St Vincent and the Grenadines

Learn a little about this small Caribbean country (home to the notorious La Soufriere volcano).

St Vincent and the Grenadines, Union Island

About St Vincent and the Grenadines

• St Vincent and the Grenadines is a small Caribbean country in the Lesser Antilles, consisting of 32 islands and cays. It has a population of 120.000 people, many of whom live in the capital Kingstown.
• The island of St Vincent is dominated by a volcano, La Soufriere, which is 4000 feet high. La Soufriere erupted in 1979 causing widespread damage.
• St Vincent has beaches of black sand, whilst the Grenadines have lovely white beaches.
• St Vincent has a warm, wet climate, with many waterfalls and rain forest. It is very fertile and tropical fruit such as breadfruit grow on the hilly slopes. Breadfruit were first introduced to the islands from Tahiti by British Naval Captain William Bligh, who is famous because his ship's crew mutinied on an earlier voyage.
• Locals like to eat jackfish and breadfruit and speak French patois.
• The islands have a colourful history. In 1719 French colonists came to grow crops, using African slaves to work the land. The original Black Carib Indians were forced leave for Honduras when British plantation owners took the land after the islands were given to Britain in a Treaty in 1763.
• Over 90 species of bird are native to the islands including the St Vincent parrot, of which only around 600 remain.
• Rare Hawksbill Turtles are reared at the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary and returned to the wild.
• Adonal Foyle, a famous citizen of the islands, plays basketball in America for the Golden State Warriors.

The St Vincent and the Grenadines Flag

The St Vincent and the Grenadines Flag is blue, gold and green and features a trio of green diamonds in the middle yellow section. The diamonds stand for the Grenadine Islands, and their shape reflects that St. Vincent has been known as the "gem of the Antilles".

St Vincent and the Grenadines Resources