Saint Martin is an island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately 300 km east of Puerto
Rico. The 87 square kilometres island is divided roughly 60/40 between France) and the Kingdom
of the Netherlands); the two parts are roughly equal in population. It is one of the smallest
sea islands divided between two nations, a division dating to 1648. The southern Dutch
part comprises Sint Maarten and is one of four constituent countries that form the Kingdom
of the Netherlands. The northern French part comprises the Collectivité de Saint-Martin
and is an overseas collectivity of France. On January 1, 2009 the population of the entire
island was 77,741 inhabitants, with 40,917 living on the Dutch side, and 36,824 on the
French side. Collectively, the two territories are known
as "St-Martin / St Maarten". Sometimes SXM, the IATA identifier for Princess Juliana International
Airport, is used to refer to the island.
Geography
Saint Martin has a land area of 87 km2, 53 km2 of which is under the sovereignty of France,
and 34 km² under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This is the only
land border shared by these two countries anywhere on Earth.
The main cities are Philipsburg and Marigot. The Dutch side is more heavily populated.
The largest settlement on the entire island is Lower Prince's Quarter, on the Dutch side.
The highest hilltop is the Pic Paradis) on center of a hill chain. But both sides are
hilly with large mountain peaks. This forms a valley where many houses are located. There
are no rivers on the island, but many dry guts. Hiking trails give access to the dry
forest covering tops and slopes. The island is located south of Anguilla, separated
from the British territory by the Anguilla Channel. Saint Martin is northwest of Saint
Barthélemy, separated from the French territory by the Saint-Barthélemy Channel. It is one
of the Renaissance Islands. Climate
Under the Köppen climate classification, the island has a tropical monsoon climate
with a dry season from January to April and a rainy season from August to December. The
precipitation patterns are due to the movement of the Azores high during the year. With the
wind direction predominantly from the east or the northeast, temperatures remain stable
throughout the year and temperatures rarely exceed 34 °C or fall below 20 °C. Temperatures
remain steady throughout the year with an average mean temperature of 27.2 °C. The
average sea temperature is 27.2 °C ranging from a low of 25.9 °C in February to a high
of 28.4 °C in October. The total average yearly rainfall is 1,047 mm, with 142 days
of measurable rainfall. Thunderstorms can occasionally occur, with 18 days with thunder
per year. History
Timeline Circa AD 800 — Settled by Arawak Indians
who arrived from South America; The Kalinago followed later and gave the island the name
Soualiga, or Land of Salt. November 11, 1493 — Claimed for Spain by
Christopher Columbus, named Isla de San Martín upon his arrival.
1624 — Some French cultivated tobacco in French Quarter.
1631 — Dutch small colony on Groot Baai to collect salt.
March 23, 1648 — Preferring to avoid an all-out war, they signed the Treaty of Concordia,
which divided the island in two zones. French and Dutch zones (Dutch zone subordinate to
Sint Eustatius until 1672. 1651–1665 — the Order of Saint John ruled
the French part of the island. 1679–1689 — French occupied entire island.
1689–1792 — Dutch zone under Dutch West India Company administration.
1690–1699 — English occupied entire island. 1699–1702 — French occupied entire island.
1703–1717 — Dutch occupied entire island. February 24, 1779 – February 3, 1781 — French
occupied entire island. February 3, 1781 – November 26, 1781 — British
occupied entire island. May 18, 1793 – April 5, 1794 — Dutch administered
entire island. April 29, 1795 – March 24, 1801 — French
occupied entire island. March 24, 1801 – December 1, 1802 — British
occupied entire island. July 9, 1810 — Annexed along with the Netherlands
by France. 1810–1816 — British occupyied entire island.
1816 — French and Dutch zones restored. 1919 — Saba, Sint Eustatius and Saint Martin
united as Netherlands Windward Islands. 1936 — Dutch side officially adopted the
Dutch spelling Saint Martin. December 15, 1954 — Saba, Sint Eustatius
and Saint Martin united with Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao as the Netherlands Antilles,
a separate country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands
September 4, 1960 — Hurricane Donna hit the island causing extensive damage.
January 1, 1986 — Aruba attained a "status aparte" within the Kingdom of the Netherlands
and left the Netherlands Antilles September 5, 1995 — Hurricane Luis devastated
the island. November 20, 1999 — Hurricane Lenny struck
the island causing catastrophic damage and claims 3 lives.
