==Geography==
*Area: 344 sq. km<sup>2</sup>. (133 sq. mi.); about twice the size of Washington, DC.
*Cities: Capital: St. George's (est. pop. 33,734).
*Terrain: Three volcanic islands (Grenada and the smaller islands of Carriacou and Petit Martinique) with a mountainous rainforest on the largest island of Grenada.
After obtaining independence, Grenada adopted a modified Westminster parliamentary system based on the British model, with a governor general appointed by and representing the British monarch (head of state) and a prime minister who is both leader of the majority party and the head of government. Sir Eric Gairy was Grenada's first Prime Minister.
On March 13, 1979, the New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation Movement (New Jewel Movement—NJM), ousted Gairy in a coup and established a People's Revolutionary Government (PRG) headed by Maurice Bishop, who became Prime Minister. His Marxist-Leninist Marxist–Leninist government established close ties with Cuba, the Soviet Union, and other communist bloc countries.
In October 1983, a power struggle within the government resulted in the arrest and execution of Bishop and several members of his cabinet and the killing of dozens of his supporters by elements of the People's Revolutionary Army (PRA).