Montserrat, island and overseas territory of the United Kingdom.

The pear-shaped island, part

of the Lesser Antilles chain, is known as the “Emerald Isle of the Caribbean,” in part because of
its formerly large population of people who originated from Ireland. Montserrat is located
about 27 miles (43 km) southwest of Antigua and about 30 miles (50 km) northwest of
Guadeloupe.

Montserrat, Lesser Antilles

Montserrat, Lesser Antilles

Lush mountain vegetation on Montserrat, Lesser Antilles.

© Philip Coblentz—Digital Vision/Getty Images

Montserrat

Montserrat

Montserrat.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Plymouth, on the southwestern coast, was the capital and only port of entry until 1997, when
volcanic eruptions destroyed much of the town and the island’s most-spectacular vegetation.
Government activities were subsequently relocated to Brades Estate (usually called Brades)
and neighbouring areas, in the northwestern part of the island. The de facto capital is thus in
and around Brades. Sighted and named by Christopher Columbus in 1493, Montserrat is a rich
admixture of African, North American, and European influences. Its physical and human
landscapes have been battered but not obliterated by the series of natural disasters that beset
the island. Area 40 square miles (103 square km). Pop. (2001) 4,491; (2011) 4,922.

Lesser Antilles

Lesser Antilles

Lesser Antilles.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Land

Montserrat is 11 miles (18 km) long and 7 miles (11 km) wide. The island’s rugged volcanic
landscape is molded by three mountainous areas—the Silver Hills, the Centre Hills, and the
Soufrière Hills—which are in turn cut by narrow valleys and gorges known locally as ghauts.
The Silver Hills, in the north, and the Centre Hills are forested at higher elevations but have
secondary scrub on their gentler lower contours. Chances Peak, in the Soufrière Hills, was, at
3,000 feet (915 metres), the highest point on the island until the mid-1990s, when the first
volcanic eruptions in Montserratian history dramatically changed the landscape. In July 1995 a
series of eruptions began in which volcanic domes in the Soufrière Hills alternately grew and
collapsed. In June 1997, 19 people were killed, and in late December of that year, nearly 2.7
square miles (7 square km) of forests, agricultural land, and villages were flattened by debris
and pyroclastic flow after a volcanic explosion.

Soufrière Hills, Montserrat

Soufrière Hills, Montserrat

Volcano in the Soufrière Hills of Montserrat, erupting on January 23, 2010.

© Wayne Fenton—AP/REX/Shutterstock.com

West Indies

West Indies

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Montserrat has a narrow coastal plain. Its few beaches have mainly gray or brown sand
because of their volcanic origins. The single white-sand beach is at Rendezvous Bay in the
north. Coral reefs line parts of the northern shore. Approximately one-fifth of the island is
forested. Though Montserrat’s most-lush vegetation, in the southern highlands, was destroyed
in the eruptions, the Centre Hills remained largely unaffected. Among the island’s rare and
endangered animals are Montserrat orioles (Icterus oberi), Montserrat galliwasps
(Diploglossus montisserrati, a type of lizard), and “mountain chickens” (Leptodactylus fallax),
large frogs found in the lowlands that were a traditional delicacy but were near extinction in
the early 21st century because of habitat loss, overexploitation, and an introduced fungal
disease.

The climate is tropical and mild, and there is little seasonal variation in temperature or
precipitation. Average temperatures range from lows of 70–76 °F (21–24 °C) to highs of 80–86
°F (27–30 °C). The warmest period is from June to November, which is also the hurricane
(tropical cyclone) season. Annual precipitation averages about 57 inches (1,448 mm). The
island is often in the path of hurricanes; Hurricane Hugo in 1989 was particularly devastating.

People

The population is largely of African ancestry (black), with small numbers of people of European
descent (white) and of mixed descent. The official language is English, but most Montserratians
also speak a Creole language similar to that spoken in Jamaica. The main religious
denominations are Christian: Anglicanism, Methodism, Pentecostalism, Roman Catholicism,
and Seventh-day Adventism.

Prior to the mid-1990s, Montserrat’s population was relatively stable because of emigration
and a low birth rate. Plymouth and its environs were the main centres of settlement. The
island’s population exceeded 10,000 in the early 1990s, but during the volcano crisis more
than two-thirds of Montserratians departed for the United Kingdom, neighbouring Antigua,
and other parts of the Caribbean region. Some had returned by the late 1990s; however,
renewed eruptions discouraged resettlement, and access to the southern two-thirds of the
island has since been restricted. There are about a dozen small settlements in the western and
northern coastal regions, including Look Out, Brades, St. John’s, St. Peter’s, and Davy Hill.

