]! ^! Carib Indians inhabited Grenada when COLUMBUS discovered the island in 1498, but it remained uncolonized for more than a century. The French settled Grenada in the 17th century, established sugar estates, and imported large numbers of African slaves. Britain took the island in 1762 and vigorously expanded sugar production. In the 19th century, cacao eventually surpassed sugar as the main export crop; in the 20th century, nutmeg became the leading export. In 1967, Britain gave Grenada autonomy over its internal affairs. Full independence was attained in 1974 making Grenada one of the smallest independent countries in the Western Hemisphere. Grenada was seized by a Marxist military council on 19 October 1983. Six days later the island was invaded by US forces and those of six other Caribbean nations, which quickly captured the ringleaders and their hundreds of Cuban advisers. Free elections were reinstituted the following year and have continued since that time. Hurricane Ivan struck Grenada in September of 2004 causing severe damage. 
]" ^" Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago ^# 12 07 N, 61 40 W ^$ Central America and the Caribbean ^% `! 344 sq km `" 344 sq km `# 0 sq km ^& twice the size of Washington, DC ^' 0 km ^( 121 km ^) `$ 12 nm `N 200 nm ^* tropical; tempered by northeast trade winds ^+ volcanic in origin with central mountains ^, `% Caribbean Sea 0 m `& Mount Saint Catherine 840 m ^- timber, tropical fruit, deepwater harbors ^. `' 5.88% `( 29.41% `) 64.71% (2005) ^/ NA ^0 lies on edge of hurricane belt; hurricane season lasts from June to November ^1 NA _P `P Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling `Q none of the selected agreements ^2 the administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada 
]# ^3 89,971 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 32.8% (male 14,876/female 14,641) `, 64.1% (male 30,522/female 27,137) `- 3.1% (male 1,353/female 1,442) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 22.1 years `. 22.6 years `/ 21.6 years (2007 est.) ^6 0.336% (2007 est.) ^7 21.87 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 6.61 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 -11.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1 male(s)/female `1 1.016 male(s)/female `, 1.125 male(s)/female `- 0.938 male(s)/female `2 1.082 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 13.92 deaths/1,000 live births `. 13.57 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 14.27 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 65.21 years `. 63.38 years `/ 67.05 years (2007 est.) ^= 2.3 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> NA ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `3 Grenadian(s) `4 Grenadian ^B black 82%, mixed black and European 13%, European and East Indian 5%, and trace of Arawak/Carib Amerindian ^C Roman Catholic 53%, Anglican 13.8%, other Protestant 33.2% ^D English (official), French patois ^E `5 age 15 and over can read and write `2 96% `. NA% `/ NA% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `6 none `7 Grenada ^H parliamentary democracy ^I `8 Saint George's `9 12 03 N, 61 45 W `: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^J 6 parishes and 1 dependency*; Carriacou and Petit Martinique*, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick ^K 7 February 1974 (from UK) ^L Independence Day, 7 February (1974) ^M 19 December 1973 ^N based on English common law ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `; Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Daniel WILLIAMS (since 9 August 1996) `< Prime Minister Keith MITCHELL (since 22 June 1995) `= Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister `> none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general ^Q bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (13 seats, 10 appointed by the government and 3 by the leader of the opposition) and the House of Representatives (15 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) `> last held on 27 November 2003 (next to be held by November 2008) `? House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NNP 46.6%, NDC 44.1%, other 9.3%; seats by party - NNP 8, NDC 7 ^R Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of a court of Appeal and a High Court of Justice (a High Court judge is assigned to and resides in Grenada) ^S Grenada United Labor Party or GULP [Gloria Payne BANFIELD]; National Democratic Congress or NDC [Tillman THOMAS]; New National Party or NNP [Keith MITCHELL] ^T NA ^U ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, ITUC, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WTO ^V `R Ambassador Denis G. ANTOINE `S 1701 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 `T [1] (202) 265-2561 `U [1] (202) 265-2468 `V New York ^W `R the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Grenada `_ Lance-aux-Epines Stretch, Saint George's `` P. O. Box 54, Saint George's `T [1] (473) 444-1173 through 1176 `U [1] (473) 444-4820 ^X a rectangle divided diagonally into yellow triangles (top and bottom) and green triangles (hoist side and outer side), with a red border around the flag; there are seven yellow, five-pointed stars with three centered in the top red border, three centered in the bottom red border, and one on a red disk superimposed at the center of the flag; there is also a symbolic nutmeg pod on the hoist-side triangle (Grenada is the world's second-largest producer of nutmeg, after Indonesia); the seven stars represent the seven administrative divisions 
]% ^Y Grenada relies on tourism as its main source of foreign exchange, especially since the construction of an international airport in 1985. Strong performances in construction and manufacturing, together with the development of an offshore financial industry, have also contributed to growth in national output. ^Z $440 million (2002 est.) ^[ $454 million (2005) ^\ 0.9% (2005 est.) ^] $3,900 (2005 est.) ^^ `@ 5.4% `A 18% `B 76.6% (2003) ^_ 42,300 (1996) ^` `@ 24% `A 14% `B 62% (1999 est.) ^a 12.5% (2000) _! 32% (2000) _" `C NA% `D NA% _# 3% (2005 est.) _$ `E $85.8 million `F $102.1 million; including capital expenditures of $28 million (1997) _& bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, mace, citrus, avocados, root crops, sugarcane, corn, vegetables _' food and beverages, textiles, light assembly operations, tourism, construction _( 0.7% (1997 est.) _) 171.3 million kWh (2004) _* 159.3 million kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh (2004) _, 0 kWh (2004) _- 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) _. 1,800 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ NA bbl/day _0 NA bbl/day _1 0 cu m (2004 est.) _2 0 cu m (2004 est.) _3 $40 million (2004 est.) _4 bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, fruit and vegetables, clothing, mace _5 Saint Lucia 12.3%, US 11.4%, Antigua and Barbuda 8.3%, Germany 8%, Netherlands 7.9%, Saint Kitts & Nevis 7.5%, Dominica 7.5%, UK 6.8%, France 4.2% (2005) _6 $276 million (2004 est.) _7 food, manufactured goods, machinery, chemicals, fuel _8 Trinidad and Tobago 27.6%, US 26.8%, UK 5.9% (2005) _9 $347 million (2004) _: $15.4 million (2004) _; East Caribbean dollar (XCD) _< East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2006), 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002) _= calendar year 
]& _> 32,700 (2004) _? 43,300 (2004) _@ `G automatic, islandwide telephone system `H interisland VHF and UHF radiotelephone links `I country code - 1-473; new SHF radiotelephone links to Trinidad and Tobago and Saint Vincent; VHF and UHF radio links to Trinidad _A AM 2, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) _B 2 (1997) _C .gd _D 17 (2006) _E 19,000 (2005) 
]' _F 3 (2006) _G `! 3 `J 1 `b 1 `W 1 (2006) _H `! 1,127 km `K 687 km `L 440 km (1999) _I Saint George's 
]( _J no regular military forces; Royal Grenada Police Force (includes Coast Guard) (2007) _K males age 18-49: 24,031 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 17,483 (2005 est.) _L males age 18-49: 1,274 (2005 est.) _U NA 
]) _N none _O small-scale cannabis cultivation; lesser transshipment point for marijuana and cocaine to US 