Plymouth, Montserrat
In August 2022, SimpleNation published an article about Nicosia, the world’s last divided capital. Today’s capital city is perhaps even more unusual in nearly every way.
Montserrat, like most of its neighbours, is an exceptionally small, mountainous island in the Caribbean ranging only 103 square kilometers (40 square miles) in size. The island was colonised with people of majority Irish descent in 1632, though Native inhabitants are believed to have lived there from as early as 3000 BCE. Montserrat was first discovered by Spain, but colonised by Britain before being controlled back and forth by Britain and France, until 1783 when Britain regained authority for the final time. The island today maintains a small tourist industry and a population of less than 5000.
Source: WorldAtlas
Perhaps most strangely, however, is that not a single person lives in the de jure capital city of Plymouth, making it the only capital city in the world to officially report zero inhabitants.
The reason is no accident. In 1997, the eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano in the island’s south erupted. In addition to the deaths of 19 people, this also led to the destruction of 80% of Plymouth, resulting in its burial under 1.4 meters (4.6 ft.) under ash. In fact, the destruction was so widespread that the entire southern two-thirds of the island was declared an uninhabitable exclusion zone, divided into five areas for closer regionalised inspection. Since the eruption, approximately 9000 people - or around two-thirds of the pre-eruption population - were evacuated as refugees by the British Royal Navy, and have not returned. Montserrat’s de facto capital city has since been moved to the northern city of Brades, where local government offices now operate despite a lack of international recognition.
Plymouth, Montserrat, sits empty and silent beneath the Soufriere Hills volcano. Source: ExplorersWeb
Unfortunately, Montserrat also faces an annual hurricane season, which has intensified in recent years due stronger storms created by climate change.
Some good news surrounding the eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano and complete evacuation of Plymouth does exist, however. The island’s ingenuity is found in its decision to capitalise upon the very volcano that nearly eradicated it by promoting sand mining, geothermal energy production, and a new type of tourism. Montserrat has re-branded Plymouth as the “Pompeii of the Caribbean”, particularly selling the fascinating contrast between the vibrant, green north with the island’s silent, grey south. And near the volcano, four of the exclusion zone’s five areas have long been green-lit for tourism, with the fifth approved for the same visitors in April of 2023.
Although the island’s population has been in decline for several years now, the construction of new critical infrastructure such as an airport on the island by the British government signals that all is not lost - and makes one wonder if Plymouth may one day be home to people once more.
TAI Score: Degree 1. The Soufriere Hills Volcano is a contained phenomenon incapable of spreading beyond Montserrat. While its damage to the island was significant, it is extremely unlikely to cause continued and/or enlarged impact beyond its shores. At most, it serves as a warning to risk assessors examining the establishment of businesses and communities in areas with active volcanic activity.
