50 Fun Facts About Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

What is the capital and largest city of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?

Founded by French settlers shortly after 1722, it sits in the parish of Saint George and holds the main port.

How many islands and cays make up Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?

Nine are inhabited, including Bequia, Mustique, Canouan and Union Island; the southern third of the Grenadines chain belongs to Grenada.

The name 'Grenadines' is a diminutive referring to which Spanish city?

The small form was used to tell the chain apart from the island of Grenada to the south.

Columbus named the island after Vincent of Saragossa because he first sighted it on what date?

The Kalinago had called it Youloumain, after Youlouca, the spirit of the rainbows.

The Kalinago name for Saint Vincent, Youloumain, honoured a spirit of what?

Youlouca was believed to inhabit the island; the Kalinago fiercely resisted every European attempt to settle.

Which European power first managed to colonise Saint Vincent, settling at Barrouallie in 1719?

The British drove them out during the Seven Years' War, confirmed by the 1763 Treaty of Paris.

What are the Afro-Indigenous people of Saint Vincent who fought Britain in the Carib Wars called?

Their descendants still live in Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and Nicaragua, speaking an Arawakan language with African and European borrowings.

Who was the paramount chief who led the Second Carib War rebels and is now a national hero?

He was killed on Dorsetshire Hill on 14 March 1795; Belize and Costa Rica also honour him.

After their 1797 defeat, nearly 5,000 rebels were deported to Roatan, off which country?

Others were sent to Belize and to Baliceaux in the Grenadines; the Central American Garifuna diaspora grew from those exiles.

What is the name of the active volcano that is Saint Vincent's highest point at 1,234 metres?

It erupted in 1812, 1902, 1979 and again in April 2021, when 16,000 people were evacuated.

The 1902 eruption of the island's volcano killed roughly how many people?

It came the same year as Mont Pelee's disaster on Martinique; the 1979 and 2021 eruptions killed no one thanks to evacuations.

How many residents were evacuated when the volcano erupted explosively in April 2021?

Ash rose several miles and neighbouring islands, Britain and the UN sent aid; the World Bank pledged US$20 million.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines became independent on 27 October of which year?

It had held associate statehood since 1969; the date is now Independence Day.

Who was the first prime minister of independent Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?

He had been Premier since 1974 and lost to James Mitchell in 1984; Mitchell then ruled for 16 years.

Months after independence, a Grenada-inspired rebellion broke out where in the Grenadines?

Lennox 'Bumba' Charles alleged neglect by the central government; the revolt was quickly crushed and he was arrested.

Prime minister Gonsalves, in office from 2001 to 2025, is known locally by what nickname?

He argued Europe owes reparations for slavery and won five straight elections before Godwin Friday's NDP took 14 of 15 seats in 2025.

A 2009 referendum to make the country a republic failed because it needed what?

Voters split 55.6 percent for and 43.1 percent against, so the monarchy stayed.

In 2019 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines became the smallest country ever elected to what?

It also opened an embassy in Taipei the same year, its sixth mission abroad.

What is the main feature of the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, adopted in 1985?

The blue-gold-green pale triband is nicknamed 'the Gems'; the 1979 flag had carried the coat of arms and a leaf.

The 1985 flag design by Julien van der Wal replaced the coat of arms and which leaf?

Elaine Liverpool's independence flag had carried them; the diamonds are grouped in a V for Vincent.

Which Bounty captain brought seedlings of a Pacific staple tree to the capital's botanical garden?

The garden, conceived in 1765, is one of the oldest in the Western Hemisphere; the mutiny had ruined his first attempt.

Which Grenadine island became a celebrity hideaway after Colin Tennant bought it in 1958?

She built the villa Les Jolies Eaux; the private island company later passed to Venezuelan investors.

The people of which island may still hunt up to four humpback whales a year under a subsistence quota?

Yankee whalers brought the tradition in the 19th century; the quota is rarely filled and some years see no catch.

Which Hollywood film series shot on Saint Vincent gave the country's tourism a boost?

Sets built at Wallilabou Bay for the 2003 original became a visitor attraction.

