POPULATION 101,400
ROMAN CATHOLIC 54.3 percent
ANGLICAN 20 percent
OTHER 25.7 percent

Country Overview

Introduction

A densely forested, mountainous island in the Caribbean Sea, Grenada is the most southerly of the group known as the Windward Islands. Some islands of the Grenadines group, including Carriacou and Petit Martinique, are within its jurisdiction. About 80 percent of the people are of African origin (descendants of slaves); the rest are either mixed or of some less prominent grouping, such as East Indians (descendants of indentured laborers) or Europeans.

In the mid-1650s C.E. Grenada was colonized by the French, who established Roman Catholicism as the island's religion. The island was captured by the British in 1762, opening the door to non-Catholic Christians, and the island rapidly became pluralist in its religious manifestations. These include Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and various other evangelical and Pentecostal groups.

The British also imported many slaves from Africa. In 1795–96 there was...