Grenada is a micro-state located in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, approximately 1600 miles from the United States. Its territory covers some 133 square miles—about twice the size of the District of Columbia—and its citizen population numbers around 110,000. Granted independence from British colonial rule in 1974, Grenada functioned under a parliamentary government until March 1979, when Maurice Bishop's New Joint Endeavor for the Welfare, Education, and Liberation (JEWEL) Movement ousted then Prime Minister Sir Eric Gairy in a near bloodless coup. Since attaining independence, Grenada sought and secured membership in the British Commonwealth, the Organization of American States, the Caribbean Common Market and the United Nations.