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Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
A volcanic main isle scattered into a yachting paradise
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines pairs a lush, volcanic main island with a string of smaller cays trailing south into some of the most coveted sailing waters on Earth. Around 110,000 people live across the chain, whose Grenadine islands, including Bequia, Mustique, and the Tobago Cays, are byword glamour for the yachting set. The main island, dominated by the active La Soufriere volcano, is a place of black-sand beaches, banana farms, and a strong Afro-Caribbean and Indigenous Garifuna heritage.
Saint Vincent is steep and volcanic, crowned by La Soufriere at 1,234 meters, which erupted explosively in 2021, blanketing the north in ash. Rainforest, waterfalls, and the botanic gardens at Kingstown, among the oldest in the Western Hemisphere, fill the main island. The Grenadines scatter southward as low coral-and-volcanic isles ringed by reefs and clear lagoons. The tropical climate sits within the hurricane belt.
Long a stronghold of the Indigenous Caribs who resisted European settlement, the islands became British and built a sugar-and-arrowroot economy before independence in 1979. Bananas, tourism centered on yachting and the Grenadines, and remittances now support the economy. Recovery from the 2021 eruption, tourism development, and small-state climate vulnerability define the present.