Wayzata World Factbook 1995/World Factbook - 1995 Edition - Wayzata Technology (1995).iso/mac/text/Build/orig BACKGR/BNOT0098.TXT

Text File | 1994-11-21 | 17KB | 366 lines

National Trade Data Bank
ITEM ID     : ST BNOTES STVINCEN
DATE        : Oct 28, 1994

AGENCY      : U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
PROGRAM     : BACKGROUND NOTES
TITLE       : Background Notes - ST VINCENT

Source key      : ST
Program key     : ST BNOTES
Update sched.   : Occasionally
Data type       : TEXT
End year        : 1994
Date of record  : 19941018
Keywords 3      :
Keywords 3      : | ST VINCENT

BACKGROUND NOTES:  ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

SEPTEMBER 1993
Official Name:  St. Vincent and the Grenadines

PROFILE

Geography
Area:  340 sq. km.; slightly less than twice the size of
Washington, DC.  The Grenadines include 32 islands, the largest
of which are Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, and Union.  Some of the
smaller islands are privately owned.  Cities:  Capital--Kingstown
(pop. 29,600).  Terrain:  Volcanic and mountainous; the mountains
are almost impenetrable, with the highest peak, Soufriere, rising
to 1,219 meters.  Climate:  Tropical.

People
Nationality:  Noun and adjective--Vincentian.  Population:
114,000.  Annual growth rate:  1.4%.  Ethnic groups:  African
descent (66%), mixed (19%), East Indian (6%), Carib Indian (2%).
Religions:  Anglican (47%), Methodist (28%), Roman Catholic
(13%), other Protestant denominations, Seventh-Day Adventist,
Hindu.  Language:  English (official); some French patois spoken.
 Education:  Literacy--96%.  Years compulsory--Up to age 15.
Health (1991):  Infant mortality rate--31/1,000.  Life
expectancy--women 72 yrs., men 68 yrs.  Work force:  About
40,000, of which agriculture accounts for about 60%.

Government
Type:  Parliamentary democracy; independent sovereign state
within the Commonwealth.  Independence:  October 27, 1979.
Constitution:  October 27, 1979.

Branches:  Executive--governor general (representing Queen
Elizabeth II, head of state), prime minister (head of
government), cabinet.  Legislative--unicameral legislature with
15-member elected House of Representatives and 6-member appointed
Senate.  Judicial--District courts, St. Vincent and the
Grenadines Supreme Court (High Court and Court of Appeals), privy
council.

Subdivisions:  6 parishes.

Political parties:  New Democratic Party (incumbent holds all
seats in parliament), St. Vincent Labor Party, Movement for
National Unity.

Suffrage:  Universal at 18.

Flag:  Blue, gold, and green vertical bands; the gold band bears
three green diamonds.

Economy
GDP (1992 est.):  $215 million.  Per capita GDP:  $2,000.

Natural resources:  Timber, beaches.

Industry:  Plastic products, detergents.

Trade:  Exports--(bananas, eddoes and dasheen, arrowroot starch):
$75 million.  Major markets--U.K. 54%, CARICOM 34%, U.S. 10%.
Imports--(foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and
fertilizers):  $128 million.  Major suppliers--U.S. 36%, CARICOM
21%, U.K. 18%, Japan 3%.

Official exchange rate:  St. Vincent and the Grenadines uses the
Eastern Caribbean (EC) dollar, which is tied to the U.S. dollar
at the rate of $1.00=EC$2.70.


PEOPLE
Most Vincentians are the descendants of African slaves brought to
the island to work on the plantations.  There are also a few
white descendants of English colonialists, as well as some East
Indians, Carib Indians, and a sizable minority of mixed race.
The country's official language is English, but a French patois
may be heard on some of the Grenadine islands.  About half the
church-going population attends the Anglican church.  The
Methodist and Roman Catholic churches also have a sizable
following, 28% and 13%, respectively.  The balance of the
population is Seventh Day Adventist, Baptist, Hindu, or
Rastafarian.  St. Vincent has a relatively high birth rate of 27
per 1,000 population, though this is mitigated somewhat by a high
rate of emigration.  With extremely high unemployment and
under-employment, population growth remains a major problem.

HISTORY
Caribe Indians aggressively prevented European settlement on St.
Vincent until the 18th century.  They apparently were more
welcoming to Africans.  Escaped slaves from St. Lucia and Grenada
sought refuge in St. Vincent and intermarried with the Caribs,
eventually becoming known as "black Caribs."  In 1675, a Dutch
ship laden with settlers and slaves was shipwrecked off of St.
Vincent; only the slaves survived.  They settled and mixed with
the Caribs, and their descendants still live in the area of Sandy
Bay.  Tension developed between the Caribs and the black Caribs,
however, and led to a civil war in 1700.

