Montserrat is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean Sea. The island is in the Leeward Islands, which is part of the chain known as the Lesser Antilles, in the West Indies.

In 1493, Christopher Columbus named the island 'Santa María de Montserrate', after the Virgin of Montserrat on Montserrat mountain, near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. Montserrat means "serrated mountain" in Catalan.

Montserrat measures approximately 16 km (10 mi) in length and 11 km (7 mi) in width, with approximately 40 km (25 mi) of coastline. Montserrat is nicknamed "The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean" both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of many of its inhabitants.

In 1995, the previously dormant Soufrière Hills volcano became active. Eruptions destroyed Montserrat's Georgian era capital city of Plymouth.

Between 1995 and 2000, two-thirds of the island's population was forced to flee, primarily to the United Kingdom, leaving fewer than 1,200 people on the island by 1997.

The volcanic activity continues and the eastern side of the island around the former W. H. Bramble Airport, the remnants of which were buried by flows from volcanic activity in 2010.

The volcano continues to be closely monitored by the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. A new town and port are being developed on the northwest coast of the island.

The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes Montserrat on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.

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