Fort-de-France

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Commune of Fort-de-France Fort Saint Louis
Location
Coordinates	14°35′60″N, 61°04′60″W
Administration
Country	France
Region	Martinique
Department	Martinique (préfecture)
Arrondissement	Fort-de-France
Canton	Chief town of 10 cantons
Intercommunality	Communauté d'agglomération du Centre de la Martinique
Mayor	Serge Letchimy (since 2001)
Statistics
Altitude	0 m–
Land area¹	44.21 km²
Population² (1999 census)	94,049
- Density (1999)	2,127/km²
Miscellaneous
Postal code	97200
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Fort Saint Louis seen from the sea

The frigate Ventôse can be seen behind the old fort

Fort-de-France is the capital of France's Caribbean département d'outre-mer of Martinique. With a population of 134,727 inhabitants (1999 census) in the urban area, 94,049 of whom live in the city (commune) of Fort-de-France proper, it is also one of the major cities in the Caribbean.

[edit] History

In 1638, Jacques Duparquet, first governor of Martinique, decided to have Fort Saint Louis built to protect the city against enemy attacks. The fort was soon destroyed, and rebuilt in 1669, when Louis XIV appointed the Marquis of Baas as governor general. Under his orders and those of his successors, particularly the Count of Blénac, the fort was built with a Vauban design.

Originally named Fort-Royal, the city became economically important after the volcanic eruption of Mount Pelée destroyed the town of Saint-Pierre in 1902.

[edit] Naval base

The Fort Saint-Louis in Fort-de-France is one of the French naval bases of the Caraib, along with Degrad des Cannes (French Guiana).

It is under command of the capitaine de vaisseau in charge of the Navy and the Naval air force for the Caraibs (COMAR ANTILLES). The forces based here include:

• the BATRAL Champlain (L9030)
• the P400 class patrol vessel Fougueuse (P685)
• the frigate Ventôse (F733)

Also here are the administrative buildings of the base, the service for naval constructions, the radio station of Pointe des Sables and the ammunition storage facilities (at the end of Fort de France), and the Rivière Salée station (20 km away).

The fort is also home to the last iguana populations of Martinique.

[edit] Sights

The city has a fine, natural harbour defended by three forts:

• Fort Desaix: built from 1763 to 1789, it was called Fort Bourbon in 1793, Fort la Convention in 1793, Fort George during the British occupations (1793-1802, 1809-1814), and Fort Desaix since 1802. This name was given by Napoleon Bonaparte after General Desaix (1768-1800).
• Fort Tartenson
• Fort Gerbault
• Place de la Savane
• Schoelcher Library
• Balata Garden
• Sacré-Cœur de Balata Basilica
• Fort-de-France Cathedral:[1]

A statue commemorating Martinique-born Empress Josephine, the wife of Napoleon, is in the park of La Savane. It was vandalized in the 1990s, presumably by individuals who faulted her for supporting the reestablishment of slavery on the island.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Fort-de-France

• Official website

Préfectures of Départements of France

Bourg-en-Bresse (Ain) • Laon (Aisne) • Moulins (Allier) • Digne-les-Bains (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) • Gap (Hautes-Alpes) • Nice (Alpes-Maritimes) • Privas (Ardeche) • Charleville-Mézières (Ardennes) • Foix (Ariège) • Troyes (Aube) • Carcassonne (Aude) • Rodez (Aveyron) • Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) • Caen (Calvados) • Aurillac (Cantal) • Angoulême (Charente) • La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) • Bourges (Cher) • Tulle (Corrèze) • Ajaccio (corse-du-Sud) • Bastia (Haute-Corse) • Dijon (Côte-d'Or) • Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d'Armor) • Guéret (Creuse) • Périgueux (Dordogne) • Besançon (Doubs) • Valence (Drôme) • Évreux (Eure) • Chartres (Eure-et-Loir) • Quimper (Finistère) • Nîmes (Gard) • Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) • Auch (Gers) • Bordeaux (Gironde) • Montpellier (Hérault) • Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) • Châteauroux (Indre) • Tours (Indre-et-Loire) • Grenoble (Isère) • Lons-le-Saunier (Jura) • Mont-de-Marsan (Landes) • Blois (Loir-et-Cher) • Saint-Étienne (Loire) • Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) • Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) - Orléans (Loiret) • Cahors (Lot) • Agen (Lot-et-Garonne) • Mende (Lozère) • Angers (Maine-et-Loire) • Saint-Lô (Manche) • Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne) • Chaumont (Haute-Marne) - Laval (Mayenne) • Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle) • Bar-le-Duc (Meuse) • Vannes (Morbihan) • Metz (Moselle) • Nevers (Nièvre) • Lille (Nord) • Beauvais (Oise) • Alençon (Orne) • Calais (Pas-de-Calais) • Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) • Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) • Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées) • Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) • Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) • Colmar (Haut-Rhin) • Lyon (Rhône) • Vesoul (Haute-Saône) • Mâcon (Saône-et-Loire) • Le Mans (Sarthe) • Chambéry (Savoie) • Annecy (Haute-Savoie) • Paris (Paris) • Rouen (Seine-Maritime) • Melun (Seine-et-Marne) • Versailles (Yvelines) • Niort (Deux-Sèvres) • Amiens (Somme) • Albi (Tarn) • Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne) • Toulon (Var) • Avignon (Vaucluse) • La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée) • Poitiers (Vienne) • Limoges (Haute-Vienne) • Épinal (Vosges) • Auxerre (Yonne) • Belfort (Territoire de Belfort) - Évry (Essonne) - Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) • Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis) • Créteil (Val-de-Marne) • Cergy (Val-d'Oise)

Overseas departments
Cayenne (French Guiana) • Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe) • Fort-de-France (Martinique) • Saint-Denis (Réunion)