Random Country of the Week: St. Vincent and the Grenadines

By Brian Englesma

Contrary to popular belief St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a nation, and not a motown group. Located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean, St. Vincent and the Grenadines has proven itself to be the Kansas City Chiefs of the region for years. And by that, I mean it’s completely forgettable.

Originally settled by Carib Indians, St. Vincent became a haven for shipwrecked and escaped slaves. Over the course of the 18 th century control of St. Vincent was tossed back and forth between France and Great Britain, eventually becoming the prized indigo jewel of the British Empire.

Slavery was outlawed in the increasingly progressive nation in 1834. Labor shortages, however, resulted in a dramatic increase of indentured servitude and immigration from the East Indies. Prosperity lagged in the nation as sugar prices took a beating around the turn of 20 th century, preventing the strong economic growth necessary to turn St. Vincent and the Grenadines into a regional power.

One constant in St. Vincent’s history is a unique unlucky streak. In 1902 the La Soufriere volcano erupted, killing 2,000 people. In April of 1979 the Volcano erupted again, raining fire and ash down upon a scared but resilient public. Finally, as one might assume with a Caribbean island, St. Vincent has been hit with many hurricanes, with significant hurricanes in 1980, 1987 and the terrible Hurricane Lenny in 1999.

Freedom from the oppressive colonial rule of Great Britain finally came in 1979, making it the final British possession in the Caribbean to gain self rule. The ensuing political and government system borrowed heavily from the British tradition, including a parliamentary system with two major parties.

Today St. Vincent continues to struggle in its attempts to become a rich, modernized society. Unemployment has been above 20% for some years, and its economy is reliant on a single cash crop: bananas. Recent efforts to diversify their economy have rested largely on an attempt to make the country more attractive to tourists. Today St. Vincent and the Grenadines is probably most well known as being where the smash hit Pirates of the Caribbean movies were filmed.

Simply put, St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a random country. It’s small, only 150 square miles, sparsely populated, with roughly 120,000 citizens, and not particularly rich. What makes it most notable to me is its role in Pirates of the Caribbean and its recent string of bad luck when it comes to natural disasters. As far as things that make a country noticeable go, these are relatively minor, enhancing St. Vincent’s randomness.