Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with roughly of coastline. Montserrat is the only non-fully sovereign full member of the Caribbean Community and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, although it is not the only dependency in the Caribbean.
On 18 July 1995, the previously dormant Soufrière Hills volcano in the southern end of the island became active, and its eruptions destroyed Plymouth, Montserrat's Georgian-era capital city situated on the west coast. Between 1995 and 2000, two-thirds of the island's population was forced to flee, mostly to the United Kingdom, leaving fewer than 1,200 people on the island in 1997. The population had increased to nearly 5,000 by 2016. but a view of destroyed Plymouth can be seen from the top of Garibaldi Hill in Isles Bay. The volcano has been relatively quiet since early 2010 and continues to be closely monitored by the Montserrat Volcano Observatory.
In 2015, it was announced that planning would begin on a new town and port at Little Bay on the northwest coast of the island, and the centre of government and businesses was moved temporarily to Brades. After a number of delays, including Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 and the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in early 2020, the Little Bay Port Development Project, a £28 million project funded by the UK and the Caribbean Development Bank, began in June 2022.
Etymology
In 1493, Christopher Columbus named the island Santa María de Montserrate, after the Virgin of Montserrat of the Monastery of Montserrat near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. Montserrat means "serrated mountain" in Catalan.
History
thumb|A view of half of the coastline of Little Bay, and a glimpse of Carrs Bay, taken from partway up the headland between Little Bay and Rendezvous Bay, 2012
thumb|Map of Montserrat (top) and [[Plymouth, Montserrat|Plymouth (bottom) in 1869]]
Pre-colonial era
Archaeological field work in 2012 in Montserrat's Centre Hills indicated that there had been an Archaic (pre-Arawak) occupation between 2000 and 500 BC. Later coastal sites showed the presence of the Saladoid culture (until 550 AD). The Indigenous Caribs are believed to have called the island Alliouagana, meaning 'Land of the Prickly Bush'.
In 2016, nine petroglyphs were discovered by local residents hiking in a wooded area near Soldier Ghaut. Another was discovered in 2018 in the same area of the island.
Early European period
In November 1493, Christopher Columbus passed Montserrat on his second voyage, after being told that the island was unoccupied because of raids by the Caribs. Most came from nearby Saint Kitts at the instigation of the island's governor and the colony's founder Sir Thomas Warner, with more settlers arriving later from Virginia.
The preponderance of Protestant Anglo-Irish (Irish of British descent) in the first wave of European settlers led a leading legal scholar to remark that a "nice question" is whether the original settlers took with them the law of the Kingdom of Ireland insofar as it differed from the law of the Kingdom of England.
The Irish being historical allies of the French, especially in their qualified disdain of the English, invited the French to claim the island in 1666, although no troops were sent by France to maintain control. it was captured shortly afterwards by the English, and English control of the island was confirmed under the Treaty of Breda the following year. The protestant Anglo-Irish colonists began to transport both Sub-Saharan African slaves and Catholic Irish indentured servants for labour, as was common to most Caribbean islands. By the late 18th century, numerous plantations had been developed on the island.
18th century
There was a brief French attack on Montserrat in 1712. Festivities celebrate the culture and history of Montserrat in song, dance, food and traditional costumes.
In 1782, during the American Revolutionary War, as America's first ally, France captured Montserrat in their war of support of the Americans.
New crops and politics
In 1834, Britain abolished slavery in Montserrat and its other territories.
The first lime tree orchards on the island were planted in 1852 by a local planter, Mr Burke. In 1857, the British philanthropist Joseph Sturge bought a sugar estate to prove that it was economically viable to employ paid labour rather than use slaves.
From 1871 to 1958, the island was administered as part of the federal crown colony of the British Leeward Islands, becoming a province of the short-lived West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962. Bramble's son, Percival Austin Bramble, was critical of the way tourist facilities were being constructed, and he set up his own party, the Progressive Democratic Party, which won the 1970 Montserratian general election. Percival Bramble served as Chief Minister from 1970 to 1978. The period 1978 to 1991 was dominated politically by Chief Minister John Osborne and his People's Liberation Movement (PLM). A brief flirtation with possibly declaring independence never materialised.
On 10 May 1991, the Caribbean Territories (Abolition of Death Penalty for Murder) Order 1991 came into force, formally abolishing the death penalty for murder on Montserrat.
