The Soufrière Hills volcano (soufrière is a French word meaning "sulphur outlet") is an active, complex stratovolcano (with many lava domes forming its summit) on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. After a long period of dormancy, the Soufrière Hills volcano became active in 1995, and has continued to erupt ever since. Its eruptions have rendered more than half of Montserrat uninhabitable, destroying the capital city, Plymouth, and causing widespread evacuations: about two thirds of the population have left the island.