The Key Components of Grenada Essay Example

INTRODUCTION

Arguably, a country's profile provides a good overview of its geographic, social and economic, and political conditions that enlighten outsiders on what to expect or experience on visiting the country in question. For instance, foreign investors will explore the political climate, population, market and economic conditions and policies of a country where they intend or wish to venture commercially. Similarly, tourists may be interested in a State's climate, geographic features, culture, sports and recreational facilities before visiting the State in question. Therefore, it is important to have knowledge of these aspects. With that in mind, this paper explores the main components of Grenada with a specific focus on its geography, history, ethnic groups, languages, population, religion, food, industries, imports and exports, government and future problems.

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GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

Grenada is an eastern Caribbean country lying at the southern part of the Grenadines. Essentially, Grenada is one of the islets in the Windward Islands archipelago. Six islands constitute this country with their geographical area totaling 344km2. Across the Grenadines and the Windward, Grenada is the largest, which, in addition to Petite Martinique and Carriacou, form the three main isles. Despite its relatively small geographic size, Grenada boasts of vast biodiversity that includes 150 bird species and 450 plant species across its beaches, montane rainforests, mangroves, dry lowlands and elfin woodlands (Murray 8).

Grenada's climate is humid and warm throughout the year with intermittent wet and dry seasons from June to December and January to May respectively. The Atlantic hurricane belt, the Inter-tropical Convergence zone and the subtropical cyclone belt have a considerable bearing on this climate. With regards to the temperature conditions, Grenada's average maximum and minimum temperature values are 31.40c and 260c respectively. However, like in many parts of the world, Grenada has, over the last decade, experienced extreme weather patterns such as gales and tornadoes, which have resulted in severe damages on the country's natural and built environment (Murray 8).

SHORT HISTORY

Going by its social history, Grenada developed as a Creole State that had populaces that had populaces comprised of Africa and Europe. The earliest inhabitants in Grenada were the Tainos, who lived on the island in the first century. Afterwards, the Caribs came and established settlements in Grenada. The Tainos were part of the Amerindians who referred to Grenada as Camerhogne. In the late 15th century, renowned voyager Christopher Columbus arrived at the island and renamed it, Concepcion. The name Grenada has its origins from the province of Granada in Spain. Nonetheless, it was the British who later on named the island as Grenada. On another note, after a series of colonization by the French, the Dutch and the British, Grenada attained its independence in 1974 (Lesterhuis 10).

ETHNIC GROUPS

Roughly 82% of the people of Grenada have an African origin whereby they are descendants of slaves taken to the island by the British and French imperialists ("Grenada Population 2019" par 5). On the other hand, 8.2% are of Caucasian, African or mixed East Indian descent. The Caucasian and mixed East Indian ethnicities came from the White settlers and East Indian servants. The other key group is the East Indians, who constitute about 2% of the nation's population. Lastly, there are also immigrants from India and other Caribbean islands such as Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

LANGUAGES

Grenada's official language is English. However, a majority of Grenadians speak in Creole. An additional 10-20% speaks either Antillean Creole or French Patois ("Grenada Population 2019" par 7). While the number of Grenadians speaking French Patois may be considered to be fewer relative to English and Creole, in recent times, more people have become increasingly interested in learning the language.

POPULATION

In 2019, Grenada's population is estimated to be 108825, which is among the least populated globally ("Grenada Population 2019" par 1). A huge portion of this population lives in St Andrew and St George districts on the central islet. All in all, the island's population has largely stagnated over the years going by the fact that its estimated population in 2013 was 108000 (Murray 9). This slow growth is attributed to the nation's high migration levels where a majority of its youthful population relocates to Britain, the US and other Caribbean countries.

RELIGION(S)

Most of the people in Grenada (85%) practice Christianity, a religion that was brought to the island by the lengthy imperial regimes. Among these Christians, the two main denominations are Protestants and Roman Catholics at 49.2% and 36% respectively. However, they are minor Christian denominations such as Anglicans, Seventh Day Adventists and Pentecostals accounting for 8.5%, 13.2% and 17.2% of the total Christian population respectively (Nag par 2). Other than Christianity, some Grenadians practice Islam, Hinduism and Rastafarianism with a majority of the Hindus an Indian ancestry. There are also some Grenadians who are not affiliated with any faith. These people are considered to be agnostics and atheists (Nag par 3).

CROPS/FOOD/CUISINE

The common cuisine in Grenada can be viewed from the perspectives of the Grenadians' day-to-day lives and social ceremonies. In their normal lives, Grenadians' basic meals include vegetables, rice and peas, bread and fruits. With regards to beverages, Grenadians prefer cocoa tea. Other typical foods in Grenada include goat meat and fish ("Culture of Grenada" par 13). During ceremonies, pork, beef, guava cheese and cakes are the most preferred foods. Some ceremonies such as Christmas are special to Grenadians and, thus, reserve expensive dishes such as cornmeal cake, sausages and boudin for such events ("Culture of Grenada" par 14).