The French eventually settled on the island in 1719 and managed
to live peaceably with the Caribs, growing coffee, tobacco,
indigo, cotton, and sugar.  Shortly afterward, the British
attempted to seize control of the island, and possession was
hotly disputed until 1763, when the island was ceded to Britain.
It was lost to the French again in 1779 but regained by the
British under the Treaty of Versailles in 1783.  Battles--called
the Carib Wars--continued between the British and the black
Caribs until the British subdued them in 1796.  In that year,
General Abercrombie crushed a revolt fomented by the French
radical Victor Hugues.  Over 5,000 black Caribs were eventually
deported to Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras.

Slavery was abolished in 1834, and the resulting labor shortages
on the plantations attracted Portuguese immigrants in the 1840s
and East Indians in the 1860s.  Conditions remained harsh for the
former slaves and for the immigrant agricultural workers, as
depressed world sugar prices kept the economy stagnant until the
turn of the century.

From 1763 until independence, St. Vincent passed through various
stages of colonial status under the British.  A representative
assembly was authorized in 1776, crown colony government
installed in 1877, a legislative council created in  1925, and
universal adult suffrage granted in 1951.  During this period,
the British made several unsuccessful attempts to affiliate St.
Vincent with other Windward Islands in order to govern the region
through a unified administration.  The most notable was the West
Indies Federation, which collapsed in 1962.  St. Vincent was
granted associate statehood status in 1969, giving it complete
control over its internal affairs.  Following a referendum in
1979, St. Vincent and the Grenadines became the last of the
Windward Islands to gain independence.  Natural disasters have
plagued the country throughout the 20th century.  In 1902, La
Soufriere volcano erupted, killing 2,000 people, just 2 days
before the Mt. Pelee eruption killed 30,000 on Martinique.  Much
farmland was damaged and the economy deteriorated.  In April
1979, La Soufriere erupted again.  Though no one was killed,
thousands had to be evacuated, and there was extensive
agricultural damage.  In 1980, a hurricane devastated the banana
and coconut plantations.  In 1987, Hurricane Emily destroyed as
much as 70% of the banana crop.


GOVERNMENT
St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a parliamentary democracy
within the British Commonwealth.  Queen Elizabeth II is Head of
State and is represented on the island by a governor general, an
office with mostly ceremonial functions.  Control of the
government rests with the prime minister and the cabinet.  The
parliament is a unicameral body with a 15-member elected House of
Assembly and a 6-member appointed Senate.  The governor general
appoints senators, four on the advice of the prime minister and
two on the advice of the leader of the opposition.  The term of
office of members of parliament is 5 years, although the prime
minister may call elections at any time.

As in other English-speaking Caribbean countries, the judiciary
in St. Vincent is rooted in British common law.  There are 11
courts in 3 magisterial districts.  The Eastern Caribbean Supreme
Court, comprising a high court and a court of appeals, is known
as the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Supreme Court in St.
Vincent.  The court of last resort is the Judicial Committee of
Her Majesty's Privy Council.  There is no local government in St.
Vincent, and all 6 parishes are administered by the central
government.

Principal Government Officials
Head of State--Queen Elizabeth II
Governor General--Sir David Jack
Prime Minister--James F. Mitchell
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism--Herbert G. Young
Ambassador to the U.S.--Kingsley C.A. Layne

St. Vincent and the Grenadines maintains an embassy located at
1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 102, Washington, DC 20036
(tel. [phone]).


POLITICAL CONDITIONS
The People's Political Party (PPP), founded in 1952 by Ebenezer
Joshua, was the first major political party in St. Vincent.  The
PPP had its roots in the labor movement, and was in the forefront
of national policy prior to independence, winning elections from
1957 through 1966.  With the development of a more conservative
black middle class, however, the party began to steadily lose
support, until it collapsed after a total rout in the 1979
elections.  The following year, Joshua resigned from the
leadership, and the party dissolved itself in 1984.

Founded in 1955, the St. Vincent Labor Party (SVLP), under R.
Milton Cato, gained the support of the middle-class.  With a
conservative law-and-order message and a pro-Western foreign
policy, it had gained enough strength by the mid-1960s to become
the most powerful political force for the next 20 years.
Following victories in the 1967 and 1974 elections, the SVLP led
the island to independence, winning the first post-independence
election in  1979.  Expecting an easy victory for the SVLP in
1984, Cato called early elections.  The results were surprising:
with a record 89% voter turnout, James F. Mitchell's New
Democratic Party (NDP) won 9 of 13 seats for the House of
Assembly.

Since the 1984 election, politics in St. Vincent has been
dominated by  the NDP.    With a reputation for sound fiscal
management, and bolstered by a resurgent economy in the
mid-1980s, Mitchell led his party to an unprecedented sweep of
all 15 House of Assembly seats in the 1989 elections.  The
opposition emerged from the election weakened and fragmented.


