A Historical Overview of the Geography, Politics, and Culture of Montserrat :: Essays on Politics

A Historical Overview of the geography, Politics, and Culture of Montserrat Montserrat is a small Caribbean island with an interesting geographical, economic, political, and cultural history. Montserrat was populate by a succession of Amerindian groups before being discovered by Spanish explorers in the 1400s. In the seventeenth century, Montserrat was claimed by Great Britain, and colonized by an English ruling class, and their Irish indentured servants and African slaves. These revolutionary inhabitants created a plantation economy in order to grow wampum cane, thereby significantly changing the landscape. The combination of English, Irish, and African residents overly created a unique culture and a form of English Creole. Politically and economically, Montserrat has depended on Great Britain for nearly four centuries. In the late-1990s, a volcanic contingency devastated Montserrat and changed the islands geography, economy, and political relationship with the U nited Kingdom. Montserrats culture was also affected, as many people fled the island, and those who remained were forced to drastically alter their lifestyle. Geography Montserrat is a small, Leeward Island in the Caribbeans lesser Antilles, located 27 miles southwest of Antigua, at 16 45 N, 62 12 W. The island is virtually 12 miles long by 7 miles wide, with a land ambit of 62 square miles. The climate is tropical, with a mean temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and only if slight daily and sequenceal temperature variation. The average relative humidity is 75%, and average rainfall is 35 to 40 inches a year. The wet season lasts from June to December and the dry season stretches from January to May, but droughts can last intimately to a year. Like many of the other islands in the crescent of the Lesser Antilles, Montserrat was formed by volcanic eruptions thousands of years ago. This volcanic formation resulted in Montserrats rugged, mountainous lan dscape, and inspired Columbus to name the island after a mountain in northeastern Spain. Until 1995, the lay of the land was as follows. In the Northern part of Montserrat lie the oldest volcanic structures, the Silver Hills. These hills have undergone untold erosion, with strong northeastern breezes constantly blowing on them. They are less than 1,000 feet in elevation, with rounded slopes and broad ghauts.