Best Bitcoin Card for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
The island state in the Caribbean belongs to the Windward Islands and lies south of St. Lucia and north of Grenada. The main island Saint Vincent has an area of 344 km², the 32 islands of the Grenadines, which belong to the state (the southern ones belong to Grenada), cover a total area of 45 km². These include Bequia Island (18 km²), Canouan Island (7 km²), Union Island (8 km²), Mustique, Mayreau, Petit Nevis, Isle à quatre, Pigeon Island, Battowia, Baliceaux, Petit Mustique, Savan, Petit Canouan, Tobago Cays, Palm Island and Petit St. Vincent.
The islands are of volcanic origin and have a mountainous character. On the main island of Saint Vincent, a mountain range runs through the island from north to south. The highest elevation is the extinct volcano Soufrière in the north of the island, at 1,234 m. Its crater has a diameter of about 1,200 m and a crater lake is located at its bottom (last eruption in 1979). Further mountains are for example the Richmond Peak with 1 041 m and the Mount Brisbane with 904 m. To the east the mountains gradually drop to the sea, to the west in the form of steep cliffs on the coast. Also the Grenadines are mountainous and have long sandy beaches. The capital Kingstown lies in the southwest of the island Saint Vincent.
Political System
The island state of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a parliamentary monarchy in the British Commonwealth of Nations according to the 1979 constitution. Head of state is the British monarch Elisabeth II, who is represented on the islands by a governor general (since September 2002 Frederick Ballantyne). He appoints the Prime Minister as the country’s head of government, who normally represents the strongest party in parliament (Ralph Gonsalves since March 2001).
The legislative power lies with the parliament, which consists of a single chamber (National Assembly) with 23 members. 15 deputies are directly elected by the people, six senators are proposed by the head of government and the leader of the opposition and appointed by the governor general, two are ex officio. Relevant political parties are the United Labour Party (ULP) and the New Democratic Party (NDP).
Economy
The economy of the island state is mainly based on agriculture (bananas) and tourism. Almost half of the total land area of the islands is used for agriculture, while bananas (one third of exports), coconut palms and the West Indian arrowroot (as a basis for medicines and baby food) are cultivated for export. Income from banana sales is declining due to high production costs and quality problems. For the population’s own needs, tubers, vegetables, maize and sugar cane are cultivated, among other things, and fishing is also important. Food must also be imported. Tropical cyclones repeatedly lead to severe crop losses.
The industry is only moderately developed and concentrates on the processing of agricultural products. Small businesses also produce cement, textiles and furniture.
In addition to food, machines, vehicles and finished products are imported. The main trading partners are the USA and the other Caribbean states.
Tourism is developing into the strongest source of foreign exchange income and is being promoted by the government. The road network on the main island of Saint Vincent covers a total of around 1,000 km, one third of which is asphalted. Kingstown is the island state’s only deep-sea port. There is an international airport on the main island near the capital Kingstown.