Saint Martin (french: Saint-Martin; nl, Sint Maarten) is an island in the northeast
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
, approximately east of
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
. The island is divided roughly 60:40 between the
French Republic ()
and the
Kingdom of the Netherlands
, national_anthem = )
, image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg
, map_width = 250px
, image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png
, map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale
, capital = ...
(),
but the Dutch part is more populated than the French part. The division dates to 1648. The northern French part comprises the
Collectivity of Saint Martin
The Collectivity of Saint Martin (french: Collectivité de Saint-Martin), commonly known as simply Saint Martin (, ), is an overseas collectivity of France in the West Indies in the Caribbean, on – but not identical with – the island of S ...
and is an
overseas collectivity
The French overseas collectivities (''collectivité d'outre-mer'' or ''COM'') are first-order administrative divisions of France, like the French regions, but have a semi-autonomous status. The COMs include some former French overseas colonies ...
of the French Republic. As part of France, the French part of the island is also part of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
. The southern Dutch part comprises
Sint Maarten
Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the nort ...
and is one of four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
On January 1, 2019, the population of the whole island was 73,777 inhabitants, with 41,177 living on the Dutch side
and 32,489 on the French side.
Note that the figure for the French side is based on censuses that took place after the devastation of
Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...
in September 2017, whereas the figure for the Dutch side is only a post-censal estimate still based on the 2011 census. The first census since Hurricane Irma on the Dutch side of the island is scheduled to take place in October 2022. Population of the island on Jan. 1, 2017, before Hurricane Irma, was 75,869 (40,535 on the Dutch side,
35,334 on the French side
).
The island's traditional pre-colonial name is ''Oualichi'' which means "the island of women".
Collectively, the two territories are known as "Saint-Martin / Sint Maarten", or sometimes "SXM", the
IATA identifier for
Princess Juliana International Airport
Princess Juliana International Airport is the main airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. The airport is located on the Dutch side of the island, in the country of Sint Maarten, close to the shore of Simpson Bay Lagoon. In 2015, the ...
, the island's main airport. St. Martin (the French portion) received the
ISO 3166-1
ISO 3166-1 (''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 1: Country codes'') is a standard defining codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. It ...
code MF in October 2007. In 2010, the Dutch part had its status changed to that of a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and was given the code SX.
Geography
![Saint-Martin Island topographic map-en](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Saint-Martin_Island_topographic_map-en.svg)
Saint Martin has a land area of , of which is under the sovereignty of the French Republic,
and under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This is the only land
border
Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
shared by the French Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The main cities are
Philipsburg on the Dutch side and
Marigot on the French side. The Dutch side is more heavily populated. The largest settlement on the entire island is
Lower Prince's Quarter
Lower Prince's Quarter is a town in Sint Maarten, in the Kingdom of the Netherlands
, national_anthem = )
, image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg
, map_width = 250px
, image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png ...
, which is on the Dutch side.
The highest hilltop is the
Pic Paradis () in the centre of a hill chain on the French side. 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 there are many dry gullies. Hiking trails give access to the
dry forest
Dry or dryness most often refers to:
* Lack of rainfall, which may refer to
**Arid regions
**Drought
* Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages
* Dry humor, deadpan
* Dryness (medical)
* ...
that covers tops and slopes.
The island is located south of
Anguilla
Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The terr ...
and is separated from that British overseas territory by the
Anguilla Channel. Saint Martin is northwest of
Saint Barthélemy
Saint Barthélemy (french: Saint-Barthélemy, ), officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. It is often abbreviated to St. Barth in French, and St. Barts in English ...
and is separated from that French overseas collectivity by the
Saint-Barthélemy Channel.
History
![Marigot flags St Martin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Marigot_flags_St_Martin.jpg)
It is commonly believed that
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
* lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo
* es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón
* pt, Cristóvão Colombo
* ca, Cristòfor (or )
* la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
named the island in honour of
Saint Martin of Tours
Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 November 397), also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as the ...
when he encountered it on his second voyage of discovery. However, he actually applied the name to the island now called
Nevis
Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and ...
when he anchored offshore on November 11, 1493, the feast day of Saint Martin. The confusion of numerous poorly charted small islands in the
Leeward Islands meant that this name was accidentally transferred to the island now known as Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten.
At Columbus' time, St. Martin was populated, if at all, by
Carib Amerindian
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples.
Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...
s. The former
Arawaks had been chased by the Caribs coming from the north coast of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
a short time before the arrival of the
Spaniards
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both in ...
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
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
(later
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
),
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
,
Danes and
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
for control of the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
islands around the
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
.
The Dutch first began to use the island's ponds for salt in the 1620s. Then still
at war with the Dutch, the Spaniards captured St. Martin in 1633. One year later, they built a fort (now
Fort Amsterdam
Fort Amsterdam was a fort on the southern tip of Manhattan at the confluence of the Hudson and East rivers. It was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and then English/British rule of the colony of New Netherland and subsequently th ...
, near
Philipsburg) and another
artillery battery at
Pointe Blanche to assert their claim and control access to Great Bay
salt pond. A massive influx of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n slaves took place in the 18th century with the development of
sugarcane plantations by the French and Dutch. Slavery was
abolished in the first half of the 19th century. On some of their territories the British imported
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
and South Asians to take the place of slaves. Thus, St. Martin and the other islands are populated by a mixture of Amerindian, European, African, Indian, and Asian peoples.
![SaintMartin2021OSM](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/SaintMartin2021OSM.png)
On 23 March 1648, the
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...
and the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
agreed to divide the island between their two territories, with the signing of the
Treaty of Concordia
The Treaty of Concordia, or the Partition Treaty of 1648, was signed on March 23, 1648, between the Kingdom of France and the Dutch Republic and divided the island of Saint Martin.
Signature
The treaty was signed by the two governors of the islan ...
. 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,
n 1648the 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 (they earned their respective lands 54 km² and 32 km²). The French locals' explanation for this discrepancy is that, as the first man chose wine as his stimulant prior to the race, while the latter chose
Jenever (Dutch Gin), the difference between such beverages' lightness was said to be the cause of the territorial differences. The Dutch locals instead accuse the French walker of running."
Politics
There currently is a movement
aiming to unite the Dutch and French halves of the island of Saint Martin. A "Unity Flag" for representing this unification was created in 1990.
Currently, the island is divided into
Sint Maarten
Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the nort ...
(the southern half of the island, part of the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
) and the
Collectivity of Saint Martin
The Collectivity of Saint Martin (french: Collectivité de Saint-Martin), commonly known as simply Saint Martin (, ), is an overseas collectivity of France in the West Indies in the Caribbean, on – but not identical with – the island of S ...
(the northern half of the island, part of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
). The island has been divided since the signing of the
Treaty of Concordia
The Treaty of Concordia, or the Partition Treaty of 1648, was signed on March 23, 1648, between the Kingdom of France and the Dutch Republic and divided the island of Saint Martin.
Signature
The treaty was signed by the two governors of the islan ...
in 1648, which today remains as one of the oldest treaties still in effect. Unification of the island enjoys support from the population of both halves.
The Treaty of Concordia allows
freedom of movement between both parts of the island, which has promoted a common sentiment among the island's inhabitants, although this is also the reason why some see a formal unification as unnecessary. Other arguments against unification of the island are that neither France nor the Netherlands would allow it and that both sides would require full independence to achieve it.
On 31 August 1990, the "Unity Flag" of Saint Martin was adopted at the Preliminary Conference on National Symbols at the Philipsburg Jubilee Library, in Sint Maarten. This flag was created to represent the people of both halves of the island and the unification of the latter, and is hoisted today on some houses and sometimes by churches and religious groups in Saint Martin. In August 2020, when restrictions and controls were added to the
Saint Martin–Sint Maarten border to contain the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, some protesters against these measures flew this flag with them. In September 2020, these restrictions were lifted, and people from both sides of the island started chanting "One island, one people, one destiny".
Some notable supporters of this movement include Albert Fleming, former leader of the Collectivity of Saint Martin, who in 2014 stated his support for the unification of the island.
Climate
Under the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
, the island has a
tropical savanna climate
Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...
(Aw) 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
The Azores High also known as North Atlantic (Subtropical) High/Anticyclone or the Bermuda-Azores High, is a large subtropical semi-permanent centre of high atmospheric pressure typically found south of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, at the Ho ...
during the year.
With the wind direction predominantly from the east or the northeast, northeasterly trades, temperatures remain stable throughout the year and temperatures rarely exceed or fall below .
Temperatures remain steady throughout the year with an average mean temperature of . The average sea temperature is ranging from a low of in February to a high of in October.
