Montserrat

Montserrat

Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...

is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands

Leeward Islands

The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...

 of the Lesser Antilles

Lesser Antilles

The Lesser Antilles are a long, partly volcanic island arc in the Western Hemisphere. Most of its islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, with the remainder located in the southern Caribbean just north of South America...

 archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

 in the Caribbean Sea

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

. The Island of Montserrat is approximately 16 km (9.9 mi) long and 11 km (6.8 mi) wide with 40 kilometres (25 mi) of coastline. The island was given its name by Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...

 on his second voyage to the New World in 1493, after its namesake

Montserrat (mountain)

Montserrat is a multi-peaked mountain located near the city of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range. The main peaks are Sant Jeroni , Montgrós and Miranda de les Agulles...

 located in Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

. Montserrat is often referred to as the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean, due both to its resemblance to coastal Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and to the Irish descent of most of its early European settlers.

Its Georgian era

Georgian era

The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...

 capital city of Plymouth

Plymouth, Montserrat

Plymouth is the de jure capital of the island of Montserrat, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom located in the Leeward Island chain of the Lesser Antilles, West Indies. The town was overwhelmed by volcanic eruptions starting in the 1990s and was abandoned...

 was destroyed and two-thirds of the island's population forced to flee abroad by an eruption of the previously dormant Soufriere Hills volcano that began on July 18, 1995. The eruption continues today on a much reduced scale, the damage being confined to the areas around Plymouth including its docking facilities and the former W.H. Bramble Airport. An exclusion zone extending from the south coast of the island north to parts of the Belham Valley has been closed because of an increase in the size of the existing volcanic dome. This zone includes St. George's Hill which provided visitors with a spectacular view of the volcano and the destruction it has wrought upon the capital. A new airport at Gerald's

Gerald's Airport

John A. Osborne Airport is a small airport located near the village of Gerald's on the island of Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean....

 in the northern part of the island opened in 2005. The village of Brades

Brades

Brades is a village and de facto capital of the Caribbean island of Montserrat since 1998. Brades is located in the Carr's Bay/Little Bay vicinity at the northwest end of Montserrat. The official capital Plymouth in the south of the island has been abandoned since 1997 due to the eruption of...

 currently serves as the de facto centre of government.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Montserrat:

General reference

• Pronunciation
  International Phonetic Alphabet
  The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...
  
  :
• Common English country name: Montserrat
  Montserrat
  Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...
  
  
• Official English country name: The British Overseas Territory of Montserrat
  Montserrat
  Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...
  
  
• Common endonym(s):
• Official endonym(s):
• Adjectival(s): Montserratian
  Montserratian
  Montserratian may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Montserrat, is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea....
  
  
• Demonym(s):
• Etymology
  Etymology
  Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
  
  : Name of Montserrat
• ISO country codes: MS, MSR, 500
• ISO region codes: See ISO 3166-2:MS
  ISO 3166-2:MS
  ISO 3166-2:MS is the entry for Montserrat in ISO 3166-2, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , which defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1.Currently no ISO 3166-2 codes are defined in...
  
  
• Internet
  Internet
  The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
  
   country code top-level domain
  Country code top-level domain
  A country code top-level domain is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, a sovereign state, or a dependent territory....
  
  : .ms
  .ms
  .ms is the Internet country code top-level domain for Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory. Microsoft has used this as an abbreviation with projects such as . Web sites based in, or having to do with, the U.S. State of Mississippi also use the .ms domain as MS is the official United States...
  
  

Geography of Montserrat

• Montserrat is: an island, and a British overseas territory
• Location:
  • Northern Hemisphere
    Northern Hemisphere
    The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
    
     and Western Hemisphere
    Western Hemisphere
    The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
    
    
    • North America
      North America
      North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
      
       (though not on the mainland
      Mainland
      Mainland is a name given to a large landmass in a region , or to the largest of a group of islands in an archipelago. Sometimes its residents are called "Mainlanders"...
      
