Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form:
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Government type:
parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm
Capital:
name: Kingstown
geographic coordinates:
13 08 N, 61 13 W
time difference:
UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
6 parishes; Charlotte, Grenadines, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick
Independence:
27 October 1979 (from the UK)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 27 October (1979)
Constitution:
several previous; latest presented 26 July 1979, effective 27 October 1979 (2009)
Legal system:
English common law
International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
Executive branch:
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Sir Fredrick Nathaniel BALLANTYNE (since 2 September 2002)
head of government:
Prime Minister Ralph E. GONSALVES (since 29 March 2001)
cabinet:
Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister
elections:
the monarchy is hereditary; the governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister
Legislative branch:
unicameral House of Assembly (21 seats, 15 elected representatives and 6 appointed senators; representatives elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections:
last held on 13 December 2010 (next to be held in 2015)
election results:
percent of vote by party - ULP 51.6%, NDP 47.8%, other 0.6%; seats by party - ULP 8, NDP 7
Judicial branch:
highest court(s): the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is the itinerant superior court of record for the 9-member Organization of Eastern Caribbean States to include Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; the ECSC - with its headquarters on Saint Lucia - is headed by the chief justice and is comprised of the Court of Appeal with 3 justices and the High Court with 16 judges; sittings of the Court of Appeal and High Court rotate among the member states; 2 High Court judges reside on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
judge selection and term of office: Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court chief justice appointed by Her Majesty, Queen ELIZABETH II; other justices and judges appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission; Court of Appeal justices appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 65; High Court judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 62
subordinate courts: magistrates' courts
Political parties and leaders:
New Democratic Party or NDP [Arnhim EUSTACE]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA
International organization participation:
ACP, AOSIS, C, Caricom, CDB, CELAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, Petrocaribe, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador La Celia A. PRINCE (since 30 May 2008)
chancery:
3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016
telephone:
[1] (202) 364-6730
FAX:
[1] (202) 364-6736
consulate(s) general:
New York
Diplomatic representation from the US:
the US does not have an embassy in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Flag description:
three vertical bands of blue (hoist side), gold (double width), and green; the gold band bears three green diamonds arranged in a V pattern, which stands for Vincent; the diamonds recall the islands as the "Gems of the Antilles"; blue conveys the colors of a tropical sky and crystal waters, yellow signifies the golden Grenadine sands, and green represents lush vegetation
National anthem:
name: "St. Vincent! Land So Beautiful!"
lyrics/music:
Phyllis Joyce MCCLEAN PUNNETT/Joel Bertram MIGUEL
note:
adopted 1967
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on this page is re-published from the 2014 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Government 2014 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Government 2014 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 06-Nov-14