Population: 5,414
Motto: “A people of excellence, molded by nature, nurtured by God.”
Montserrat is only 39 square miles and may have been inhabited as early as 500BC.
The population of Montserrat is small due to people leaving following the volcanic eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano between 1995 and 2000. It is estimated that approximately 8,000 people fled to the United Kingdom during that time. The population has grown to its current number mostly due to an influx of immigrants from other Caribbean nations.
Montserrat is also known as The Other Emerald Isle for its ties to Ireland. It is the only nation other than Ireland where St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday.
The official national anthem is “Motherland”:
Oh Montserrat, dear Motherland
Your children raise your standard high.
In toil and tears to serve you well,
A crowning jewel from God’s hand.Chorus:
Oh Montserrat, by nature blest
To you your children sing
Come well or woe, come friend or foe
To you your people cling.
Rise up and make our country great
With art and skill and sacrifice
With masque and drum we celebrate,
Triumphant masters of our faithChorus
We sing our land in harmony
May God be our eternal God°
And make Montserrat a house of hope,
A haven in the Carib Sea.Chorus
No pestilence shall mar your shore
No fount of sadness overwhelm
A people striving under God
Their spirits free forevermoreChorus
No pestilence pollutes her shore
Listen to the national anthem.
No fount of sadness overwhelm
A people striving under God
Their spirits free forever more.