Country profile
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
North America · Latin America and the Caribbean · Americas
VC · VCT
- Capital
- Kingstown
- Population
- 110,872
- Area
- 389 km²
- Democracy index
- 87
- Regime type
- Robust Democracy
Events
Ballots from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
The latest elections, referendums, and opinion polls from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Community totals are not official results.
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Classification
Democracy profile
The score and regime label are assigned by Porto Voto using our in-house democracy index and classification framework, not ratings from governments or external agencies.
Democracy index
87/100
Regime type
Robust Democracy
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines operates as a stable parliamentary democracy characterized by a commitment to constitutional norms and the rule of law. The nation maintains a consistent record of free and fair electoral processes, where power transfers occur peacefully and remain widely accepted by the electorate. An independent judiciary ensures that fundamental rights and civil liberties are protected, while the institutional framework supports an active civil society and a pluralistic media environment. Although the country faces the inherent economic and geographic challenges typical of a small island developing state, its governance remains transparent and accountable, fostering high levels of public confidence in democratic institutions and a resilient political environment that adheres to established regional democratic standards.
Last evaluation:
How we classify regimes →World Factbook
Country background
A concise introduction to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, together with notes on how power and law are organized, to put local ballots in context.
Resistance from native Caribs prevented colonization on Saint Vincent until 1719. France and England disputed the island for most of the 18th century, but it was ceded to England in 1783. The British prized Saint Vincent because of its fertile soil, which allowed for thriving slave-run plantations of sugar, coffee, indigo, tobacco, cotton, and cocoa.
In 1834, the British abolished slavery. Immigration of indentured servants eased the ensuing labor shortage, as did subsequent immigrant waves from Portugal and East India. Conditions remained harsh for both former slaves and immigrant agricultural workers, however, as depressed world sugar prices kept the economy stagnant until the early 1900s.
The economy then went into a period of decline, with many landowners abandoning their estates and leaving the land to be cultivated by liberated slaves. Between 1960 and 1962, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was a separate administrative unit of the Federation of the West Indies. Autonomy was granted in 1969 and independence in 1979.
In 2021, the eruption of the La Soufrière volcano in the north of Saint Vincent destroyed much of Saint Vincent’s most productive agricultural lands. Unlike most of its tourism-dependent neighbors, the Vincentian economy is primarily agricultural.