June 23, 2000 — Referendum on Saint Martin resulted in a "status aparte" within the Kingdom
of the Netherlands receives 68.9% support. December 7, 2003 — The population of the
French part of the island voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe in order to form
a separate overseas collectivity of France. February 22, 2007 — French side became a
separate overseas collectivity. October 10, 2010 — The Netherlands Antilles
are dissolved. Saint Martin became one of four constituent countries that form the Kingdom
of the Netherlands. Details
In 1493, Christopher Columbus embarked on his second voyage to the New World. According
to legend, Columbus sighted and perhaps anchored at the island of Saint Martin on November
11, 1493, the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours. In his honor, Columbus named the island
San Martin. This name was translated to Sint Maarten, Saint-Martin and "Saint Martin" in
English. At Columbus's time, St. Martin was populated,
if populated at all, by Carib amerindians. The former Arawaks had been chased by the
Caribs coming from the North coast of South America a short time before the arrival of
the Spaniards who followed in Columbus' wake. The Arawaks were agricultural people who fashioned
pottery and whose social organization was headed by hereditary chieftains who derived
their power from personal deities called zemis. The Caribs' territory was not completely conquered
until the mid-17th century when most of them perished in the struggle between the French,
English, Dutch, Danes and Spanish for control of the West Indies.
The Dutch first began to ply the island's ponds for salt in the 1620s. Despite the Dutch
presence on the island, the Spaniards recaptured St. Martin in 1633. One year later, they built
a fort and another artillery battery at Pointe Blanche to assert their claim and control
access to Great bay salt pond. A massive influx of African slaves took place
in the 18th century with the development of Sugarcane plantations by the French Protestants
and Dutch. Slavery was abolished in the first half of the 19th century. On some of their
territories the British imported Chinese and East Indians to take the place of slaves.
Thus, St. Martin and the other islands are populated by a mixture of Amerindian, European,
African, Indians and Asian peoples. Border division
On March 23, 1648, France and the Dutch Republic agreed to divide the island between their
two territories, with the signing of the Treaty of Concordia.
Folklore surrounds the history of the once ever-changing border division between St.
Martin and Sint Maarten, and a popular story among locals narrates that "to divide the
island into two sections, [in 1648] the inhabitants were told to choose two walkers, one chosen
by the French-dominated community and the other one by the Dutch-dominated community,
who were put back to back in one extreme of the island, making them walk in opposite directions
while stuck to the littoral line, and not allowing them to run. The point where they
eventually met was set as the other extreme of the island, and the subsequently created
line was chosen as the frontier, dividing Saint-Martin from Sint Maarten. Seemingly,
the French walker had walked more than his Dutch counterpart. As the first man chose
wine as his stimulant prior to the race, while the latter chose Jenever, the difference between
such beverages' lightness was said to be the cause of the territorial differences by French
locals, while Dutch locals tended to blame the French walker for running."
In 1994, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and France signed the Franco-Dutch treaty on Saint
Martin border controls, which allows for joint Franco-Dutch border controls on so-called
"risk flights". After some delay, the treaty was ratified in November 2006 in the Netherlands,
and subsequently entered into force on 1 August 2007. Though the treaty is now in force, its
provisions are not yet implemented as the working group specified in the treaty is not
yet installed. St. Martin received the ISO 3166-1 code MF
in October 2007. The status of the Dutch side was due to change to a country within the
Kingdom of the Netherlands in December 2008, but this was postponed to 10 October 2010.
The Dutch part now has ISO 3166-1 code SX. Economy
INSEE estimated in 2005 the GDP per capita of Saint Martin for 1999 to be €14,500.
The main industry of the island is tourism. In 2000, the island had about one million
visitors annually. About 85% of the workforce was engaged in the tourist industry.
Demographics On January 1, 2009 the population of the entire
island of Saint Martin was 77,741 inhabitants, 40,917 of whom lived on the Dutch side of
the island, and 36,824 on the French side of the island. A local dialect is spoken informally
on both sides of the island. Culture and tourism
St. Martin's Dutch side is known for its festive nightlife, beaches, jewelry, drinks made with
native rum-based guavaberry liquors, and casinos. The island's French side is known for its
nude beaches, clothes, shopping, and French and Indian Caribbean cuisine. English is the
most commonly spoken language along with a local dialect. The official languages are
French for Saint-Martin, and both Dutch and English for Sint Maarten. Other common languages
include various French-based creoles, Spanish, and Papiamento.
