General presentation
Grenada is a constitutional monarchy located between St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the north and the island of Tobago much further south. Grenada includes the island of Grenada, the island of Carriacou and the island of Petite Martinique.
The island was populated by 113,597 inhabitants in 2022. With an area of 350 square kilometers, the population density is 325 inhabitants per square kilometer. The capital is Saint Georges and the other towns are Morne Rouge in the south, Dunfermline and Blaize on the Atlantic coast, Sauteurs in the north and Gouyave in the west.
Mount Sainte-Catherine is the highest point with 840 meters. Its coastline is 121 km long.
Regarding the GDP/capita, it was 8,223.30 USD in 2021. The currency is the Eastern Caribbean Dollar.
Grenada is nicknamed the "Island of Spice" for its cinnamon, cloves, turmeric and especially mace and nutmeg.
As a constitutional monarchy, the King of England is the head of state. The Governor is Cecile La Grenade and the Prime Minister, head of the executive branch, has been Dickon Mitchell since 2021.
History
Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1498, the island was inhabited by the Kalinago Arawaks who named the island Kamahuye.
The island was landed by Christopher Columbus during his voyage on August 15, 1498. It was inhabited by the Caribbean at the time. He named it Concepción.
The French, led by Jacques-Dyel du Parquet, then Governor of Martinique, took over the island and settled there in the 17th century. At first they maintained peaceful relationships with the islanders but the latter revolted and the French massacred the Carib Indians who were there. Du Parquet then bought the island from the Compagnie des Îles d'Amérique, in charge of the conquest and colonization of the American islands and became the sole owner of the island of Grenada.
He structured the island by erecting a fort and militias to confront possible rivals. He launched a plan to develop the cultivation of tobacco, which was dominant at the time, but the price of tobacco collapsed on the European markets and it became necessary to turn to other crops, in particular sugar cane, which had become the pearl that was being snapped up in Europe.
Later, they brought slaves from Africa to work in the sugar cane fields.
Grenada will remain French for more than a century before becoming British in 1763 following the Treaty of Paris ending the Seven Years War. The French took over the island but for a short period.
A pro-French revolt in 1795 was put down by British troops. The British drastically increased the island's sugarcane production, then towards the end of the 19th century turned to cocoa production.
The French language is becoming rare on the island, which has now become English-speaking. Today, only the place names remind us of the island's French past.
In 1833, as in the rest of the English colonies, slavery was definitively abolished.
From 1958 to 1962, Grenada became a province of the Federation of the West Indies, which quickly broke up.
On February 7, 1974, becoming a Commonwealth Kingdom, with Eric Gairy as Prime Minister. But a coup d'état broke out and ended the authoritarian regime in 1979.
Des élections sont organisées en 1984 voyant la victoire du Nouveau Parti National.
Later the populist leader Maurice Bishop established the People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada and pursued a socialist policy close to Cuba. His positions disturbed his neighbors Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Dominica and of course the United States. Dissension in his government led to his arrest and execution on October 19, 1983.
The army then took power but only 6 days later, the United States and a coalition of former British Caribbean colonies drove the army out of power and restored democracy.
Elections were held in 1984 and the New National Party won.
Economy
Agriculture represents about 24% of the Gross National Product.
The nutmeg that adorns the national flag has made the fortune of the archipelago. Indeed, until 2004, it was the second largest producer in the world behind Indonesia and employed nearly 3000 farmers.
On September 7, 2004, the island experienced the most destructive hurricane in its history with Hurricane Ivan. 90% of the buildings destroyed, 90% of the boats sunk or damaged, 37 dead, 500 injured and making nearly 60 000 people homeless.
Ivan was the most destructive hurricane in the Caribbean in over half a century.
Grenada shares with seven other Caribbean countries the same Central Bank and the same currency, the East Caribbean dollar.
