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| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Haïroun | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
 | |
| Capital and largest city | Kingstown |
| Demonym(s) | Vincentian Grenadinian Saint Vincentian Vincy (colloquial) |
| Dominant mode of production | Capitalism |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy under a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie |
• Monarch | Charles III |
• Governor-General | Stanley John |
• Prime Minister | Godwin Friday |
| Area | |
• Total | 389 km² |
| Population | |
• 2022 estimate | 110,872 |
| Currency | East Caribbean dollar (XCD) |
| Calling code | +1 |
| ISO 3166 code | VC |
| Internet TLD | .vc |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sometimes known as Saint Vincent or SVG, is an island country in the Caribbean Sea. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles with Saint Lucia to the north, Barbados to the east and Grenada to the south.
History[edit | edit source]
Early history[edit | edit source]
Saint Vincent has been settled by indigenous peoples for thousands of years. The islands were first sighted by Europeans in 1498 by Christopher Columbus who gave the islands their modern name.[1]
Colonial rule[edit | edit source]
British and French colonial forces fought over the island until British control of the island was recognised by the Treaty of Versailles in 1783 following the end of the Statesian Revolutionary War. British colonial rule was brutal and slavery was used until 1834 to exploit the nautral resources while the native Carib peoples were deported to Belize for rebelling.[1]
Independence[edit | edit source]
Saint Vincent achieved independence from the UK in 1979 but retained the British monarch as their head of state. A referendum in 2009 rejected replacing the monarchy with a republic and the islands continues to be deeply influenced by the British. Ralph Gonsalves served as prime minister from 2001 to 2025.[1]