MONTSERRAT

Thirty-six square miles of land with a volcano. A very big volcano.

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1493: Christopher Columbus sights the island and names it after his favourite Spanish monastery. Montserrat was in fact Columbus' choice for the whole of the New World!

1632: Irish settlers fleeing anti-Catholic persecution arrive from St. Kitts.

1650: Sugar-cane is grown on the island for the first time.

1664-8: The French briefly control the island.

1712: The French sack the island.

1780: The Great Hurricane severely damages Montserrat.

1782-3: The French control the island.

1835: Slavery is abolished throughout the British Empire.

1871-1956: Montserrat is part of the Leeward Islands Colony.

1958-62: Montserrat briefly joins the West Indian Federation, but when it breaks up the island votes to remain a British dependency.

1989: Hurricane Hugo damages 90% of all structures on the island.

1995: The Soufriere Hills Volcano erupts, and continues to rumble on to this day. The capital, Plymouth, is abandoned, and the southern two-thirds of the island is declared an exclusion zone. The small (population 1,000) town of Brades becomes the de jure capital.

2005: Gerald's Airport is opened, just outside Brades.

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