The Grenadines is a chain of small islands that lie on a line between the larger islands of Saint Vincent and

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pet ...

in the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc be ...

. Nine are inhabited and open to the public (or ten, if the offshore island of

Young Island Young Island () is the northernmost and westernmost of the three main islands in the uninhabited Balleny Islands group located in the Southern Ocean. It lies northwest of Buckle Island, some north-northeast of Belousov Point on the Antarctic m ...

is counted):

Bequia Bequia ( or ) is the second-largest island in the Grenadines at . It is part of the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is approximately from the nation's capital, Kingstown, on the main island, Saint Vincent. Bequia means "island o ...

Mustique Mustique is a small private island in the nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which is part of the Grenadines, a chain of islands in the West Indies. The island is located within Grenadines Parish, and the closest island is the uninhab ...

Canouan Canouan (pronounced "can - ah - wan") is an island in the Grenadines belonging to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is a small island, measuring only 5.6 km (3.5 miles) by 2 km (1.25 miles) and has a surface of 7.6 km². It lies ...

Union Island Union Island is part of the nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It has a surface of and lies about west-southwest of Barbados within view of the islands of Carriacou and the mainland of Grenada, which lies directly south. Clifton a ...

, Petit St Vincent, Palm Island and

Mayreau Mayreau is the smallest inhabited island of the Grenadines, with an area of about 0.46 sq. miles and a population of about 271. The population is centered in an unnamed village, located on Station Hill, a hilltop in the south-west of the island. ...

, all in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, plus

Petite Martinique Petite Martinique is one of the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, which is a dependency of Grenada. It is 4 km (2½ miles) away from Carriacou. With its and population of 900, it is smaller than Carriacou. Petite Martinique compr ...

and

Carriacou Carriacou is an island of the Grenadine Islands. It is a dependency of Grenada, and is located in the south-eastern Caribbean Sea, northeast of the island Grenada and the north coast of South America. The name is derived from the Carib lang ...

in Grenada. Several additional privately owned islands such as Calivigny are also inhabited. Notable uninhabited islands of the Grenadines include Petit Nevis, used by whalers, and Petit Mustique, which was the centre of a prominent real estate scam in the early 2000s. The northern two-thirds of the chain, including about 32 islands and cays, are part of the country of

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Se ...

. The southern third of the chain belongs to the country of Grenada. Carriacou is the largest and most populous of the Grenadines.

Geographic boundaries

The islands are politically divided between the

island nations An island country, island state or an island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...

and

. They lie between the islands of Saint Vincent in the north and Grenada in the south. Neither Saint Vincent nor Grenada are Grenadine islands. The islands north of the

Martinique Channel The Martinique Channel is a strait in the Caribbean Sea that separates Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from Grenada.

belong to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the islands south of the channel belong to Grenada.

Larger islands of the Grenadines

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

The total population of the Grenadine islands within Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is estimated to be 10,234. The following islands make up the Grenadines Parish:

Grenada

Carriacou and Petite Martinique Carriacou and Petite Martinique, also known as the Southern Grenadines, is a dependency of Grenada, lying north of Grenada island and south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Lesser Antilles. The islands of Carriacou and Petite Martiniq ...

is a dependency of Grenada and has a population of 10,900 people. Carriacou is the largest of the Grenadine chain. These islands contains:

References

External links

{{Coord, 12, 44, N, 61, 21, W, region:VC_type:isle, display=title Islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Islands of Grenada International archipelagoes Grenada–Saint Vincent and the Grenadines border