Grenada is an island nation and sovereign state consisting of the island of Grenada and several smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea.
Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The capital city is St. George's. For those who are fans of the movie The Pirates of the Caribbean, the former name of St. George's was Fort Royal!
The population is estimated to be 110,000 and they have a 98% literacy rate.
The primary languages are English and French patois; a regional dialect of French that contains some Caribe and African words.
The currency is the East Caribbean dollar.
Grenada Flag
History
The recorded history of Grenada begins in 1498. At the time the indigenous Island Caribs (Kalinago) who lived there called it Camahogne. The Spaniards did not permanently settle on Camahogne. Later the English failed their first settlement attempts.
The French fought and conquered Grenada from the Caribs in 1650. This conquest resulted in the genocide of the 17th century Caribs from present-day Grenada. The French took control of Camahogne and named the new French colony La Grenade. La Grenade prospered as a wealthy French colony; its main export was sugar. They established a capital known as Fort Royal in 1650. To wait out harsh hurricanes, the French navy would shelter in the capital's natural harbour.
The colony was ceded to the United Kingdom in 1763 by the Treaty of Paris. A century later, in 1877 Grenada was made a Crown Colony.
The island was a province of the short-lived West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962. In 1967, Grenada attained the status of “Associated State of the United Kingdom”, meaning that Grenada was responsible for her own internal affairs, and the UK was responsible for her defence and foreign affairs. Independence was granted in 1974 under the leadership of the then Premier, Sir Eric Matthew Gairy, who became the first Prime Minister of Grenada.
Civil conflict broke out between Gairy’s government and some opposition parties including the New Jewel Movement. Gairy’s party won elections in 1976 but the opposition did not accept the result, accusing it of fraud. In 1979, the New Jewel Movement under Maurice Bishop launched a paramilitary attack on the government resulting in its overthrow. The constitution was suspended and Bishop's government ruled by decree. Cuban presence was welcomed and Cuba invested heavily in civic assistance (doctors, teachers, and technicians in the fields of health, literacy, agriculture, and agroindustries). Reforms started by the Gairy government were continued and expanded under the revolutionary government of Bishop.
Some years later a dispute developed between Bishop and certain high-ranking members of the New Jewel Movement. Though Bishop was cooperating with Cuba and USSR on various trade and foreign policy issues, he sought to maintain a "non-aligned" status. Bishop had been taking his time making Grenada wholly socialist, encouraging private-sector development in an attempt to make the island a popular tourist destination. Hard Marxist party members deemed Bishop insufficiently revolutionary and demanded that he either step down or enter into a power sharing arrangement.
On October 19, 1983, Bernard Coard and his wife Phyllis, backed by the Grenadian Army, led a coup against the government and Bishop was placed under house arrest. These actions led to street demonstrations because Bishop had massive support among the population. He was eventually freed by a large demonstration in the capital. While attempting to resume power, Bishop was captured and executed by soldiers along with seven other ministers of the government. After the execution of Bishop the Coard regime then put the island under martial law. The army declared a four-day total curfew during which anyone caught leaving their home without approval would be shot on sight.
The overthrow of a moderate government by one which was strongly communist worried President Ronald Reagan. Of particular concern was the presence of Cuban construction workers and military personnel building a 10,000-foot airstrip on Grenada. Though Bishop had claimed the purpose of the airstrip was to allow commercial jets to land, Reagan believed its purpose now was to allow military transport planes loaded with arms from Cuba to be transferred to Central American insurgents. Of additional concern was the security of the 800 American medical students enrolled at St. George's School of Medicine. With the post-coup violence and anarchy, martial law, and the shoot-on-sight curfew, Reagan was joined by many of his advisers, as well as much of the American public, in believing that the rescue of the American students was sufficient justification for an invasion. On October 25, 1983 Grenada was invaded by combined forces from the United States, the Regional Security System and Jamaica, in an operation codenamed Operation Urgent Fury. The U.S. stated this was done at the behest of Dame Eugenia Charles, of Dominica. The Governor-General, Sir Paul Scoon, later stated that he had also requested the invasion.
After the invasion the pre-revolutionary Grenadan constitution was resumed. Eighteen members of the army were arrested after the invasion on charges related to the murder of Maurice Bishop and the 7 others. The eighteen included the top political leadership of Grenada at the time of the execution as well as the entire military chain of command directly responsible for the operation that led to the executions. One was found not guilty, fourteen were sentenced to death, and three were sentenced to forty-five years in prison. The death sentences were commuted to terms of imprisonment and those in prison are known as the Grenada 17.
In April 2007, Grenada jointly hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup. The island's Prime Minister was at the time CARICOM Representative on cricket and was instrumental in having the World Cup Games brought to the region. After Hurricane Ivan, the Chinese government paid for the new $40 million national stadium, along with the aid of over 300 labourers from the People's Republic of China to build and repair it. During the opening ceremony the Taiwanese anthem instead of the People's Republic of China anthem was accidentally played, leading to the firing of top officials.
Geography
The island of Grenada is the largest island at approximately 133 square miles; the smaller Grenadines are Carriacou, Petit Martinique, Ronde Island, Caille Island, Diamond Island, Large Island, Saline Island and Frigate Island. Most of the population lives on Grenada itself. The largest settlement on the other islands is Hillsborough on Carriacou.
The islands are of volcanic origin with extremely rich soil. Grenada’s interior is very mountainous with Mount St. Catherine being the highest peak at 2,756 feet. Several small rivers with beautiful waterfalls flow into the sea from these mountains.
The climate is tropical: hot and humid in the rainy season and cooled by the trade winds in the dry season.
Being on the Southern edge of the hurricane belt, Grenada has suffered only three hurricanes in over fifty years. Hurricane Janet struck on 23 September 1955 with winds of 115 mph. The most recent storms were Hurricane Ivan on September 7, 2004 and Hurricane Emily on July 14, 2005.