The total average yearly rainfall is , with 142 days of measurable rainfall.
Thunderstorms can occasionally occur, with 18 days with thunder per year.
Precipitation totals are quite variable from year to year, depending on the number of passing
tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depen ...
s.
Hurricane Irma (2017)
![Hurricane Irma on Sint Maarten (NL) 05](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Hurricane_Irma_on_Sint_Maarten_%28NL%29_05.jpg)
On 6 September 2017 the island was hit by
Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...
(
Category 5 at landfall), which caused widespread and significant damage, estimated at $3 billion, to buildings and infrastructure. A total of 11 deaths had been reported as of 9 July 2018.
France's
Minister of the Interior
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
,
Gérard Collomb
Gérard Collomb (; born 20 June 1947) is a French politician who served as Mayor of Lyon from 2001 to 2017 and again from 2018 until 2020. A member of La République En Marche! (LREM) since he left the Socialist Party (PS) in 2017, he was Mini ...
, said on 8 September 2017 that most of the schools were destroyed on the French half of the island. In addition to damage caused by high winds, there were reports of serious flood damage to businesses in the village of
Marigot. Looting was also a serious problem. Both
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
sent aid as well as additional police and emergency personnel to the island.
''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' reported that 95% of the structures on the French side and 75% of the structures on the Dutch side were damaged or destroyed.
Some days after the storm had abated, a survey by the Dutch Red Cross estimated that nearly a third of the buildings in Sint Maarten had been destroyed and that over 90 per cent of structures on the island had been damaged.
Princess Juliana Airport
Princess Juliana International Airport is the main airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. The airport is located on the Dutch side of the island, in the country of Sint Maarten, close to the shore of Simpson Bay Lagoon. In 2015, the ...
was extensively damaged but reopened on a partial basis in two days to allow incoming relief flights and for flights that would take evacuees to other islands.
Economy
INSEE estimated that the
nominal GDP
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...
of the French side of Saint Martin amounted to 582 million euros in 2014 (US$772 million at 2014 exchanges rates; US$660 million at Feb. 2022 exchange rates) The nominal GDP of the Dutch side of the island, Sint Maarten, was estimated at 2,229 million Antillean guilders (US$1,245 million at the official peg) in 2014.
The nominal GDP of the entire island was thus US$2.01 billion in 2014.
The
nominal GDP per capita
The figures presented here do not take into account differences in the cost of living in different countries, and the results vary greatly from one year to another based on fluctuations in the exchange rates of the country's currency. Such fluc ...
of the entire island stood at US$27,923 in 2014.
The Dutch side of the island experienced a big recession in 2017 and 2018 due to the devastation of
Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...
which struck the island in September 2017.
Real GDP
Real gross domestic product (real GDP) is a macroeconomic measure of the value of economic output adjusted for price changes (i.e. inflation or deflation). This adjustment transforms the money-value measure, nominal GDP, into an index for quantit ...
experienced a negative growth of -5.8% in 2017 and -6.6% in 2018 (GDP figures after 2018 have not been published yet).
GDP of the French side of the island has not been estimated since 2014.
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, 2019, the population of the whole island was 73,777 inhabitants, with 41,177 living on the Dutch side
and 32,489 on the French side.
Note that the figure for the French side is based on censuses that took place after the devastation of
Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...
in September 2017, whereas the figure for the Dutch side is only a post-censal estimate still based on the 2011 census. The first census since Hurricane Irma on the Dutch side of the island is scheduled to take place in October 2022.
[See job offer as census interviewer for the Oct. 2022 census]
Population of the island on Jan. 1, 2017, before Hurricane Irma, was 75,869 (40,535 on the Dutch side,
35,334 on the French side
).
Culture
St. Martin's
Sint Maarten, Dutch side is known for its festive nightlife,
beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...
es, jewellery,
drinks made with native
rum
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...
-based
guavaberry
''Myrciaria floribunda'', commonly known as cambuizeiro, guavaberry or rumberry, is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae. It can be found across South and Central America and the West Indies in dry or moist coastal woodlands, up to 300 metr ...
liquors, and
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
s. The island's
French side is known for its
nude beach
A nude beach, sometimes called a clothing-optional or free beach, is a beach where users are at liberty to be nude. Nude beaches usually have mixed bathing. Such beaches are usually on public lands, and any member of the public is allowed to ...
es,
clothes,
shopping
Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A typology of shopper types has been developed by scho ...
