St. Vincent and the Grenadines Travel Guide

St. Vincent and the Grenadines — Country and Tourist Information

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Country Facts

Location: Eastern Caribbean, Windward Islands.
Language: English is mostly spoken as well as some French patois.
Area: St Vincent: 344 sq km (133 sq miles). Grenadines: 45.3 sq km (17.3 sq miles). Total: 389.3 sq km (150.3 sq miles).
Time Zone: GMT - 4.
Electricity: 220/240 volts AC, 50Hz (except Petit St Vincent which has 110 volts AC, 60Hz).
Population: 118,432 (2008).
Population Density: 305 per sq km.
Capital City: Kingstown. Population: 29,000 (2008).
Government: Constitutional monarachy. Gained independence from the UK in 1979.
Head of Government: Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves since March 2001.
Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II, represented locally by Governor General Frederick Ballantyne since 2002.
Religion: Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist and other Christian denominations.

Recent History

Gonsalves' Unity Labor Party won a second term in the December 2005 elections. The party secured 12 of the 15 seats in parliament. The remaining seats are held by the New Democratic Party.

In 2009, voters rejected a referendum proposal to replace the British monarch as head of state with a president elected by parliament by a 57%-43% margin.

Communications

Telephone

Country Code: +1 784.

Mobile Telephone

North American mobile phones work on all the islands. Network coverage is good.

Internet

Available in Internet cafés and hotels.

Media

All newspapers are in English and most are published weekly.
The most popular papers are The News, Searchlight and The Vincentian.
SVG Television is operated by St Vincent and the Grenadines Broadcasting Corporation.nNBC Radio is a partly government-funded national station.

Post

Airmail to Western Europe takes up to two weeks.Mon-Fri 0830-1500, Sat 0830-1130.

Public Holidays

Below are listed Public Holidays for the January 2011-December 2012 period.
2010
25 Dec Christmas Day
26 Dec Boxing Day

2011
1 Jan New Year’s Day
14 Mar National Heroes’ Day
22 Apr Good Friday
25 Apr Easter Monday
2 May Labor Day
13 Jun Whit Monday
11 Jul *Carnival Monday
12 Jul *Carnival Tuesday
3 Aug Emancipation Day
27 Oct Independence Day
25 Dec Christmas Day
26 Dec Boxing Day

2012
1 Jan New Year’s Day
14 Mar National Heroes’ Day
6 Apr Good Friday
9 Apr Easter Monday
1 May Labor Day
28 May Whit Monday
2 Jul *Carnival Monday
3 Jul *Carnival Tuesday
3 Aug Emancipation Day
27 Oct Independence Day
25 Dec Christmas Day
26 Dec Boxing Day
*Date to be confirmed.
If the above dates fall on a Sunday, the following Monday will be taken as a public holiday.