Which crop dominates Vincentian agriculture and has repeatedly been flattened by hurricanes?

Storms in 1980 and 1987 wrecked banana and coconut plantations; single-crop dependence is the economy's biggest weakness.

Argyle International, opened in February 2017, replaced which older airfield?

The new airport lies on the east coast about 8 km from the capital and finally allowed direct long-haul flights.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is divided into how many parishes?

Five are on the main island and the sixth is Grenadines Parish; for the census there are 13 divisions.

The House of Assembly has how many elected members?

Six appointed senators sit alongside them; the NDP won 14 of the 15 seats in 2025.

From 1845, indentured Catholic settlers arrived to replace plantation labour from which Atlantic island?

About 2,100 Portuguese came in five years, followed by shiploads of Indian labourers between 1861 and 1888.

Which stronghold overlooking the capital was begun by the British in 1763 and completed in 1806?

Its guns pointed inland as much as out to sea, a sign of who the British feared most.

Which soca artist, famous for 'Turn Me On', was named the country's Cultural Ambassador in 2013?

Big drum, calypso, steelpan, quadrille and string-band music are the traditional sounds.

Which Vincentian sprinter won 100 m gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games?

Kineke Alexander took 400 m bronze at the 2015 Pan American Games and Eswort Coombs the same medal in 1995.

Shafiqua Maloney made history at the 2024 Paris Olympics by doing what?

She and Handal Roban were the country's only two athletes at the Games.

Which former national football captain, an MLS veteran, coached Chicago Fire from 2021 to 2023?

Cricket, football and athletics dominate men's sport while netball is most popular among women.

According to the 2023 census, which has become the largest Christian denomination in the country?

Pentecostals grew from 17.6 to 26.4 percent since 2001 while Anglicans fell to 10.5; the non-religious share doubled to 14 percent.

The main island of Saint Vincent measures about how long?

It is 15 km wide and 344 square kilometres; the whole Grenadines chain adds just 45 square kilometres more.

Which uninhabited Grenadine islet was at the centre of a real-estate scam in the early 2000s?

Petit Nevis nearby was used by whalers, and Baliceaux was where deported rebels were held.

What share of Vincentians were of African descent in the 2021 estimate?

A further 19 percent were of mixed descent, 6 percent East Indian, 4 percent European and 2 percent Kalinago.

What is the country's court of last resort?

Cases pass through district courts and the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court first.

What is the country's national anthem, adopted at independence?

Soca hits and Bequia's string bands are the less official soundtrack.

Which bloc founded by Venezuela and Cuba counts Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as a member?

It also belongs to CARICOM, the OECS and CELAC, and disputes Venezuela's claim to a vast maritime zone around Aves Island.

Where on Saint Vincent are the sandy beaches and bays found?

The windward coast is rocky and steep; the island is volcanic, forested and has little flat land.

Which party leader became prime minister in 2025 after winning 14 of 15 seats?

The New Democratic Party victory ended more than two decades of Unity Labour Party rule.

How many of the country's 32 islands and cays are inhabited?

They include the main island plus Young Island, Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Union Island, Mayreau, Petit St Vincent and Palm Island.

Which British general finally defeated the Garifuna rebels of the Second Carib War in 1797?

The rebels had been backed by the French revolutionary Victor Hugues, operating from Martinique.

What status did Britain grant Saint Vincent on 27 October 1969, ten years before independence?

It gave the islands full control of internal affairs while stopping short of independence in law.

In which year did the British lay the foundations of Fort Charlotte after taking the island?

They had just driven the French from Barrouallie in the Seven Years' War, a claim confirmed by the Treaty of Paris.

Which sport is the most popular among women in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?

Cricket, football and athletics lead among men, and the national football league is the NLA Premier League.

What is the largest non-Christian faith in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?

It was followed by 0.8 percent of the population in 2023, down from 1.5 percent in 2001.

In what year was Crown Colony government installed in Saint Vincent?

A limited-franchise legislative council followed in 1925 and universal adult suffrage in 1951.