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 Sea w ...

is an

island state 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 ...

in the Windward Islands of 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 bet ...

, an

island arc Island arcs are long chains of active volcanoes with intense seismic activity found along convergent tectonic plate boundaries. Most island arcs originate on oceanic crust and have resulted from the descent of the lithosphere into the mantle alon ...

of the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

in North America. The country consists of the main island of Saint Vincent and the northern two-thirds of the Grenadines, a chain of small islands stretching south from Saint Vincent to Grenada. Its total land area is 390 km² of which 342.7 km² is the main island of Saint Vincent. The country's capital is at

Kingstown Kingstown is the capital, chief port, and main commercial centre of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. With a population of 12,909 (2012), Kingstown is the most populous settlement in the country. It is the island's agricultural industry centr ...

on Saint Vincent.

Table of Islands

The main island of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is Saint Vincent. Its geography is mostly mountainous and includes very little level ground. There is also a large difference between the coastlines on each side of the island; the

windward Windward () and leeward () are terms used to describe the direction of the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e. towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point of reference ...

side is very rocky, while the leeward side consists of many sandy beaches and has many more bays. The island's (as well as the country's) highest peak is the volcanic Soufrière at 1,234 m. There are several tiny islets offshore of Saint Vincent including Young Island and the Cow And Calves Islands. List of islands from north to south: The remainder of the Grenadines to the south are administered by Grenada.

Resources and land use

Natural resources: hydropower, cropland Land use:
''arable land:'' 10%
''permanent crops:'' 18%
''permanent pastures:'' 5%
''forests and woodland:'' 36%
''other:'' 31% (1993 est.)

Extreme points

* Northernmost point:

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

, Charlotte Parish/ Saint David Parish * Easternmost point: Black Point, Charlotte Parish * Southernmost point (St Vincent only): Headland near Johnson Point, Saint George Parish * Southernmost point: Cross Pointe, Petit Saint Vincent, Grenadines Parish * Westernmost point (St Vincent only): Headland west of Bambaroo, Saint Patrick Parish * Westernmost point: Miss Irene Point,

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 ...

, Grenadines Parish Irrigated land: 10 km² (1993 est.) Natural hazards: hurricanes; Soufrière on the island of Saint Vincent is a constant threat Environment - current issues: pollution of coastal waters and shorelines from discharges by pleasure yachts and other effluents; in some areas, pollution is severe enough to make swimming prohibitive Environment - international agreements:
''party to:''

Biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

Climate Change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

, Desertification, Endangered Species,

Environmental Modification The Environmental Modification Convention (ENMOD), formally the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques is an international treaty prohibiting the military or other hostile use ...

Hazardous Wastes Hazardous waste is waste that has substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. Hazardous waste is a type of dangerous goods. They usually have one or more of the following hazardous traits: ignitability, reactivity, cor ...

, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection,

Ship Pollution The environmental effects of shipping include air pollution, water pollution, acoustic, and oil pollution. Ships are responsible for more than 18 percent of some air pollutants. As for greenhouse gas emissions, the International Maritime Orga ...

Whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

''signed, but not ratified:'' Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol Geography - note: the administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada

Notes

External links

References