Montserrat
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Montserrat lies 27 miles (43 kilometers) southwest of Antigua and is 11
miles long and seven miles wide. It consists of a serrated range of volcanic
peaks rising in three main hill masses, the summits of which are forested. There
are seven volcanically active peaks in the mountainous terrain. Chances Peak, in
the southern hills above the still-active Soufrière Hills, is the highest point,
at 3,000 feet (914 meters). The coastline is rugged. The average temperature on
the island is 81° F (27° C) in summer and 76° F (24° C) in winter. Rainfall
averages 57 inches (1,448 millimeters). Hurricanes are rare, although Hurriance
Hugo in 1989 caused widespread devastation.
The population is largely of black African ancestry. The official language is
English, and the main religious denominations are Anglican, Methodist, and Roman
Catholic, although Seventh-day Adventists and Pentecostals are of increasing
importance. Montserrat's population has not changed substantially during the
20th century, largely as a result of out-migration and a low birth rate. The
elderly population has been growing since 1970 as increasing numbers of people
from North America and Canada have retired there.
Montserrat was sighted by Christopher Columbus in November 1493 on his second
voyage to the New World; he named it for the jagged peaks he saw there.
Inhabited by the Carib Indians, it was first colonized by Irish and English
settlers led by Sir Thomas Warner in 1632. More Irish immigrants came from
Virginia. Plantations were set up to grow tobacco and indigo, then cotton and
sugar. The early settlers suffered repeated attacks from the French and Carib
Indians. The French took possession of the island in 1664 and in 1667, but it
was restored to England in 1668 by the Peace of Breda. The French sacked the
island in 1712 and recaptured the island for the last time in 1782. Montserrat
was again restored to England, this time by the Treaty of Versailles (1783).
In 1834 slavery was abolished (slaves had been introduced in 1664). The
cessation of slavery and the falling price of sugar, combined with a series of
devastating earthquakes and hurricanes between 1890 and 1936, brought the
collapse of the stagnant plantation economy. The Montserrat Company, formed in
1857 under the direction of Joseph Sturge, bought abandoned estates, encouraged
the cultivation of limes, and sold plots of land to settlers. Much of Montserrat
is still owned by small holders.
Between 1871 and 1956 Montserrat was part of the (British) Leeward Islands
Colony, which included the British Virgin Islands, Saint Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla,
and Dominica. The federation was abolished on July 1, 1956, when Montserrat
became a colony in its own right. In 1958 Montserrat joined the West Indies
Federation, which was dissolved in 1962 with the independence of Jamaica.
Subsequent attempts to form a federation were abandoned in 1966. That year Queen
Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to visit the colony.
In the general election of November 1978, the People's Liberation Movement (PLM),
which favours complete independence, won all elective seats. In 1983 that party
again won, but the opposition made some gains and the margin was again narrowed
in the 1987 election. Montserrat's policy since the PLM ascendancy has been to
pursue independence but at a measured rate, preferring first to achieve greater
economic self-sufficiency. |