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Saint Marie is a fictional island in the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc bet ...

which serves as the setting for the

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crime drama television series '' Death in Paradise''.

Premise

Saint Marie is described in Episode 3.3 as a "pretty island" that is "situated in the Eastern

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 ...

" and "one-tenth the size of its north-west neighbour Guadeloupe", which would make Saint Marie about in size. It is described in Episode 4.5 as being from

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

. The island is a British Overseas Territory, but was handed over to the British from the French only in the 1970s, so that about 30% of its people are French citizens, with the French language still widely spoken. The back-story appears to be a blend of two real-world islands near to Guadeloupe, with size and location aligning with

Marie-Galante Marie-Galante ( gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Mawigalant) is one of the islands that form Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France. Marie-Galante has a land area of . It had 11,528 inhabitants at the start of 2013, but by the start of 2018 ...

(in real-life politically affiliated with Guadeloupe, not independent of it), and history and language aligning with Dominica. Another possible basis is Îlet Sainte Marie "The Îlet Sainte-Marie is an island located on the northeast coast of Martinique, right in front of the small town of Sainte-Marie, known in the North Atlantic region. Very popular with tourists, it is a geological curiosity of nature, as connected to the rest of the island by a

tombolo A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island becom ...

." In episode 4.5, it is mentioned that Martinique is "a good 70 miles." In Episode 5.2 a map can be seen with

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 ...

in the northwest and Dominica in the southeast of the map, Saint Marie, in addition to another fictional island, Saint Robert, are present on the map, it would appear that there is significantly more distance between Guadelope and Dominica in the '' Death in Paradise''

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. ...

, Saint Robert appears similar in shape, and slightly smaller in size than Dominica, although rotated by about 100-110 degrees anti-clockwise; although inconsistent with other in-universe statements Saint Marie appears about the same size as Dominica, and much larger than

. Marie-Galante, Saint-Marie, Spinner's Rock (a small islet relevant to this episode), and Saint Robert can be described as being on a straight line between Guadelope and Dominica in that order from the most northern to the most southern. Both Marie-Galante and Dominica are present, thus ruling out the possibilities of these two as candidates for Saint-Marie. The island drives on the right hand side of the road, and vehicles, including the police Land Rover Defender 110, have number plates in the same format as

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 are left-hand drive. Deshaies

Features

Saint Marie's population is assumed to be around 10,000. However, in series 10, episode 1, an audience figure of 85,000 is quoted for a programme on the Saint Marie Broadcasting Corporation (although this may include viewers outside of the island). In the series, Saint Marie has a

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Ear ...

, rainforest, sugar and

coffee plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s, a fishing harbour, an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

, a

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

, multiple

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s, approximately one hundred public

beaches 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 shel ...

, and a Crown Court. It also has its own

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

, ''The Saint Marie Times.'' Honoré, the main town, has a leisure/commercial marina,

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

, bars, and

restaurants A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

as well as the

police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, ...

. The neighbouring town to Honoré is named as Port Royal. Its main economic ties are to Guadeloupe, the UK, and

, but it uses the

East Caribbean dollar The Eastern Caribbean dollar ( symbol: EC$; code: XCD) is the currency of all seven full members and one associate member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The successor to the British West Indies dollar, it has existed s ...

as its unit of currency, as opposed to the pound or 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 . ...

. The island's main religions are

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and Voodoo, with several religious festivals featuring in the programme, including the

Saint Ursula Saint Ursula (Latin for 'little female bear', german: link=no, Heilige Ursula) is a legendary Romano-British Christian saint who died on 21 October 383. Her feast day in the pre-1970 General Roman Calendar is 21 October. There is little in ...

Festival (in reality, a major festival of the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Cro ...

) and some Voodoo festivals.

Governance

As a British Overseas Territory, Saint Marie's

Head of State A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

is the Monarch of the United Kingdom and as such the British government also has responsibility for the island via the

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...

. On the island itself, there is a

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

who represents the monarch and the British government in matters of state. Caroline Bamber served in this role from 2012 until 2016, when she was murdered shortly before she was due to retire from the position. Saint-Marie also has its own island government, led by a

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

and supported by a Cabinet of

ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

. The full extent of ministerial positions is unknown, though at least one position is a

Minister of Commerce A Commerce minister (sometimes business minister, industry minister, trade minister or international trade minister) is a position in many governments that is responsible for regulating external trade and promoting economic growth (commercial polic ...

, a role held by Jacob Doran until his murder in 2014. The government is headquartered in a building named 'Government House' within Honoré itself.

Law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education ...

on the island is overseen by the Commissioner of the Saint Marie police force, a role held by Selwyn Patterson throughout the duration of the show. Whilst the bulk of the Commissioner's time focuses on the investigations of the Honoré police unit, he also has wider responsibilities across the island, such as in towns like Port Royal. Honoré is led by a

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

and

town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second t ...

, with

by-elections A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election use ...

being held if a Mayor leaves office before the end of their elected term. Mayor Joseph Richards resigned in 2017 following a corruption scandal, and was replaced by Catherine Bordey in the subsequent by-election.

Locations

The series is filmed on Guadeloupe, and

Deshaies Deshaies (French: ) is a commune in the French overseas region and department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is on the northwest coast of Basse-Terre Island. The inhabitants are called ''Deshaisiens''. History Deshaies, and its li ...

doubles for the fictional town of Honoré.

References

{{Death in Paradise Death in Paradise (TV series) Fictional islands Fictional countries Fictional island countries