Europeans first stumbled across the island country of St Vincent and The Grenadines in 1498 but how much have we learned in the following 500 years?
Here are five facts to enhance your scratchy knowledge.
1. The first European to visit the islands was Christopher Columber in 1498. He named St Vincent after St Vincent of Saragossa whose feast day it was.
2. Early inhabitants, the Caribs, would call it “Hairoun” meaning the “Land of the Blessed” and frankly we prefer this name.
3. While the country is made up of 32 islands and cays, only 9 of them are actually inhabited.
4. St Vincent is a volcanic island with an active volcano called La Soufriere which means "Sulphur Mine". There have been five recorded explosive eruptions since 1718. The most destructive eruption was in 1902 when almost 2000 people died. The most recent eruption was on April 9th 2021.
5. Virgin Atlantic offer twice weekly flights to St Vincent from the UK via Barbados. You can see our air freight rates HERE.