      )
  • Atlantic Ocean
    Atlantic Ocean
    The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
    
    
    • North Atlantic
      • Caribbean
        Caribbean
        The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
        
        
        • Antilles
          Antilles
          The Antilles islands form the greater part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. The Antilles are divided into two major groups: the "Greater Antilles" to the north and west, including the larger islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico; and the smaller "Lesser Antilles" on the...
          
          
          • Lesser Antilles
            Lesser Antilles
            The Lesser Antilles are a long, partly volcanic island arc in the Western Hemisphere. Most of its islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, with the remainder located in the southern Caribbean just north of South America...
            
            
            • Leeward Islands
              Leeward Islands
              The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...
              
              
  • Time zone
    Time zone
    A time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates , different places on the Earth need to have different clock times...
    
    : Eastern Caribbean Time (UTC-04)
  • Extreme points of Montserrat
    • High: Chances Peak
      Chances Peak
      Chances Peak is the culminant point of the active complex stratovolcano named Soufrière Hills. It is the highest point in Montserrat, a British overseas territory located in the Caribbean Sea....
      
       in the Soufriere Hills
      Soufrière Hills
      The Soufrière Hills volcano is an active complex stratovolcano with many lava domes forming its summit on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. After a long period of dormancy, it became active in 1995, and has continued to erupt ever since...
      
       volcanic complex 915 m (3,002 ft)
    • Low: Caribbean Sea
      Caribbean Sea
      The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
      
       0 m
  • Land boundaries: none
  • Coastline: Caribbean Sea
    Caribbean Sea
    The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
    
     40 km
• Population of Montserrat: 5,900 - 216th most populous country
• Area of Montserrat: 102 km²
• Atlas of Montserrat

Environment of Montserrat

• Climate of Montserrat
• Environmental issues in Montserrat
• Ecoregions in Montserrat
• Renewable energy in Montserrat
• Geology of Montserrat
• Protected areas of Montserrat
  • Biosphere reserves in Montserrat
  • National parks of Montserrat
• Wildlife of Montserrat
  Wildlife of Montserrat
  For information on the wildlife of Montserrat, see:*List of birds of Montserrat*List of mammals of Montserrat*List of amphibians and reptiles of Montserrat...
  
  
  • Flora of Montserrat
  • Fauna of Montserrat
    • Birds of Montserrat
    • Mammals of Montserrat

Natural geographic features of Montserrat

• Fjords of Montserrat
• Glaciers of Montserrat
• Islands of Montserrat
• Lakes of Montserrat
• Mountains of Montserrat
  • Volcanoes in Montserrat
• Rivers of Montserrat
  • Waterfalls of Montserrat
• Valleys of Montserrat
• World Heritage Sites in Montserrat: None

Ecoregions of Montserrat

Administrative divisions of Montserrat

• Parishes of Montserrat

Municipalities of Montserrat

• Capital of Montserrat: Brades
• Cities of Montserrat

Government and politics of Montserrat

Main article: Politics of Montserrat

Politics of Montserrat

Politics of Montserrat takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby the Chief Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Montserrat is an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom...

• Form of government
  Form of government
  A form of government, or form of state governance, refers to the set of political institutions by which a government of a state is organized. Synonyms include "regime type" and "system of government".-Empirical and conceptual problems:...
  
  : parliamentary
  Parliamentary system
  A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....
  
   representative democratic
  Representative democracy
  Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...
  
   dependency
  Dependent territory
  A dependent territory, dependent area or dependency is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a State, and remains politically outside of the controlling state's integral area....
  
  
• Capital of Montserrat: Brades

• Elections in Montserrat
  Elections in Montserrat
  Elections in Montserrat gives information on election and election results in Montserrat.Montserrat elects on territorial level a legislature...
  
  
  • (specific elections)
• Political parties in Montserrat
• Political scandals of Montserrat
• Taxation in Montserrat

Executive branch of the government of Montserrat

• Head of state
  Head of State
  A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
  
  : Monarch of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II
  • Monarch's representative: Governor of Montserrat
    Governor of Montserrat
    The Governor of Montserrat is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of Montserrat. The Governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government...
    