Corruption allegations within the PLM party resulted in the collapse of the Osborne government in 1991, with Reuben Meade becoming the new chief minister, and early elections were called. He was found guilty of six counts of sexual exploitation and sentenced to fifteen years in July 2021.
John Osborne returned as Chief Minister following victory in the 2001 election. He was ousted by Lowell Lewis of the Montserrat Democratic Party in 2006. Reuben Meade returned to office in 2009 to 2014. During his term, the post of Chief Minister was replaced with that of Premier.
In the autumn of 2017, Montserrat was not affected by Hurricane Irma, and sustained only minor damage from Hurricane Maria.
In November 2019, Easton Taylor-Farrell of the Movement for Change and Prosperity party became the island's Premier, followed, again, by Meade in October 2024, now leader of the United Alliance party that he had founded earlier that year.
Politics and government
Montserrat is an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes Montserrat on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories. The island's head of state is King Charles III, represented by an appointed Governor. Executive power is exercised by the government, whereas the Premier is the head of government. The Premier is appointed by the Governor from among the members of the Legislative Assembly which consists of nine elected members. The leader of the party with a majority of seats is usually the one who is appointed. the other two parishes being still too dangerous to inhabit.
A significantly more up-to-date statistical division would be the 3 census regions, primarily used for the population census. Going north to south, these are:
- Northern Region (2,369 pop.)
- Central Region (1,666 pop.)
- South of Nantes river (887 pop.)
For census purposes, these are further divided into 23 enumeration districts.
Police
Policing is primarily the responsibility of the Royal Montserrat Police Service.
Military and defence
The defence of Montserrat is the responsibility of the United Kingdom. The Royal Navy generally deploys a River-class offshore patrol vessel in the Caribbean and from time-to-time may send another Royal Navy or Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship as a part of the Atlantic Patrol (NORTH) tasking. These ships' main mission in the region is to maintain British sovereignty for the overseas territories, provide humanitarian aid and disaster relief during disasters such as hurricanes, which are common in the area, and conduct counter-narcotics operations. In October 2023, the destroyer HMS Dauntless (which had temporarily replaced the River-class patrol vessel on her Caribbean tasking), visited the territory in order to assist local authorities in preparing for the climax of the hurricane season.
Royal Montserrat Defence Force
The Royal Montserrat Defence Force is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat. Raised in 1899, the unit is today a reduced force of about forty volunteer soldiers, primarily concerned with civil defence and ceremonial duties. The unit has a historical association with the Irish Guards.
Communications
The island is served by landline telephones, fully digitalised, with 3000 subscribers and by mobile cellular, with an estimated number of 5000 handsets in use. An estimated 2860 users have internet access. These are July 2016 estimates. Public radio service is provided by Radio Montserrat. There is a single television broadcaster, PTV. Cable and satellite television service is available.
Geography
thumb|Montserrat's coastline
The island of Montserrat is located approximately southwest of Antigua, southeast of Redonda (a small island owned by Antigua and Barbuda), and northwest of the French overseas region of Guadeloupe. Beyond Redonda lies the island of Nevis (which is part of the federation of St Kitts and Nevis), about to the north-west.
Montserrat comprises and is gradually increasing owing to the buildup of volcanic deposits on the southeast coast. The island is long and wide and consists of a mountainous interior surrounded by a flatter littoral region, with rock cliffs rising above the sea and a number of smooth bottomed sandy beaches scattered among coves on the western (Caribbean Sea) side of the island.
The major mountains are (from north to south) Silver Hill, Katy Hill in the Centre Hills range, the Soufrière Hills and the South Soufrière Hills.
Montserrat has a few tiny off-shore islands, such as Little Redonda off its north coast and Pinnacle Rock and Statue Rock off its east.
Volcano and exclusion zone
thumb|right|Eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano on 22 September 1997
thumb|[[Plymouth, Montserrat|Plymouth City (former capital and major port of Montserrat) on 12 July 1997, after pyroclastic flows burned much of what was not covered in ash]]
thumb|False-colour time-lapse images of the Soufrière Hills volcanic dome collapse in 2010, from [[NASA]]
thumb|upright|Devastated Plymouth City and volcano (2003)
In July 1995, Montserrat's Soufrière Hills volcano, dormant for centuries, erupted and soon buried the island's capital, Plymouth, in more than of mud, destroyed its airport and docking facilities, and rendered the southern part of the island, now termed the exclusion zone, uninhabitable and not safe for travel. The southern part of the island was evacuated and visits are severely restricted. The exclusion zone also includes two sea areas adjacent to the land areas of most volcanic activity.
