Bequia

Bequia (/ˈbɛkwiː/ BEK-wee or /ˈbɛkweɪ/ BEK-way) is the second-largest island in the Grenadines at 7 square miles (18 km²). It is part of the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and lies approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the nation’s capital, Kingstown, on the main island, Saint Vincent.

The name Bequia is said to mean "island of the clouds" in the language of the ancient Arawak. The island’s early inhabitants were the Kalinago (Caribs), who lived throughout the Grenadines before the arrival of Europeans.

In the eighteenth century, Bequia was colonised by European powers, first claimed and settled by the French, who established small plantations producing indigo, cotton, and sugar worked by enslaved Africans. Following the Treaty of Paris (1763), France ceded Bequia and the neighbouring islands to Britain, which continued the plantation system and maintained colonial rule until independence in 1979 as part of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Bequia also has a history of whaling, introduced by Yankee whalers in the nineteenth century. Its people are allowed to catch up to four humpback whales per year using traditional hunting methods. The limit is rarely met, with no catches at all in some years.