(including outdoor markets), and French and Indian Caribbean cuisine.
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
is the most commonly spoken language along with a local
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...
. The official languages are
French for Saint-Martin, and both
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
and English for Sint Maarten. Other common languages include various
French-based creoles (spoken by immigrants from other French Caribbean islands),
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
(spoken by immigrants from the Dominican Republic and various South American countries), and
Papiamento (spoken by immigrants from Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao).
Among the leading cultural artists of the island are Youth Waves, music band; Isidore "Mighty Dow" York,
kaiso
Kaiso is a type of music popular in Trinidad and Tobago, and other countries, especially of the Caribbean, such as Grenada, Belize, Barbados, St. Lucia and Dominica, which originated in West Africa particularly among the Efik and Ibibio peop ...
nian, penman; Roland Richardson,
Impressionist painter;
Ruby Bute, painter;
Nicole de Weever, dancer and Broadway star;
Lasana M. Sekou
Lasana M. Sekou (born 12 January 1959) is a poet, short story writer, essayist, journalist, and publisher from the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.
Biography
Lasana M. Sekou has authored over 20 books and is considered one of the prolific Carib ...
, poet, author, independence advocate; Clara Reyes, choreographer; and Tanny and The Boys, string band music group.
Public buses are the primary mode of transportation for visitors staying on the island.
In recent years
sargassum
''Sargassum'' is a genus of brown (class Phaeophyceae) macroalgae ( seaweed) in the order Fucales. Numerous species are distributed throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world, where they generally inhabit shallow water and coral ...
weed has arrived on the south ("Dutch") shoreline, but the northern French coast is generally free of the weed.
Because the island is located along the
intertropical convergence zone, it is occasionally threatened by
Atlantic hurricane activity in the late summer and early fall.
Neighbouring islands include
Saint Barthélemy
Saint Barthélemy (french: Saint-Barthélemy, ), officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. It is often abbreviated to St. Barth in French, and St. Barts in English ...
(French),
Anguilla
Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The terr ...
(British),
Saba Saba may refer to:
Places
* Saba (island), an island of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea
* Şaba (Romanian for Shabo), a town of the Odesa Oblast, Ukraine
* Sabá, a municipality in the department of Colón, Honduras
* Saba (river), ...
(Dutch),
Sint Eustatius "Statia" (Dutch),
Saint Kitts
Saint Kitts, officially the Saint Christopher Island, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis cons ...
and
Nevis
Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and ...
(independent, formerly British). With the exception of Nevis, all of these islands are easily visible on a clear day from St. Martin.
News publications on St. Martin include ''The Daily Herald'', ''Soualiga News Day'', ''Soualiga News'', ''St. Maarten News'', ''SMN News'', ''SXM Island Time'', and ''SXM Talks''.
File:Phillipsburg St Maarten.jpg, Simpson Bay
Simpson Bay Lagoon (also spelt Simson Bay Lagoon, or referred to simply as The Great Pond) is one of the largest inland lagoons in the West Indies of the Caribbean. It is located on the island of Saint Martin. The border between the French and ...
, Sint Maarten
Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the nort ...
, Dutch side
File:Philipsburg and the Great Bay, Sint Maarten, Caribbean.jpg, Philipsburg and the Great Bay
File:Marigot 2.jpg, Marigot, Saint Martin, French side
File: Saint Maarten.jpg, Phillipsburg
Currency
The official currency of Saint Martin is the
Euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
, while Sint Maarten uses the
Netherlands Antillean guilder
The Netherlands Antillean guilder ( nl, gulden) is the currency of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, which until 2010 formed the Netherlands Antilles along with Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius. It is subdivided into 100 ''cents'' (Dutch plural form ...
, pegged at 1.79 per US 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
The Caribbean guilder ( nl, Caribische gulden) is a proposed new currency of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, the Caribbean islands which became "landen" (constituent countries) within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, following the dissolution of the N ...
, scheduled for circulation in the first half of 2021.
Almost every store on the island also accepts the
United States dollar
The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...
, 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 travelling in and out of the island. Passport controls are also exercised when taking the ferry from Marigot or Princess Juliana International Airport to
Anguilla
Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The terr ...
. There are rarely checks at the border between the two sides of the island.
