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Granada's recorded history begins in 1498, when Christopher Columbus first sighted the island. After a failed attempt by the English to establish themselves on the island, the French bought the island from the Carib Indians in 1650. The island was ceded back to Great Britain in 1783. Grenada became a Crown Colony in 1877 .



Grenada won independence in 1974, and in 1979, after a period of great political instability, the charismatic and popular left-wing leader Maurice Bishop seized power. Bishop's socialism and his cooperation with communist Cuba were not well received by conservative nations in the area, such as Barbados, Dominica, and the United States. A dispute with the Communist wing, loyal to Bernard Coard, of the ruling party, New Jewel, led to a coup and Bishop's execution on October 19, 1983.



Six days later, the island was invaded by the military forces of the United States and six other Caribbean nations in a military campaign called Operation Urgent Fury. The troops quickly captured the leaders of the revolution and their Cuban advisers, many of whom were working on the construction of a large airport for the island that was completed by the United States some years later. One of the known tactical concerns of the United States was the recovery alive of Americans enrolled at St. George's University.



In September 2004, the island was hit by Hurricane Ivan. The Category 3 hurricane damaged or destroyed 90% of the homes.







Grenada (sometimes referred to in Spanish as Grenada, its English name to differentiate itself from other regions of the same denomination is an island country in the Caribbean Sea that includes the southern Grenadines. It is the second smallest independent country in the Western Hemisphere (after of Saint Kitts and Nevis) It is found in the southeastern part of the Caribbean Sea, north of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela and south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.



Granada is a multicultural society in which the African, the British and the French mix, still palpable in the buildings, many place names and in the strength of Catholicism. As a people of predominantly African origins, the people of Granada are passionate about singing, dancing and listening to music, which is reflected every year in the carnival. The most popular rhythms are the calypso, with lyrics referring to love, sex, politics ..., the Jamaican reggae, the rumba, the merengue and the calenda, a son Afro-French. They are joined by limbo, a dance based on ancient African rituals.



The struggles for the recognition of the rights of slaves are still going on in the general resurgence of black pride, evident in the (increasingly widespread) practice of giving African names to children born on the island. Carriacou is the city of the naïve painter Canute Caliste, who has achieved international prestige for his paintings of mermaids and sailboats.

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