About Grenada

Features

Located at 61°40′W, 12°07′N, the State of Grenada is actually comprised of six islands, the largest being Grenada (132mi²/310km), followed by Carriacou (13mi²/34km²) and Petit Martinique. Grenada was originally an underwater volcano some 2 million years ago. The highest point, Mt. St. Catherine at 2,747ft/804m, is found in the central ridge of mountains. The spectacular Grand Etang Crater Lake is nestled at 1,740ft/530m above sea level. Columbus sighted Grenada on 15 August 1498, on his third trip to the Caribbean, naming it Concepción in honour of the Virgin Mary, before hurrying on to his next stop. The island was re-named Mayo two years later and the French called it La Grenade when they first colonised it. Fun activities today are rainforest tours, diving (the tour de force of Grenada diving must be the massive wreck of the Bianca C, a 600ft/200m cruise liner that sank near the coast after a fire in 1961), snorkelling, fishing, excellent scenic cruising, places of interest and shopping, especially spices. Grenada is known as the Spice Isle of the Caribbean as more spices (such as cloves, mace, cocoa, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg and many others) are grown on Grenada per hectare than in any other place on the planet! In fact, Grenada produces a third of the world’s supply of nutmeg and it is the island’s biggest export.

History and Culture

Some 3,000 years before Colombus’ sighting, the island’s first inhabitants were the Amerindian Calvignoid, the Galibi, the Suazoids and Arawaks. The fierce Caribs evicted this last group in the 1400’s and did battle with both French and English until their own defeat.

The English created the first settlement of Megrin Town in 1609 but took the first get-away ship they could because of the continuous harassment from the fierce Caribs. The French thought they would have a try and indeed managed their relations with the Caribs more successfully. Both groups were surprised when 100 Dutch privateers arrived in 1675 and took over the whole island. A to and fro between the French and British resulted in a final ceding to Britain through the Treaty of Versailles in 1773. Peace was still not to be had as an internal rebellion led by Julien Fedon plunged the administration into chaos when he commandeered over 90% of the island.

A new era

The island became an Associated State within the British Commonwealth in 1967 and finally achieved independence on February 7th, 1974. However, internal struggles weakened the leadership and finally the US, worried about the impact of another communist regime in the region, invaded the island in 1983 and removed the ruling People’s Revolutary Army from power. Since then, the island has enjoyed a politically stable environment alongside a substantial USAID package.