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" arriving from off-island and only admitting foreigners having permission to travel on both sides of the island. After some delay, the treaty was ratified in November 2006 in the Netherlands and subsequently entered into force on 1 August 2007. Its provisions are not yet implemented as the working group specified in the treaty is not yet installed. The treaty 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 new and tighter French visa requirements would harm their tourism income.
Airports
![SXMDanger](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/SXMDanger.jpg)
The island is served by many major airlines that daily bring in large jet aircraft, including
Boeing 747s and
Airbus A340
The Airbus A340 is a long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus.
In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel wit ...
s carrying tourists from across the world. The short main
runway
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...
at
Princess Juliana International Airport
Princess Juliana International Airport is the main airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. The airport is located on the Dutch side of the island, in the country of Sint Maarten, close to the shore of Simpson Bay Lagoon. In 2015, the ...
and its position between a large hill and a beach cause some spectacular approaches.
Aviation photographers flock to the airport to capture pictures of large jets just a few metres above sunbathers on
Maho Beach
Maho Beach is a beach on the Dutch side of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, in the territory of Sint Maarten. It is famous for being adjacent to the Princess Juliana International Airport and is a popular site for tourists and plane wa ...
.
There is a small airport on the French side of the island at
Grand Case
Grand Case is a small town on the French side of the island of Saint Martin in the Caribbean. It lies on the Anguilla Channel
The Anguilla Channel (french: Canal d'Anguilla) is a strait in the Caribbean Sea. It separates the island of Angui ...
,
L'Espérance Airport L'Esperance or L'Espérance (French for "The Hope"), may refer to:
* L'Espérance (newspaper), Guinean newspaper
* L'Esperance, U.S. Virgin Islands, settlement
* ''L'Espérance'' (ship), a French privateer ship captured in the action of 30 Septemb ...
for small aircraft serving neighbouring Caribbean islands. It frequently suffers thick fog during the hurricane season due to its location.
See also
*
Caribbean Netherlands
)
, image_map = BES islands location map.svg
, map_caption = Location of the Caribbean Netherlands (green and circled). From left to right: Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius
, elevation_max_m = 887
, elevation_max_footnotes =
, demographic ...
*
List of Sint Maarten leaders of government
This is a list of Sint Maarten leaders of government, from 1631 to the present.
See also
* Saint Martin (island)
Saint Martin (french: Saint-Martin; nl, Sint Maarten) is an island in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately east of P ...
*
Outline of Saint Martin
The following Outline (list), outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Collectivity of Saint Martin:
The Collectivity of Saint Martin (french: Collectivité de Saint-Martin) is an overseas collectivity of France loca ...
*
Overseas France
Overseas France (french: France d'outre-mer) consists of 13 French-administered territories outside Europe, mostly the remains of the French colonial empire that chose to remain a part of the French state under various statuses after decoloni ...
*
Scouting and Guiding in Guadeloupe and Saint Martin
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* Arrindell, Rhoda
''Language, Culture, and Identity in St. Martin'' St. Martin: House of Nehesi Publishers, 2014.
''St. Martin Massive! A Snapshot of Popular Artists'' St. Martin: House of Nehesi Publishers, 2000.
* Hyman, Yvette
''From Yvette's Kitchen To Your Table: A Treasury of St. Martin's Traditional & Contemporary Cuisine'' St. Martin: House of Nehesi Publishers, 2014 (Fourth printing).
* Lake Jr., Joseph H.
''Friendly Anger – The rise of the labour movement in St. Martin'' St. Martin: House of Nehesi Publishers, 2004.
* Sekou, Lasana M. (ed.)
''National Symbols of St. Martin – A Primer'' St. Martin: House of Nehesi Publishers, 1997 (Third printing).
External links
; General information
Saint Martin ''
The World Factbook
''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is availabl ...
''.
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
.
*
*
; News and media
''The Daily Herald''daily newspaper from St. Maarten
''LE FAXinfo''daily newspaper from Saint Martin (in French)
; Travel
Dutch St. Maartenofficial Tourist Bureau
French Saint Martinofficial Tourist Office
Official tourist website for LGBT visitorsFrench Saint MartinHotel Association
Princess Juliana International Airport, Sint Maartenofficial website
*
; Others
* Eric Dubois-Millot
''Birds of Sint Maarten'' Action Nature
{{Authority control
Leeward Islands (Caribbean)
International islands
Nude beaches