INDUSTRIES

The main industries in Grenada include manufacturing, agriculture, information and communication technology (ICT), and tourism. The agricultural industry is responsible for the production of nutmegs, cocoa, mace and bananas. It is this industry that has propelled Grenada to become the leading producer of nutmegs among the Caribbean States as well as globally. By producing these nutmegs, Grenada has significantly profited from sustained periods of low supply and high demand in the market ("Industries" par 1). Similarly, the tourism industry prides itself in the economic opportunities that it provides through the nation's vast natural resources, tranquility and peace among Grenadians, seamless access to the island air and cruise ships. In this regard, Grenada has heavily invested in health tourism, eco-tourism, hospitality, cultural and sports activities ("Industries" par 3). On the other hand, the manufacturing sector small relative to the above two. Nonetheless, the Grenadian government continues to strive to improve most of its sub-sectors such as paper production, beer, wheat flour, soft drinks and paints among others ("Industries" par 2). Finally, Grenada considers the ICT industry, specifically telecommunication services, to be the key drivers of its medium-term economic development. Sub-sectors in this industry include data processing, cellphone and electronic mail services, software development and technical writing among others ("Industries" par 4).

IMPORTS/EXPORTS

One of Grenada's main exports is nutmeg going by its leading regional and global position in nutmeg production ("Industries" 1). Other key exports include agricultural products such as cocoa, bran, wheat flour, vegetables, animal feeds and mace. Grenada also exports manufactured goods such as beverages, paints, garments and paper products ("Importing and Exporting" par 1). Grenada's principal export destinations are the US, the UK, Netherlands, Argentina, Italy, France and Trinidad and Tobago. Conversely, Grenada imports machinery, crude material, animals, vegetable oil, manufactured products, chemicals and fuel. These imports are obtained from its trading partners, who include Caribbean States such as the Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Guyana and Jamaica. Other countries where Grenada imports are Ireland, the US, Britain, Bahamas and Denmark ("Importing and Exporting" par 3).

GOVERNMENT

The system of governance in Grenada is parliamentary-based, which largely resembles the UK's archetype. In this system, the key components include the office of the prime minister, the governor general, a bicameral legislature and the cabinet. Equally, the Grenadian government also integrates a statutory monarchy headed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state. The governor-general represents the Queen as well as appoints the prime minister and his cabinet. However, the prime minister and the governor-general appoint the cabinet jointly. The legislature has a senate and a house of representatives with each having 13 and 15members in that order ("The Local Government System in Grenada" 79).

PROBLEMS FOR THE FUTURE

Like in most parts of the world, Grenada faces a potentially severe problem due to climate change. The country has failed to satisfactorily promote researches on climate that has been brought about by the absence of data management systems. Additionally, Grenada has no databases to store information from these researches. These setbacks greatly inhibit the interpretation of the implications of climate change on its people and natural resources as well as hinder attempt streamline environmental conservation and development (Murray 7). Similarly, with tourism replacing agriculture as Grenada's core economic activity, the fluctuating food and oil prices, in addition to nature's catastrophes such as cyclones and hurricanes, threaten to reduce the number of tourists visiting the island in the forthcoming years (Murray 11). Slow progress in the tourism industry may potentially limit the government's ability to realize Grenada's social goals. Lastly, in the economic scene, the Grenadian government faces a significant challenge in trying to lower the nation's foreign debt and narrow the wide trade deficit.

Works Cited

"Culture of Grenada - History, People, Clothing, Traditions, Women, Beliefs, Food, Customs, Family". Everyculture.Com, 2019, https://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Grenada.html."Grenada Population 2019".

Worldpopulationreview.Com, 2019, http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/grenada-population/. Accessed 11 Mar 2019."Importing and Exporting".

Businessgrenada.Com, 2019, https://www.businessgrenada.com/importing-and-exporting/."Industries".

Businessgrenada.Com, 2019, https://www.businessgrenada.com/industries/.Lesterhuis, David. Report on a Technical Cooperation mission to Grenada. Approach to the Protection, Conservation and Nomination of the St George's Fortified System (Grenada) to UNESCO's World Heritage List. (2004).

Murray, Laurel A. "Climate and Development Resources Grenada." (2015).

Nag, Oishimaya. "What Religions Are Practiced In Grenada?" Worldatlas, 2018, https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-religions-are-practiced-in-grenada.html

"The Local Government System in Grenada: Country Profile 2017:18". Clgf.Org.Uk, 2019, http://www.clgf.org.uk/default/assets/File/Country_profiles/Grenada.pdf. Accessed 12 Mar 2019.