ECONOMY
The St. Vincent economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, with
bananas alone accounting for 60% of the work force and 20% of
GDP.  Such reliance on a single crop makes the economy vulnerable
to external factors.   Since 1984, an agricultural
diversification program and modest land reforms have helped
strengthen the agricultural sector.  St. Vincent now exports a
number of agricultural commodities including arrowroots,
coconuts, sweet potatoes, tannias, and eddoes, primarily to
CARICOM countries.  St. Vincent was, at one time, the world's
largest producer and exporter of arrowroot, a crop used in the
manufacture of baby food and computer paper.  Increased
competition has now reduced production by more than 80% from its
peak in 1984.

The tourism sector remains small, but is robust and is assuming
greater importance.  For example, there were 157,532 visitors in
1990, an increase of 23% over the previous year, with cruise ship
visitors up 58%, and stayover visitors up 8%.  The tourist appeal
of the country lies in the privacy and the unspoiled and diverse
beauty of the Grenadine islands.  Some of the finest sailing
waters in the world amid these islands attract affluent visitors.
Efforts are underway to broaden this appeal, though development
of tourism is limited by airports, which only handle small
aircraft.

The economy expanded at a healthy pace in late 1980s, with growth
averaging about 7%, principally due to strong performances by the
manufacturing and construction sectors and favorable banana
prices.  The country has been able to maintain access to foreign
capital, both mutilateral and bilateral aid and credit.

The government wants economic diversification and  infrastructure
improvement.  It has sought to attract investment with liberal
tax and currency exchange regulations, revision of the tax code
to promote savings, and reduction of the fiscal deficit through
government expenditure control.  The government has funded the
wide-ranging Development Corporation to locate foreign investors
for joint ventures in manufacturing and agriculture.  St.
Vincent's maritime laws have resulted in a lucrative ship
registry business.  Despite its good performance of late, the
economy remains vulnerable because of its dependence on bananas.
Since over 60% of foreign exchange earnings are from banana
exports, possible loss of this protected market with the
establishment of a single European market in 1992 poses a serious
challenge to the Vincentian economy.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines are beneficiaries of the U.S.
Caribbean Basin Initiative.  They are also members of the
12-nation Caribbean Economic Community and Common Market, which
has signed a framework agreement with the United States to
promote trade and investment under the Enterprise for the
Americas Initiative.


FOREIGN RELATIONS
St. Vincent's foreign relations were administered by Great
Britain until independence in 1979.  It maintains close ties to
the U.S., Canada, and Britain, and cooperates with regional
political and economic organizations such as OECS, CARICOM, and
the Windward Islands Regional Constituent Assembly (RCA).

St. Vincent is a participant in the RCA, an advisory body
established in 1991 to make recommendations on the proposed
economic and political union of the four Windward Islands states
(Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines).


U.S.-ST. VINCENT RELATIONS
The United States and St. Vincent have good bilateral relations.
The United States supports the government's economic policies.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
contributes to the island in such areas as agricultural
diversification, small business development and infrastructure
improvement.  The U.S. also actively supports the efforts of the
St. Vincent Government to control drug cultivation and
trans-shipment on the island.

The U.S. Ambassador and embassy staff are resident in Bridgetown,
Barbados, and travel frequently to St. Vincent.  The U.S. embassy
is located in the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building,
Broad Street, Bridgetown, Barbados, (tel. [phone]).  The
Peace Corps has about 20 volunteers in St. Vincent working
primarily in education and health.  St. Vincent's ambassador to
the U.S. is also accredited to the UN.  St. Vincent also has a
consul resident in New York.

Principal U.S. Officials
Ambassador--G. Philip Hughes
Deputy Chief of Mission--Tain P. Tompkins
Political/Economic Counselor--John Savage
Consul General--Thomas E. Cairns
Regional Labor Attache--Mary Ann Singlaub
Public Affairs Officer, United States Information Agency--Gerald
Waters
Director, USAID--Mosina Jordan
Director, Peace Corps--Richard Pyle (resident in St. Lucia)


TRAVEL NOTES
Visas:  Passports and visas are not required for U.S. citizens,
but some proof of citizenship (usually an original birth
certificate and photo ID) must be presented.  In addition,
travellers must be in possession of an onward or return ticket.

Currency:  The monetary unit is the Eastern Caribbean (EC)
dollar, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar at the rate of
U.S.$1.00=EC$2.70.

Health:  Basic medical and sanitation facilities are adequate.
Travelers should check latest information.

Transportation:  Public transportation is poor, though some taxis
are available in Kingston.  There is scheduled boat and plane
service to the Grenadines.


Department of State Publication 10132
Published by the United States Department of State Bureau of
Public Affairs -- Office of Public Communication -- Washington,
DC
September 1993 -- Managing Editor:  Peter Knecht -- Editor:
Josephine C. Brooks


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