Economy

Tourism and agriculture were formerly the main economic activities. The damage caused by
Hurricane Hugo and the volcanic activity of the 1990s devastated the economy, which virtually
collapsed when Plymouth, the main commercial centre, was abandoned in 1995–96.
Montserrat has since relied heavily on British and Canadian aid to build a new transportation
infrastructure and provide services. The largest sources of employment in the early 21st
century were public services and construction. Montserrat’s currency, the Eastern Caribbean
dollar, is issued by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (headquartered in Saint Kitts and
Nevis), which also regulates rates of credit and foreign exchange.

The eruptions damaged or made inaccessible most of the island’s agricultural land, but some
potatoes, onions, and other vegetables are still produced for the domestic market. (A further
significant eruption in 2003 destroyed additional land then under cultivation.) In the early 20th
century Sea Island cotton was Montserrat’s major export; however, production subsequently
declined, and from the 1970s the government’s attempts to revive the industry largely failed.
Until the 1990s most workers in the Plymouth area were employed in services (notably
tourism) and trade, light manufacturing (food processing, plastic bags, textiles, automotive and
electronic components), and construction (mainly building tourist facilities and retirement
housing). Most of the island’s tourists were long-term visitors such as North American retirees
intent on escaping cold winters.

After the closure of the port at Plymouth in 1997, a new facility was constructed at Little Bay,
on the northwest coast of the island. W.H. Bramble Airport, on the east coast, was destroyed
by the volcanic activity and also closed in 1997; John A. Osborne Airport, which opened in 2005
in the north-central part of the island, provides air service to regional destinations. The nearest
international airport is in Antigua, to which Montserrat is linked via helicopter service and a
ferry terminal at Little Bay. Since the disastrous period of volcanic activity, the road network
has been restricted to the northern third of the island. Montserrat is a member of the
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

People Are Talking About

Government and society

Montserrat is an internally self-governing overseas territory within the Commonwealth. The

British monarch is the head of state, represented by an appointed governor. The most-recent
constitution was promulgated on September 1, 2011, and came into force later that month, on
September 27. It provides for an executive branch, consisting of a premier and an Executive
Council, and a unicameral legislature called the Legislative Assembly. The governor appoints
the premier, who is an elected member of the nine-seat Legislative Assembly and is usually the
head of the majority party. The Executive Council includes four official members—the
governor, the premier, and three ministers—and members of the Legislative Assembly are
popularly elected at large for five-year terms. In addition, the attorney general and the finance
secretary serve as ex officio members of both the Executive Council and the Legislative
Assembly. The superior court of record is the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, based in Saint
Lucia. Notable political parties in Montserrat have included the New People’s Liberation
Movement, the National Progressive Party, the Movement for Change and Prosperity, and the
Montserrat Democratic Party.

Primary education is free and compulsory for children aged 5 to 16. Nearly all Montserratians
are literate. Montserrat Community College (2004) provides courses in trades and in business
and liberal arts disciplines. Higher education is available elsewhere in the region at the various
campuses of the University of the West Indies.

Cultural life

Montserratian society is a mixture of African, Irish, and British traditions, although North
American culture has become a major influence. Traditional rites, such as the jumbie dance, a
manifestation of folk religion, had nearly disappeared by the late 20th century. The dance once
took place following Christian rituals (e.g., baptisms or weddings) or in times of crisis. Jumbie
music helped produce a trancelike state in the worshipers who sought cures for ills or the
lifting of an obeah (obia) spell, a traditional form of witchcraft. Folk instruments included
flutes, triangles, and flat goatskin-covered drums. Folk music has declined partly because of
imported musical styles such as calypso, reggae, soca, and pop. Carnival, which was brought to
Montserrat in 1962, is held between Boxing Day (December 26) and New Year’s (Jump-up) Day
(January 1). St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) is an official holiday; locally, it commemorates a slave
revolt and Montserratian heroes, and festivities surrounding it generally continue for a week.

Prior to the economic upheaval caused by the eruptions, Montserratians enjoyed a relatively
high standard of living, including dependable housing and imported consumer goods; many
also took holidays abroad, often to the United States. Older, rural residents still have more
traditional lifestyles based on family, land, and church. Extended families and connections with
family members overseas remain important for all Montserratians. The island’s cuisine is best
known for “goat water,” a thick goat-meat stew that is the national dish.

