than 200,000 tourist arrivals, mostly to the Grenadines, a drop of nearly 20% from 2007. 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 public debt burden, which was over 90% of GDP at the end of 2010. Following the global downturn, St. Vincent and the Grenadines saw an economic decline in 2009, after slowing since 2006, when GDP growth reached a 10-year high of nearly 7%. The GONSALVES administration is directing government resources to infrastructure projects, including a new international airport that is expected to be completed in 2011.^[2]