    ,
• Head of government
  Head of government
  Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
  
  : Chief Minister of Montserrat
  Chief Minister of Montserrat
  The Chief Minister of Montserrat is the head of government of Montserrat, an island in the Caribbean that is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, appointed by the Governor of Montserrat on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II, Montserrat's head of state. The current Chief Minister of Montserrat is...
  
  ,
• Cabinet of Montserrat

Legislative branch of the government of Montserrat

• Parliament of Montserrat (bicameral)
  • Upper house
    Upper house
    An upper house, often called a senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house; a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.- Possible specific characteristics :...
    
    : Senate of Montserrat
  • Lower house
    Lower house
    A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...
    
    : House of Commons of Montserrat

Judicial branch of the government of Montserrat

• Supreme Court of Montserrat

Foreign relations of Montserrat

• Diplomatic missions in Montserrat
• Diplomatic missions of Montserrat
• Montserrat-United Kingdom relations

International organization membership

Montserrat is a member of:

• Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom)
• Caribbean Development Bank
  Caribbean Development Bank
  The Caribbean Development Bank is a financial institution which assists Caribbean nations in financing social and economic programs in its member countries...
  
   (CDB)
• International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) (subbureau)
• Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
• Universal Postal Union
  Universal Postal Union
  The Universal Postal Union is an international organization that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal system. The UPU contains four bodies consisting of the Congress, the Council of Administration , the Postal Operations Council and the...
  
   (UPU)
• World Federation of Trade Unions
  World Federation of Trade Unions
  The World Federation of Trade Unions was established in 1945 to replace the International Federation of Trade Unions. Its mission was to bring together trade unions across the world in a single international organization, much like the United Nations...
  
   (WFTU)

Law and order in Montserrat

• Capital punishment in Montserrat
• Constitution of Montserrat
• Crime in Montserrat
• Human rights in Montserrat
  • LGBT rights in Montserrat
    LGBT rights in Montserrat
    Homosexual acts are legal in Montserrat, expressly legalized under the United Kingdom's Caribbean Territories Order, 2000.-See also:*British overseas territory*Politics of Montserrat*LGBT rights in the Americas*LGBT rights in the United Kingdom...
    
    
  • Freedom of religion in Montserrat
• Law enforcement in Montserrat

Military of Montserrat

• Command
  • Commander-in-chief
    Commander-in-Chief
    A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
    
    :
    • Ministry of Defence of Montserrat
• Forces
  • Army of Montserrat
  • Navy of Montserrat
  • Air Force of Montserrat
  • Special forces of Montserrat
• Military history of Montserrat
• Military ranks of Montserrat

History of Montserrat

Main article: History of Montserrat, Timeline of the history of Montserrat, and Current events of Montserrat

• Economic history of Montserrat
• Military history of Montserrat

Culture of Montserrat

• Architecture of Montserrat
• Cuisine of Montserrat
• Ethnic minorities in Montserrat
• Festivals in Montserrat
• Humor in Montserrat
• Languages of Montserrat
• Media in Montserrat
• National symbols of Montserrat
  • Coat of arms of Montserrat
    Coat of arms of Montserrat
    The coat of arms of Montserrat was first adopted in 1909.The arms consist of a shield featuring a lady in green representing Erin, the female personification of Ireland, based on the mythology of Ériu. The lady is holding a golden harp, a symbol of Ireland that features in Ireland's coat of arms...
    
    
  • Flag of Montserrat
    Flag of Montserrat
    The Flag of Montserrat was adopted on 10 April 1909.-Flag features:It is a Blue Ensign with the Union Flag in the canton and the Coat of arms of Montserrat in the fly.-Symbolism of arms:...
    
