Montserrat

Montserrat is an island in the warm Caribbean Sea.

It has green hills and a volcano. It is shaped a bit like a pear.

Montserrat lies in the eastern Caribbean Sea, about 43 kilometers southwest of Antigua and about 50 kilometers northwest of Guadeloupe. It is part of the Lesser Antilles, the long curve of islands at the eastern edge of the Caribbean. The island is shaped like a pear, 18 kilometers long and 11 kilometers wide.

Montserrat is a British overseas territory. It is sometimes called the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean, partly because many of its people once had roots in Ireland. English is the official language, and people pay with the Eastern Caribbean dollar.

Britannica places Montserrat about 43 km southwest of Antigua and 50 km northwest of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. Its nickname, 'Emerald Isle of the Caribbean', comes in part from its formerly large population of Irish origin.

Montserrat is an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The British monarch is head of state, represented by an appointed governor. Under the constitution that came into force on 27 September 2011, the governor appoints a premier from the nine-seat Legislative Assembly, whose members are elected island-wide for five-year terms. English is official, and the currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar, issued by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.

People live in the north of the island now.

The old capital, Plymouth, is empty. People need permission to go there.

Plymouth, on the southwest coast, was the capital and the only port until 1997. After the volcano's eruptions, the government moved to Brades, in the northwest, which is now the center of government. The photo shows the Government Welcome Center in Brades.

A new port was built at Little Bay, on the northwest coast, and a new airport, John A. Osborne Airport, opened in 2005 in the north. Ferries and helicopters link Montserrat with Antigua. About a dozen small villages, such as Look Out, St. John's and Davy Hill, lie along the northern and western coasts.

Plymouth was the capital and only port of entry until 1997, when eruptions destroyed much of the town. Government activities moved to Brades Estate and neighboring areas in the northwest, now the de facto capital. Britannica lists 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.

After the port at Plymouth closed in 1997, a new one was built at Little Bay on the northwest coast. W.H. Bramble Airport on the east coast also closed in 1997; John A. Osborne Airport opened in 2005 in the north-central part of the island. The nearest international airport is on Antigua, linked by helicopter and by ferry from Little Bay. UK government travel advice says Zone V, the area around the volcano, may be entered only with the authorities' permission.

Montserrat has three groups of hills.

The Soufrière Hills have a volcano. Scientists watch it day and night to keep people safe.

Three groups of hills shape Montserrat: the Silver Hills in the north, the Centre Hills and the Soufrière Hills in the south. Narrow valleys called ghauts cut through them. Most beaches have gray or brown volcanic sand; the only white-sand beach is at Rendezvous Bay in the north.

In July 1995 the Soufrière Hills volcano began to erupt after centuries of quiet, and eruptions went on for years, changing the land. Scientists at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory watch it 24 hours a day, and there has been no major volcanic activity since February 2010. Warning sirens around the island are tested every day at noon. The weather is warm all year, with highs of 27 to 30 °C.

Britannica describes a rugged volcanic island molded by three mountainous areas, the Silver Hills, Centre Hills and Soufrière Hills, cut by narrow valleys and gorges called ghauts. Chances Peak in the Soufrière Hills, at 915 m, was the highest point until eruptions began in July 1995, after centuries of dormancy, as lava domes grew and collapsed. A major eruption in July 2003 sent a huge pyroclastic flow into the sea. Beaches are mostly gray or brown volcanic sand; Rendezvous Bay in the north has the only white sand, and coral reefs line parts of the northern shore.

UK government travel advice says the volcano is monitored 24 hours a day from the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, that there has been no major activity since February 2010 and that the hazard level is 1 on a scale from 0 to 5; Zone V may be entered only with permission, and an island-wide siren system is tested daily at midday. The climate is tropical with little seasonal change: lows of 21 to 24 °C, highs of 27 to 30 °C and about 1,448 mm of rain a year; June to November is the warmest period and the hurricane season.

Rare animals live in Montserrat's forests.

One is a big frog called the mountain chicken. It is not a chicken at all!

About one-fifth of Montserrat is covered in forest. The Centre Hills were mostly untouched by the eruptions, though the lushest plant life, in the southern hills, was destroyed.

Some of the island's animals are rare and endangered. The Montserrat oriole is a bird. The Montserrat galliwasp is a kind of lizard. The mountain chicken is really a large frog. People once ate it, and by the early 2000s it was close to dying out because its home was being lost, too many were caught and a disease was brought in from elsewhere.

Britannica estimates that about one-fifth of the island is forested; the Silver and Centre Hills carry forest at higher elevations and secondary scrub lower down. The eruptions destroyed the most luxuriant vegetation, in the southern highlands, but left the Centre Hills largely unaffected.

Among the rare and endangered animals Britannica names are the Montserrat oriole (Icterus oberi), the Montserrat galliwasp (Diploglossus montisserrati), a lizard, and the 'mountain chicken' (Leptodactylus fallax), a large frog. Once a traditional delicacy, the mountain chicken was near extinction in the early 21st century because of habitat loss, overexploitation and an introduced fungal disease. The photo shows forested hills in front of the Soufrière Hills volcano.

People on Montserrat speak English.

A favorite dish is goat water, a thick goat stew. Carnival comes at the end of the year.

Most people on Montserrat have African ancestors, and the island's culture mixes African, Irish and British traditions. English is the official language, and most people also speak a Creole language.

The national dish is goat water, a thick stew made with goat meat. Carnival runs from December 26 to January 1, and St. Patrick's Day on March 17 is an official holiday, with celebrations lasting about a week. Before the eruptions, more than 10,000 people lived on the island; many moved away during the volcano crisis. The 2023 census counted about 4,400 people.

Britannica describes a population largely of African ancestry, with small numbers of people of European and mixed descent. English is official; most Montserratians also speak a Creole similar to Jamaica's. Britannica describes a mix of African, Irish and British traditions with a strong North American influence.

The population passed 10,000 in the early 1990s, but during the volcano crisis more than two-thirds of Montserratians left for the United Kingdom, Antigua and elsewhere in the Caribbean. Goat water, a thick goat-meat stew, is the national dish; Carnival, brought to Montserrat in 1962, runs from Boxing Day to New Year's Day. In 1977 the producer George Martin opened a recording studio on the island, used by Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and Elton John until 1989.