In 1977 Beatles producer George Martin opened a music-recording studio on the island. It was
frequented by rock luminaries, including Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, and Elton John,
and was in operation until 1989, when it was badly damaged by Hurricane Hugo. Martin later
raised funds to build the Montserrat Cultural Centre, a multiuse performing arts centre that
opened in Little Bay in 2006. Cable and satellite television services are available, and radio
programming is popular, particularly through ZJB Radio Montserrat, the government-owned
radio station. The main newspaper, the Montserrat Reporter is published weekly; its online
edition is updated more frequently.
Polly Pattullo The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

People Are Talking About

History of Montserrat

The original Native American inhabitants of Montserrat began to arrive in the Lesser Antilles
about 3000 bce. Carib Indians, who arrived later, are said to have named the island
Alliouagana (“Land of the Prickly Bush”). However, Montserrat was uninhabited by the time
Christopher Columbus sighted it in November 1493, during his second voyage to the Americas.
Columbus named the island for the abbey of Montserrat in Spain. It was colonized in 1632 by
Irish Catholics from nearby Saint Kitts (Saint Christopher), who were sent there by Sir Thomas
Warner, the first British governor of Saint Kitts. More Irish immigrants subsequently arrived
from Virginia. Plantations were set up to grow tobacco and indigo, followed eventually by
cotton and sugar. The early settlers were repeatedly attacked by French forces and Carib
Indians. The French took possession of the island in 1664 and again in 1667, but it was
restored to England by the Treaty of Breda. French forces sacked the island in 1712 and
captured it for the last time in 1782, but the Treaty of Paris (1783) again returned it to Britain.

Slaves from Africa were probably first taken to Montserrat in large numbers in the 1660s. Their
population grew to some 1,000 in 1678 and 7,000 in 1810, when they greatly outnumbered
white settlers. Montserrat’s plantation system declined after slavery was abolished in 1834
and the price of sugar fell on world markets. 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. Because of those efforts, smallholdings still cover much of the
inhabited part of the island. A series of devastating earthquakes and hurricanes occurred
between 1890 and 1936.

Between 1871 and 1956 Montserrat was part of the (British) Federal Colony of the Leeward
Islands, which included the British Virgin Islands, Saint Kitts–Nevis–Anguilla, and Dominica. In
1951 universal suffrage was declared, and the following year Montserratian women voted for
the first time. The federation was abolished on July 1, 1956, when Montserrat became a colony
in its own right. During 1958–62 Montserrat was part of the short-lived Federation of the West
Indies. Montserratians—unlike their counterparts in most other British Caribbean colonies—
did not seek associated statehood, which would have been a step toward independence.

In the general election of November 1978, the People’s Liberation Movement (PLM) won all
seven seats to the Legislative Council. The party retained its control in 1983, but the opposition
gained strength in the 1987 election. The PLM leadership favoured eventual independence
after first achieving greater economic self-sufficiency. However, many merchants and other
Montserratians opposed independence, because they saw greater benefits in maintaining ties
with Britain. Indeed, after Hurricane Hugo devastated the island in 1989, the British helped
construct a new legislative building, a new wing to the hospital in Plymouth, housing, and
roads.
Polly Pattullo

The newly formed National Progressive Party (NPP) took the reins of government in 1991. In
July 1995 volcanic domes in the Soufrière Hills began erupting after centuries of dormancy,
spewing ash and lava across large areas of the island. A major eruption in June 1997 killed 19
people, and the southern two-thirds of Montserrat, including the capital, became an
uninhabited exclusion zone. Against the backdrop of the ongoing emergency, the NPP won
only one seat in the legislative elections of 1996. A weak coalition was then formed, headed by
an independent member, Bertrand Osborne, as chief minister. Osborne resigned in 1997 amid
criticism of his handling of the volcano crisis, and he was replaced by David Brandt. The British
government was also widely criticized for its handling of the crisis, although it helped evacuate
and relocate the population and repair the transportation infrastructure, and in 1998 allowed
Montserratians to apply for permanent resident status in the United Kingdom. After the PLM
decisively won the elections of April 2001, John Osborne became chief minister. Volcanic
activity continued into the early 21st century, including a major eruption in July 2003 that
caused a huge pyroclastic flow to course into the sea and generated a tsunami.

Soufrière Hills, Montserrat

Soufrière Hills, Montserrat

Volcanic activity in the Soufrière Hills, Montserrat, as seen from the International Space Station
(ISS), October 11, 2009.

NASA/JSC

Polly Pattullo The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Osborne’s term ended in 2006, and he was succeeded by Lowell Lewis of the Montserrat
Democratic Party. In 2009 Reuben Meade of the Movement for Change and Prosperity became
chief minister. During his administration, on September 27, 2011, a new constitution came into
force that gave Montserrat a greater degree of self-government and strengthened human
rights through expanded antidiscrimination provisions. It also changed the title of chief
minister to premier. Meade remained as premier until 2014, when Donaldson Romeo of the
People’s Democratic Movement took office.

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