FACTS:
Grenada is also known as Concepción. British Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Governor-General: Dame Cecile La Grenade. Head of Government is Prime Minister Keith Mitchell. The Capital is St. George’s. Population for 2021 estimated at 114,800. The official language is English. It is 344 sq km total area/133 sq miles. All seats are appointed by governor-general. Average year-round temperatures between 75 and 87 degrees and cooling trade winds, makes Grenada a lovely place to visit any time of the year. The inner harbor, which is landlocked, is a water-filled crater left by a long-dead volcano.
HISTORY:
Grenada’s first known inhabitants were the Ciboneys. The first settlers, the peaceful Arawaks, moved to the island from the Amazon Basin of South America. Around 1000 A.D., the warlike Caribs arrived from South America. They destroyed the Arawak settlements. In 1498 Christopher Columbus discovered Grenada; he called it Concepción. The name Grenada came from Spanish sailors who, passing by, found its hills reminiscent of their homeland. The island changed hands several times between Britain and France until it was awarded to Britain in the 1783 Treaty of Versailles. In 1974 Grenada declared independence from Britain. Sir Eric Gairy served as Grenada’s leader until 1979; these years were filled with governmental violence and oppression.
In quelling one protest march, Gairy forces shot the father of opposition leader Maurice Bishop. Public sympathy and Cuban support for Bishop increased until Gairy’s government was overthrown.
Four years later in 1983, Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard, a zealous Marxist, overthrew Bishop. At this point the Organization of Caribbean States requested help from the United States. The US intervened on Oct. 25, 1983 and Herbert Blaize was elected Prime Minister on Dec. 3, 1984.
What makes GRENADA Unique:
Nicknamed “the Spice Isle”. The nickname is derived by the many species that are produced here, including nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, coca and cloves.
Grenada boasts having the world’s first underwater sculpture park. Listed as one of National Geographic’s 25 wonders of the world, the Molinere Bay Underwater Sculpture Park is the firs of its kind. The park is around 800 sq. meters and several life-sized sculptures created by Jason deCaires Taylor were bolted down in the sea bed. These works of art can be found from 6-24 ft. deep under the Molinere Bay in Grenada and can be viewed not only by snorkeling and scuba diving but also through clear glass bottom boats.
This Caribbean island has one of the biggest living reptile species, the Leatherback Turtles. Their massive size ranked them 3rd in the list of heaviest living reptiles in the world. Endangered. The Grenadians are carefully protecting them.