Tourists often use accommodations such as hotels, guesthouses, villas, and timeshares.
Rental cars are the primary mode of transportation for visitors staying on island. Traffic on
the island has become a major problem. Long traffic jams between Marigot, Philipsburg
and the airport are common. Because the island is located along the intertropical
convergence zone, it is occasionally menaced by tropical storm activity in the late summer
and early fall. Neighbouring islands include Saint Barthélemy,
Anguilla, Saba, Sint Eustatius "Statia", Saint Kitts and Nevis. With the exception of Nevis,
all of these islands are easily visible on a clear day from St. Martin.
Shopping Shopping on St Maarten and Saint Martin offers
duty-free goods in numerous boutiques. Popular goods include local crafts & arts, exotic
foods, jewelry, liquor, tobacco, leather goods, as well as most designer goods. Most often
the designer goods are offered at significant discounts, often up to 40% lower than US retail
prices.
Saint Martin uses the euro as its currency, while Sint Maarten uses the Netherlands Antillean
guilder, pegged at 1.79 per United States dollar. As a consequence of the dissolution
of the Netherlands Antilles, the Netherlands Antillean guilder will cease to be legal tender
and be replaced by the Caribbean guilder in the coming years. Almost every store on the
island also accepts the United States dollar, although sometimes a more expensive exchange
rate is used. Transport
Border checks Neither side of the island is part of the
Schengen Area; full border checks are performed when traveling between the island and Europe.
Passport controls are also exercised when taking the ferry from Marigot to Anguilla.
There are rarely checks at the border between the two sides of the island. The Franco-Dutch
treaty on Saint Martin border controls requires a working group that has never been set up
to harmonize external checks at the two main airports. The Dutch side has expressed concern
that following tighter French visa requirements would harm their tourism.
Airports
The island is served by many major airlines that daily bring in large jet aircraft, including
Boeing 747s and Airbus A340s carrying tourists from across the world. The short main runway
at Princess Juliana International Airport, and its position between a large hill and
a beach, causes some spectacular approaches. Aviation photographers flock to the airport
to capture pictures of large jets just a few metres above sunbathers on Maho Beach.
There is a small airport on the French side of the island at Grand Case, L'Espérance
Airport for small propeller planes serving neighbouring Caribbean islands. It frequently
suffers thick fog during the hurricane season due to its location.
See also
Outline of Saint Martin Caribbean
Leeward Islands Island of Saint Martin
Collectivity of Saint Martin France
Overseas departments and territories of France Région Guadeloupe et Saint Martin
Sint Maarten Kingdom of the Netherlands
Caribbean Netherlands
List of Sint Maarten governors Princess Juliana International Airport
Maho Beach, famous viewing area for aircraft takeoffs and landings.
Culture of St. Martin O sweet Saint-Martin's Land
History of St. Martin
List of divided islands Notes
References Baldachino, Godfrey, "The Impact of Public
Policy on Entrepreneurship: A Critical Investigation of the Protestant Ethic on a Divided Island
Jurisdiction," Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship 19, pp. 419–430.
Dana, Leo Paul, “Saint Martin/Sint Maarten: A Case Study of the Effects of Politics and
Culture on Economic Development,” Journal of Small Business Management XXVIII October,
pp. 91–98. Dana, Leo Paul, Entrepreneurship & Religion,
Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar, ISBN 978-1-84720-572-8.
Houston, Lynn Marie. Food Culture in the Caribbean. Greenwood Press, 2005. ISBN 0-313-32764-5.
External links General information
Saint Martin entry at The World Factbook Saint Martin at DMOZ
Wikimedia Atlas of Saint Martin News and media
The Daily Herald daily newspaper from St. Maarten
LE FAXinfo daily newspaper from Saint Martin Travel
About Saint Martin Tourist Guide Dutch St. Maarten official Tourist Bureau
French Saint Martin official Tourist Office French Saint Martin Hotel Association
Princess Juliana International Airport, St. Maarten official site
Saint Martin travel guide from Wikivoyage Other
Birds of St. Martin, by Eric Dubois-Millot, Action Nature.