Montserrat was visited by Christopher Columbus in 1493. He named the island Montserrat after an abbey in Spain. The small island of Montserrat is located in the Caribbean between Antigua and Guadeloupe. Montserrat is no more than 12 kilometers in length and 7 kilometers in width. It is 100 square kilometers which is half the size of Washington D.C. Now you can see that Montserrat is a relatively small island and that is why you may never have heard of it.

The climate of Montserrat is tropical and it is mostly mountainous terrain with some small coastal lowlands.The territory of Montserrat is ruled by the United Kingdom. The capital, Plymouth was abandoned in 1997 due to volcanic activity and is now covered in ash. The popoulation of the island was about 12,000 people before the volcano erupted. Now the population is about 4,000 people. One major national holiday is the Queen's birthday which is celebrated on the second Saturday of June. 
 

References:  1. "A Condensed History of Montserrat", compiled by William G. Innanen

                    2. geography.about.com/library/cia/blcmontserrat.htm

                    3. Map copied from:
                        geo.mtu.edu/volcanoes/west.indies/soufriere/images/mont_map.jpg