|
 St
Vincent, and its 32 sister islands and cays which make
up the Grenadines, were, until fairly recently, almost
unknown to tourists except yachtsmen and divers, and are
still un-crowded. St Vincent is very picturesque, with its
fishing villages, coconut groves, banana plantations and
fields of arrowroot, of which the island is the world’s
largest producer. It is a green and fertile volcanic
island, with lush valleys, rugged cliffs on the leeward
and windward coasts and beaches of both golden and black
volcanic sand. The highest peak on the island is La Soufrière,
an active volcano in the north rising to about 4,000 feet.
It last erupted in 1979, but careful monitoring enabled
successful evacuation before it blew. The steep mountain
range of Morne Garu rises to 3,500 feet and runs southward
with spurs to the east and west coasts. Most of the
central mountain range and the steep hills are forested.
St Vincent is roughly 18 miles long and 11 miles wide and
has an area of 133 square miles, while the Grenadines
contribute another 17 square miles all together.
About
a quarter of the people live in the capital, Kingstown and
its suburbs. Eight percent live on the Grenadines. 66
percent of the population is classed as black and 19
percent as mixed, while two percent are Amerindian/black,
six percent East Indian, four percent white and the
remainder are ‘others’ |
