Grenada

§1. Grenada Introduction

Background:
  Carib Indians inhabited Grenada when Columbus discovered the island in
  1498, but it remained uncolonized for more than a century. The French
  settled Grenada in the 17th century, established sugar estates, and
  imported large numbers of African slaves. Britain took the island in 1762
  and vigorously expanded sugar production. In the 19th century, cacao
  eventually surpassed sugar as the main export crop; in the 20th century,
  nutmeg became the leading export. In 1967, Britain gave Grenada full
  autonomy over its internal affairs. Full independence was attained in 1974
  making Grenada one of the smallest independent countries in the Western
  Hemisphere. Grenada was seized by a Marxist military council on 19 October
  1983. Six days later the island was invaded by US forces and those of six
  other Caribbean nations, which quickly captured the ringleaders and their
  hundreds of Cuban advisers. Free elections were reinstituted the following
  year and have continued since that time. On 7 September 2004, Hurricane
  Ivan struck Grenada directly causing damage to over 85% of the structures
  on the island and at least 39 deaths.

§2. Grenada Geography

Location:
  Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, north of
  Trinidad and Tobago

Geographic coordinates:
  12 07 N, 61 40 W

Map references:
  Central_America_and_the_Caribbean

Area:
  total: 344 km²
  land: 344 km²
  water: 0 km²

Area - comparative:
  twice the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
  0 km

Coastline:
  121 km

Maritime claims:
  territorial sea: 12 nm
  exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate:
  tropical; tempered by northeast trade winds

Terrain:
  volcanic in origin with central mountains

Elevation extremes:
  lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
  highest point: Mount Saint Catherine 840 m

Natural resources:
  timber, tropical fruit, deepwater harbors

Land use:
  arable land: 5.88%
  permanent crops: 29.41%
  other: 64.71% (2005)

Irrigated land:
  NA km²

Natural hazards:
  lies on edge of hurricane belt; hurricane season lasts from June to
  November

Environment - current issues:
  NA

Environment - international agreements:
  party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
    Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer
    Protection, Whaling
  signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
  the administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided
  between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada

§3. Grenada People

Population:
  89,703 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 33.4% (male 15,097/female 14,820)
  15-64 years: 63.4% (male 30,106/female 26,764)
  65 years and over: 3.3% (male 1,394/female 1,522) (2006 est.)

Median age:
  total: 21.7 years
  male: 22.1 years
  female: 21.2 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
  0.26% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
  22.08 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
  6.88 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
  -12.59 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 1.13 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female
  total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  total: 14.27 deaths/1,000 live births
  male: 13.87 deaths/1,000 live births
  female: 14.67 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 64.87 years
  male: 63.06 years
  female: 66.68 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  2.34 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  NA

Nationality:
  noun: Grenadian(s)
  adjective: Grenadian

Ethnic groups:
  black 82%, mixed black and European 13%, European and East Indian 5%, and
  trace of Arawak/Carib Amerindian

Religions:
  Roman Catholic 53%, Anglican 13.8%, other Protestant 33.2%

Languages:
  English (official), French patois

Literacy:
  definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  total population: 96%
  male: NA%
  female: NA% (2003 est.)

§4. Grenada Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: none
  conventional short form: Grenada

Government type:
  constitutional monarchy with Westminster-style parliament

Capital:
  Saint George's

Administrative divisions:
  6 parishes and 1 dependency*; Carriacou and Petit Martinique*, Saint
  Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick

Independence:
  7 February 1974 (from UK)

National holiday:
  Independence Day, 7 February (1974)

Constitution:
  19 December 1973

Legal system:
  based on English common law

Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
  chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by
    Governor General Daniel WILLIAMS (since 9 August 1996)
  head of government: Prime Minister Keith MITCHELL (since 22 June 1995)
  cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the
    prime minister
  elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by
    the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority
    party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime
    minister by the governor general

Legislative branch:
  bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (a 13-member body, 10 appointed
  by the government and 3 by the leader of the opposition) and the House of
  Representatives (15 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve
  five-year terms)
  elections: last held on 27 November 2003 (next to be held by November 2008)
  election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NNP
    46.65%, NDC 44.12%; seats by party - NNP 8, NDC 7

Judicial branch:
  Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of a court of Appeal and a High
  Court of Justice (a High Court judge is assigned to and resides in Grenada)

