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 Grenada
(pronounced “Grenayda”), the most southerly of the
Windwards, has two dependencies in the Grenadines chain,
Carriacou and Petit (often spelt Petite) Martinique. They,
and a number of smaller islets, lie north of the main
island. The group’s total area is 133 square miles.
Grenada itself is 21 miles long and 12 miles wide. Grenada
is described as a spice island, for it produces large
quantities of cloves and mace and about a third of the
world’s nutmeg. It also grows cacao, sugar, bananas and
a wide variety of other fruit and vegetables. Some of its
beaches, specially Grand Anse, a dazzling two-mile stretch
of white sand, are very fine. The majority of the tourist
facilities are on the island’s southwest tip, but the
rest of the island is beautiful, rising from a generally
rugged coast to a spectacular mountainous interior. The
highest point is Mount St Catherine, at 2,757 feet. The
island seems to tilt on a Northeast-Southwest axis: if a
line is drawn through ancient craters of Lake Antoine in
the Northeast, the Grand Étang in the central mountains
and the Lagoon at St George’s, it will be straight.
Northwest of that line, the land rises and the coast is
high; Southeast it descends to a low coastline of rias
(drowned valleys). The island is green, well forested and
cultivated and is blessed with plenty of rain in the wet
season.
The
population of some 98,400 (of which 5,726 live on
Carriacou and Petit Martinique) is largely of African
(85%) or mixed (11%) descent. In contrast to other
Windward Islands which have had a similar history of
disputed ownership between the French and English, the
French cultural influence in Grenada has completely died
out. Nevertheless, it is a predominantly Catholic island,
though there are Protestant churches of various
denominations, and a Baha’i Centre. Many people who
emigrated from Grenada to the UK are returning to the
island and are building smart houses for their retirement
which are in stark contrast to the tiny, corrugated iron
shacks which are home to many of their countrymen. The
population is very young; 38% are under 15 years old and
nearly 26% are in the 15-29 years’ age bracket. |