For a number of years in the early 2000s, the volcano's activity consisted mostly of infrequent ventings of ash into the uninhabited areas in the south. The ash falls occasionally extended into the northern and western parts of the island. In the most recent period of increased activity at the Soufrière Hills volcano, from November 2009 through February 2010, ash vented and there was a vulcanian explosion that sent pyroclastic flows down several sides of the mountain. Travel into parts of the exclusion zone was occasionally allowed, though only by a licence from the Royal Montserrat Police Force. Since 2014 the area has been split into multiple subzones with varying entry and use restrictions, based on volcanic activity: some areas even being (in 2020) open 24 hours and inhabited. The most dangerous zone, which includes the former capital, remains forbidden to casual visitors due to volcanic and other hazards, especially due to the lack of maintenance in destroyed areas. It is legal to visit this area when accompanied by a government-authorised guide.
The northern part of Montserrat has largely been unaffected by volcanic activity, and remains lush and green. In February 2005, Princess Anne officially opened what is now called the John A. Osborne Airport in the north. Since 2011, it handles several flights daily operated by Fly Montserrat Airways. Docking facilities are in place at Little Bay, where the new capital town is being constructed; the new government centre is at Brades, a short distance away.
Wildlife
right|thumb|Montserrat oriole, the official bird of the island
Montserrat, like many isolated islands, is home to rare, endemic plant and animal species. Work undertaken by the Montserrat National Trust in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has centred on the conservation of pribby (Rondeletia buxifolia) in the Centre Hills region. Until 2006, this species was known only from one book about the vegetation of Montserrat. In 2006, conservationists also rescued several plants of the endangered Montserrat orchid (Epidendrum montserratense) from dead trees on the island and installed them in the security of the island's botanic garden.
Montserrat is also home to the critically endangered giant ditch frog (Leptodactylus fallax), known locally as the mountain chicken, found only in Montserrat and Dominica. The species has undergone catastrophic declines due to the amphibian disease Chytridiomycosis and the volcanic eruption in 1997. Experts from Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust have been working with the Montserrat Department of Environment to conserve the frog in-situ in a project called "Saving the Mountain Chicken", and an ex-situ captive breeding population has been set up in partnership with Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Zoological Society of London, Chester Zoo, Parken Zoo, and the Governments of Montserrat and Dominica. Releases from this programme have already taken place in a hope to increase the numbers of the frog and reduce extinction risk from Chytridiomycosis.
The national bird is the endemic Montserrat oriole (Icterus oberi). The IUCN Red List classifies it as vulnerable, having previously listed it as critically endangered. Captive populations are held in several zoos in the UK including: Chester Zoo, London Zoo, Jersey Zoo and Edinburgh Zoo.
The Montserrat galliwasp (Diploglossus montisserrati), a type of lizard, is endemic to Montserrat and is listed on the IUCN Red List as critically endangered. A species action plan has been developed for this species.
In 2005, a biodiversity assessment for the Centre Hills was conducted. To support the work of local conservationists, a team of international partners, including Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Montana State University, carried out extensive surveys and collected biological data. Researchers from Montana State University found that the invertebrate fauna was particularly rich on the island. The report found that the number of invertebrate species known to occur in Montserrat is 1241. The number of known beetle species is 718 species from 63 families. It is estimated that 120 invertebrates are endemic to Montserrat.
The Montserrat tarantula (Cyrtopholis femoralis) is the only species of tarantula native to the island. It was first bred in captivity at the Chester Zoo in August 2016.
Climate
Montserrat has a tropical rainforest climate (Af according to the Köppen climate classification) with the temperature being warm and consistent year-round, and lots of precipitation. Summer and autumn are wetter because of Atlantic hurricanes.
Economy
thumb|The [[Motor ship|MV Caribe Queen is a Nevis ferry boat which formerly shuttled passengers between Antigua and Montserrat several times a week]]
Montserrat's economy was devastated by the 1995 eruption and its aftermath; produced by five diesel generators. Two exploratory geothermal wells have found good resources and the pad for a third geothermal well was prepared in 2016. Together the geothermal wells are expected to produce more power than the island requires. A 250 kW solar PV station was commissioned in 2019, with plans for another 750 kW. making the island popular with musicians who often went there to record while taking advantage of the island's climate and beautiful surroundings. In the early hours of 17 September 1989, Hurricane Hugo passed the island as a Category 4 hurricane, damaging more than 90% of the structures on the island. The slowly recovering tourist industry was again wiped out with the eruption of the Soufrière Hills Volcano in 1995, although it began partially to recover within fifteen years.