    
  • National anthem of Montserrat
• People of Montserrat
• Prostitution in Montserrat
• Public holidays in Montserrat
• Records of Montserrat
• Religion in Montserrat
  • Buddhism in Montserrat
  • Christianity in Montserrat
  • Hinduism in Montserrat
  • Islam in Montserrat
    Islam in Montserrat
    According to a 2009 Pew Research Center report, Muslims constitute approximately 0.1% of the population in Montserrat....
    
    
  • Judaism in Montserrat
  • Sikhism in Montserrat
• World Heritage Sites in Montserrat: None

Art in Montserrat

• Art in Montserrat
• Cinema of Montserrat
• Literature of Montserrat
• Music of Montserrat
  Music of Montserrat
  The music of Montserrat is influenced by Irish traditions, noticeable in the set dance-like Bam-chick-lay, and the presence of fife and drum ensembles similar to the bodhrán. Natives are also witness to the jumbie dance, the style of which is still strongly African...
  
  
• Television in Montserrat
• Theatre in Montserrat

Sports in Montserrat

• Football in Montserrat
  Football in Montserrat
  The sport of football in the country of Montserrat is run by the Montserrat Football Association. The association administers the national football team, as well as the national football league....
  
  
• Montserrat at the Olympics

Economy and infrastructure of Montserrat

• Economic rank, by nominal GDP (2007): 189th (one hundred and eighty ninth)

• Agriculture in Montserrat
  Agriculture in Montserrat
  Agriculture in Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory, is a small industry that is heavily influenced by the volcanic activity of the Soufrière Hills. Historically a major producer of sugar and tobacco, the eruptions of the Soufrière Hills between 1995 and 1997 severely damaged infrastructure...
  
  
• Banking in Montserrat
  • National Bank of Montserrat
• Communications in Montserrat
  Communications in Montserrat
  Montserrat possesses a number of telecommunications systems, including mobile and main line telephone, radio and television. The country code for Montserrat is "MS"....
  
  
  • Internet in Montserrat
• Companies of Montserrat

• Currency of Montserrat
  Currency
  In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...
  
  : Dollar
  East Caribbean dollar
  The East Caribbean dollar is the currency of eight of the nine members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States...
  
  
  • ISO 4217
    ISO 4217
    ISO 4217 is a standard published by the International Standards Organization, which delineates currency designators, country codes , and references to minor units in three tables:* Table A.1 – Current currency & funds code list...
    
    : XCD
    XCD
    XCD can refer to:* East Caribbean dollar* Champforgeuil Airport * Xerez Club Deportivo, Spanish football club* a Compact Disc container format standard for multimedia content...
    
    

• Economic history of Montserrat
• Energy in Montserrat
  • Energy policy of Montserrat
  • Oil industry in Montserrat
• Mining in Montserrat
• Tourism in Montserrat
• Transport in Montserrat
  Transport in Montserrat
  Railways:0 kmHighways:total:269 kmpaved:203 kmunpaved:66 km Waterways:nonePorts and harbours:Plymouth , Little Bay , Carr's Bay...
  
  

• Montserrat Stock Exchange

Infrastructure of Montserrat

• Health care in Montserrat
• Transportation in Montserrat
  • Airports in Montserrat
  • Rail transport in Montserrat
  • Roads in Montserrat
• Water supply and sanitation in Montserrat

See also

• Index of Montserrat-related articles
• List of international rankings
• List of Montserrat-related topics
• Outline of geography
  Outline of geography
  The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to geography:Geography – science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth.- Geography is :...
  
  
• Outline of North America
• Outline of the Caribbean
• Outline of the United Kingdom
  Outline of the United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain, is a sovereign island nation located in the British Isles of Western Europe...
  
  

External links

• Government of Montserrat
• Montserrat Hospitality Association
• Montserrat Reporter news site
• Montserrat Tourist Board
• Montserrat Travel Information
• Montserrat Volcano Observatory
• Montserrat Webdirectory
• Official release archive
• Radio Montserrrat—ZJB Listen live online
• Satellite image of Montserrat from Google Maps
• Volcanism of Montserrat
• Scuba Diving in Montserrat