ONTSERRAT
General
Montserrat is part of the Leeward Islands group of the Lesser Antilles in the Eastern Caribbean, latitude 16° 45' North, longitude 62° 10' West,
and has an area of 39.5 square miles. It is entirely volcanic, very moun-
tainous and comprises three main mountain ranges, Silver Hill in the North
(1,323 feet), Centre Hill (2,429 feet) and Soufriere Hills with Chances Peak
(3,002 feet) in the South. The coastline is rugged and offers no all-
weather harbour although there are several anchorages in the lee of the
Island sheltered from prevailing trade winds. There are seven active
Soufrieres and together with most West Indian Islands Montserrat has a
seismographic recording station.
There is no well-defined rainy season. Normally the first six months
of the year are drier than the last six months, a 55-year average showing
33.88 inches for January to June and 34.20 for July to December. The cool-
est time of the year is between June and November which is also the
hurricane season. The population is approximately 13,000.
The Island was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493 and although
named after the Abbey of Montserrat near Barcelona it was never colonised
by Spain. It became a British colony in 1956 following the abolition of
the Federation of the Leeward Islands.
Political
A new constitution which came into force in 1960 provides for the
execution of Government through the Governor who is appointed by
The
Her Majesty The Queen, an Executive Council and a Legislative Council.
Executive Council has the general control and direction of the government
three Ministers of the territory. It is composed of foxXXXXXXXabaks (the Chief
two ex-officio
Minister and xxxxxx members (Attorney-General and Financial
Secretary)), whereas the Legislative Council consists of seven elected, one
nominated and two official members (Attorney-General and Financial
Secretary). Both Councils were, until 1975, presided over by the Governor, but
The Legislative Council is now presided over by a Speaker the Governor retaining
the presidency, of the xxxxxxxxxxxexavoxxxx Executive Council.
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