Grenada

Airports

3 total, 3 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

no major transport aircraft

Highways

1,000 km total; 600 km paved, 300 km otherwise improved; 100 km unimproved

Ports

Saint George's

Telecommunications

automatic, islandwide telephone system with 5,650 telephones; new SHF links to Trinidad and Tobago and Saint Vincent; VHF and UHF links to Trinidad and Carriacou; stations--1 AM, no FM, 1 TV

Branches

Royal Grenada Police Force, Coast Guard

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

NA

Agriculture

accounts for 16% of GDP and 80% of exports; bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, and mace account for two-thirds of total crop production; world's second-largest producer and fourth-largest exporter of nutmeg and mace; small-size farms predominate, growing a variety of citrus fruits, avocados, root crops, sugarcane, corn, and vegetables

Budget

revenues $54.9 million; expenditures $77.6 million, including capital expenditures of $16.6 million (1990 est.)

Currency

East Caribbean dollar (plural--dollars); 1 EC dollar (EC$) = 100 cents

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY84-89), $60 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $67 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $32 million

Electricity

12,500 kW capacity; 26 million kWh produced, 310 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates

East Caribbean dollars (EC$) per US$1--2.70 (fixed rate since 1976)

Exports

$27.9 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities--nutmeg 36%, cocoa beans 9%, bananas 14%, mace 8%, textiles 5; partners--US 12%, UK, FRG, Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago (1989)

External debt

$90 million (1990 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$200.7 million, per capita $2,390 (1989); real growth rate 5.4% (1990)

Imports

$115.6 million (c.i.f., 1989 est.); commodities--food 25%, manufactured goods 22%, machinery 20%, chemicals 10%, fuel 6% (1989); partners--US 29%, UK, Trinidad and Tobago, Japan, Canada (1989)

Industrial production

growth rate 5.8% (1989 est.); accounts for 6% of GDP

Industries

food and beverage, textile, light assembly operations, tourism, construction

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

7.0% (1990)

Overview

The economy is essentially agricultural and centers on the traditional production of spices and tropical plants. Agriculture accounts for about 16% of GDP and 80% of exports and employs 24% of the labor force. Tourism is the leading foreign exchange earner, followed by agricultural exports. Manufacturing remains relatively undeveloped, but is expected to grow, given a more favorable private investment climate since 1983. Despite an impressive average annual growth rate for the economy of 5.6% during the period 1986-90, unemployment remains high at about 25%.

Unemployment rate

25% (1990 est.)

Climate

tropical; tempered by northeast trade winds

Coastline

121 km Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm; Territorial sea: 12 nm

Comparative area

slightly less than twice the size of Washington, DC

Environment

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

Land boundaries

none

Land use

arable land 15%; permanent crops 26%; meadows and pastures 3%; forest and woodland 9%; other 47%

Natural resources

timber, tropical fruit, deepwater harbors

Note

islands of the Grenadines group are divided politically with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Terrain

volcanic in origin with central mountains

Total area

340 km2; land area: 340 km2

Administrative divisions

6 parishes and 1 dependency*; Carriacou and Little Martinique*, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick

Capital

Saint George's

Communists

about 450 members of the New Jewel Movement (pro-Soviet) and the Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement (pro-Cuban)

Constitution

19 December 1973

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Denneth MODESTE; Chancery at 1701 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 265-2561; there is a Grenadian Consulate General in New York; US--Charge d'Affaires Annette VELER; Embassy at Ross Point Inn, Saint George's (mailing address is P. O. Box 54, Saint George's); telephone (809) 444-1173 through 1178

Executive branch

British monarch, governor general, prime minister, Ministers of Government (cabinet)

Flag

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

Independence

7 February 1974 (from UK)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Paul SCOON (since 30 September 1978); Head of Government--Prime Minister Nicholas BRATHWAITE (since 13 March 1990) National Democratic Congress (NDC), Nicholas BRATHWAITE; Grenada United Labor Party (GULP), Sir Eric GAIRY; The National Party (TNP), Ben JONES; New National Party (NNP), Keith MITCHELL; Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement (MBPM), Terrence MERRYSHOW; New Jewel Movement (NJM), Bernard COARD

Legal system

based on English common law

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives

Long-form name

none

Member of

ACP, C, CARICOM, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LAES, LORCS, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WTO

National holiday

Independence Day, 7 February (1974)

Suffrage

universal at age 18 House of Representatives--last held on 13 March 1990 (next to be held by March 1996); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(15 total) NDC 8, GULP 3, TNP 2, NNP 2

Type

parliamentary democracy

Birth rate

35 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic divisions

mainly of black African descent

Infant mortality rate

29 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force

36,000; services 31%, agriculture 24%, construction 8%, manufacturing 5%, other 32% (1985)

Language

English (official); some French patois

Life expectancy at birth

69 years male, 74 years female (1991)

Literacy

98% (male 98%, female 98%) age 15 and over having ever attended school (1970)

Nationality

noun--Grenadian(s); adjective--Grenadian

Net migration rate

- 32 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor

20% of labor force

Population

83,812 (July 1991), growth rate - 0.4% (1991)

Religion

largely Roman Catholic; Anglican; other Protestant sects

Total fertility rate

4.7 children born/woman (1991)