Kingstown (pronounced in English: [ˈkɪŋsˌtaʊn]) is the capital and largest city of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The city has the main port and the biggest commercial center of the islands. In the 2005 census, it had a population of 25,148 inhabitants[citation needed], being the city founded in 1722 by the French. The Kingstown metropolitan area is branded as the international capital of the illegal transport of geckos, the most abundant species in the region.[citation needed]
Kingstown
| |
|---|---|
Top:Aerial view of Kingstown; Middle: Carnegie Old Public Library, Fort Charlotte; Bottom: St. George's Cathedral, Botanic Gardens St. Vincent | |
| Nickname:
City Of Arches[1]
| |
  Kingstown Location in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | |
| Coordinates: 13°09′28″N 061°13′30″W / 13.15778°N 61.22500°W / 13.15778; -61.22500[2] | |
| Country | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
| Island | Saint Vincent |
| Parish | Saint George |
| Founded | 1722 |
| Constituencies |
|
| Government | |
| • MPs |
|
| Population
(2012)[3]
| |
| • Total | 12,909 |
| Time zone | UTC-4 (Eastern Caribbean Time Zone (ECT)) |
| Area code | 784 |
| Climate | Af |
The modern capital, Kingstown, was founded by French settlers shortly after 1722, although Saint Vincent was under British rule for 196 years before its independence.[4]
The botanical garden, conceived in 1765, is one of the oldest in the Western hemisphere. William Bligh, made famous from the Mutiny on the Bounty, brought seed of the breadfruit tree here for planting, c. 1793.[5]
The town is surrounded by steep hills.[6]
| Climate data for Kingstown（temperature,precipitation,humidity 1991～2021/sunshine hours 1999～2019） | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 25.7 (78.3) |
25.7 (78.3) |
26.1 (79.0) |
26.7 (80.1) |
27.3 (81.1) |
27.3 (81.1) |
27.2 (81.0) |
27.4 (81.3) |
27.7 (81.9) |
27.4 (81.3) |
26.9 (80.4) |
26.3 (79.3) |
26.8 (80.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 24.8 (76.6) |
24.7 (76.5) |
25.0 (77.0) |
25.6 (78.1) |
26.2 (79.2) |
26.2 (79.2) |
26.1 (79.0) |
26.4 (79.5) |
26.7 (80.1) |
26.5 (79.7) |
26.0 (78.8) |
25.5 (77.9) |
25.8 (78.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 23.9 (75.0) |
23.7 (74.7) |
24.0 (75.2) |
24.6 (76.3) |
25.2 (77.4) |
25.3 (77.5) |
25.1 (77.2) |
25.3 (77.5) |
25.6 (78.1) |
25.4 (77.7) |
25.0 (77.0) |
24.6 (76.3) |
24.8 (76.7) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 49 (1.9) |
32 (1.3) |
34 (1.3) |
45 (1.8) |
62 (2.4) |
105 (4.1) |
132 (5.2) |
155 (6.1) |
152 (6.0) |
162 (6.4) |
147 (5.8) |
67 (2.6) |
1,142 (44.9) |
| Average rainy days | 11 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 156 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 76 | 74 | 74 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 80 | 81 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 77 | 78 |
| Mean daily sunshine hours | 8.8 | 9.0 | 9.2 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 9.4 | 9.3 | 9.1 | 9.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.7 | 9.0 |
| Source: "Climate Data". Retrieved 22 January 2024. | |||||||||||||
Secondary education is provided by the Thomas Saunders Secondary School at Richmond Hill.
The city is served by Argyle International Airport, which has commercial passenger services to the United States, Canada and to the United Kingdom.