Transport
thumb|John A. Osborne Airport
Air
John A. Osborne Airport is the only airport on the island (constructed after the W. H. Bramble Airport was destroyed in 1997 by the volcanic eruption). Scheduled service to Antigua is provided by FlyMontserrat and ABM Air. Charter flights are also available to the surrounding islands.
Sea
Ferry service to the island was provided by the Jaden Sun Ferry. It ran from Heritage Quay in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda to Little Bay on Montserrat. The ride was about an hour and a half and operated five days a week.
This service stopped in 2020 due to being financially unsustainable and the only access to Montserrat now is by air.
Demographics
thumb|The 1997 eruption led to a dramatic decrease in population.
Montserrat had a population of 7,119 in 1842.
The island had a population of 5,879 (according to a 2008 estimate). An estimated 8,000 refugees left the island (primarily to the UK) following the resumption of volcanic activity in July 1995; the population was 13,000 in 1994. The 2011 Montserrat census indicated a population of 4,922. In early 2016, the estimated population had reached nearly 5,000 primarily due to immigration from other islands.
Age structure (2003 estimates):
- up to 14 years: 23.4% (male 1,062; female 1,041)
- 15 to 64 years: 65.3% (male 2,805; female 3,066)
- 65 years and over: 11.3% (male 537; female 484)
The median age of the population was 28.1 as of 2002 and the sex ratio was 0.96 males/female as of 2000.
The population growth rate is 6.9% (2008 est.), with a birth rate of 17.57 births/1,000 population, death rate of 7.34 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.), and net migration rate of 195.35/1,000 population (2000 est.) There is an infant mortality rate of 7.77 deaths/1000 live births (2003 est.). The life expectancy at birth is 75.9 years: 76.8 for males and 75.0 for females (2023 est.). Globally, only Montserrat has a higher life expectancy for males than females, a difference of 1.8 years. The total fertility rate is 1.8 children born/woman (2003 est.).
According to the Montserrat government's 2024 population census, the island has a total population of 4,386, a 10.9% drop compared to 2011.
Language
thumb|Distribution of Montserratian Creole
English is the sole official language and the main spoken language. A few thousand people speak Montserrat Creole, a dialect of Antiguan and Barbudan Creole. Historically, Irish Gaelic was spoken, but has disappeared from use.
Irish language in Montserrat
The Irish constituted the largest proportion of the white population from the founding of the colony in 1628. Most were indentured servants; others were merchants or plantation owners. The geographer Thomas Jeffrey claimed in The West India Atlas (1780) that the majority of those on Montserrat were either Irish or of Irish descent, "so that the use of the Irish language is preserved on the island, even among the Negroes."
African slaves and Irish indentured servants of all classes were in constant contact, with sexual relationships being common and a population of mixed descent appearing as a consequence. The Irish were also prominent in Caribbean commerce, with their merchants importing Irish goods such as beef, pork, butter and herring, and also importing slaves.
There is indirect evidence that the use of the Irish language continued in Montserrat until at least the middle of the nineteenth century. The County Kilkenny diarist and Irish scholar Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin noted in 1831 that he had heard that Irish was still spoken in Montserrat by both black and white inhabitants.
In 1852, Henry H. Breen wrote in Notes and Queries that "The statement that 'the Irish language is spoken in the West India Islands, and that in some of them it may be said to be almost vernacular,' is true of the little Island of Montserrat, but has no foundation with respect to the other colonies."
In 1902, The Irish Times quoted the Montreal Family Herald in a description of Montserrat, noting that "the negroes to this day speak the old Irish Gaelic tongue, or English with an Irish brogue. A story is told of a Connaught man who, on arriving at the island, was, to his astonishment, hailed in a vernacular Irish by the black people."
A letter by W. F. Butler in The Atheneum (15 July 1905) quotes an account by a Cork civil servant, C. Cremen, of what he had heard from a retired sailor called John O'Donovan, a fluent Irish speaker: