ISLAND PROFILES
St. Vincent
Location: 130 53' N, 600 68' W
Area: 344 km2
Population: 112,000
Capital: Kingstown
|
 |
Geography
St. Vincent is located within the southern part of the Lesser Antilles island arc.
It is about 100 miles west of Barbados, 68 miles north of Grenada and about 190
miles north of Trinidad. St. Vincent is the largest of the 32 islands and cays that
make up the multi-island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It is roughly
oval in shape and is approximately 29 km long and 17.5 km wide and. The island consists
of a central axial range of mountains starting from La Soufrière (1,178 m), in the
north, to Mount St. Andrew (736 m) to the south. This range of volcanic mountains
divides the island almost equally between a gently sloping eastern or windward side
and a deeply dissected and rugged western or leeward side. The north-south trending
stratovolcanic centres which make up the backbone of the island show a northward
migration in age from 3 Ma, near the south of the island, to 0.6 Ma at the Soufrière
volcano (Rowley 1978a). After the main centres of
activity had migrated to the Morne
Garu and Soufrière Mountains to the north minor eruptions may have occurred at
Belleisle Hill and Kings Hill to the south producing red, olivine micro-phyric basalt scoria
cones in small explosive eruptions (Rowley 1978a).
People
St. Vincent has a population of about 112,000 with a large number (30,000) living
in the capital city, Kingstown (2001 census). The language spoken is English. Ethnic
divisions are African descent 75%, Black Carib 1% and Scottish.
Disaster Management
National Emergency Management Organization
Mr Howie Prince National Disaster Coordinator
National Emergency Organisation
Office of the Prime Minister
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Tel: (784) 457-0386
hprince@caribsurf.com
|
|