Political parties and leaders:
  Good Old Democracy or GOD [Justin MCBURNIE]; Grenada United Labor Party or
  GULP [Gloria Payne BANFIELD]; National Democratic Congress or NDC [Tillman
  THOMAS]; New National Party or NNP [Keith MITCHELL]; People Labor Movement
  or PLM [Dr. Francis ALEXIS]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  NA

International organization participation:
  ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC,
  IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OAS,
  OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Denis G. ANTOINE
  chancery: 1701 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
  telephone: [1] (202) 265-2561
  FAX: [1] (202) 265-2468
  consulate(s) general: New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  chief of mission: the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Grenada
  embassy: Lance-aux-Epines Stretch, Saint George's
  mailing address: P. O. Box 54, Saint George's, Grenada, West Indies
  telephone: [1] (473) 444-1173 through 1176
  FAX: [1] (473) 444-4820

Flag description:
  a rectangle divided diagonally into yellow triangles (top and bottom) and
  green triangles (hoist side and outer side), with a red border around the
  flag; there are seven yellow, five-pointed stars with three centered in the
  top red border, three centered in the bottom red border, and one on a red
  disk superimposed at the center of the flag; there is also a symbolic
  nutmeg pod on the hoist-side triangle (Grenada is the world's
  second-largest producer of nutmeg, after Indonesia); the seven stars
  represent the seven administrative divisions

§5. Grenada Economy

Economy - overview:
  Grenada relies on tourism as its main source of foreign exchange,
  especially since the construction of an international airport in 1985.
  Strong performances in construction and manufacturing, together with the
  development of an offshore financial industry, have also contributed to
  growth in national output.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
  $440 million (2002 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
  NA

GDP - real growth rate:
  2.5% (2002 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
  $5,000 (2002 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 7.7%
  industry: 23.9%
  services: 68.4% (2000)

Labor force:
  42,300 (1996)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 24%, industry 14%, services 62% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:
  12.5% (2000)

Population below poverty line:
  32% (2000)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: NA%
  highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  2.8% (2001 est.)

Budget:
  revenues: $85.8 million
  expenditures: $102.1 million; including capital expenditures of $28 million
    (1997)

Agriculture - products:
  bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, mace, citrus, avocados, root crops, sugarcane,
  corn, vegetables

Industries:
  food and beverages, textiles, light assembly operations, tourism,
  construction

Industrial production growth rate:
  0.7% (1997 est.)

Electricity - production:
  159.8 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption:
  148.6 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:
  0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
  0 kWh (2003)

Oil - production:
  0 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption:
  1,800 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports:
  NA bbl/day

Oil - imports:
  NA bbl/day

Natural gas - production:
  0 m³ (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
  0 m³ (2003 est.)

Exports:
  $40 million (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, fruit and vegetables, clothing, mace

Exports - partners:
  Saint Lucia 12.7%, US 12.2%, Antigua and Barbuda 8.7%, Netherlands 7.9%,
  Saint Kitts & Nevis 7.8%, Dominica 7.8%, Germany 7.1%, France 4.6% (2004)

Imports:
  $276 million (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  food, manufactured goods, machinery, chemicals, fuel

Imports - partners:
  Trinidad and Tobago 29.6%, US 27.8%, UK 4.8% (2004)

Debt - external:
  $196 million (2000)

Economic aid - recipient:
  $8.3 million (1995)

Currency (code):
  East Caribbean dollar (XCD)

Exchange rates:
  East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003),
  2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Grenada Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  32,700 (2004)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  43,300 (2004)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: automatic, islandwide telephone system
  domestic: interisland VHF and UHF radiotelephone links
  international: country code - 1-473; new SHF radiotelephone links to
    Trinidad and Tobago and Saint Vincent; VHF and UHF radio links to
    Trinidad

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 2, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998)

Television broadcast stations:
  2 (1997)

Internet country code:
  .gd

Internet hosts:
  18 (2005)

Internet users:
  8,000 (2005)

§7. Grenada Transportation

Airports:
  3 (2005)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 3
  2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
  under 914 m: 1 (2005)

Roadways:
  total: 1,127 km
  paved: 687 km
  unpaved: 440 km (1999)

Ports and terminals:
  Saint George's

§8. Grenada Military

Military branches:
  no regular military forces; Royal Grenada Police Force

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  NA

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  NA

§9. Grenada Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  none

Illicit drugs:
  small-scale cannabis cultivation; lesser transshipment point for marijuana
  and cocaine to US


<Factbook 2006>
