Saint Martin

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St.Martin (island)

Country

France / Netherlands

Archipelago

Leeward Islands

Region

Caribbean

Area

38 sq. mi.
87.2 km²

Coastline

58.9 km

Highest elevation

Pic Paradis
1,254 ft.
414 m

Population

- Density

71,000 ppl.
2002
1,842 ppl./sq.mi.
814.2 ppl./km²

NASA NLT Landsat 7 (visible color) satellite image of Saint Martin.

For other uses, see Saint Martin (disambiguation).

Saint Martin (Dutch: Sint Maarten; French: Saint-Martin) is a tropical island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately 240 km (150 miles) east of Puerto Rico. The 87 km² island is divided roughly in half between France and the Netherlands; it is the smallest inhabited sea island divided between two nations.

The southern Dutch half comprises the Eilandgebied Sint Maarten (Island area of Saint Martin) and is part of the Netherlands Antilles.
The northern French half comprises the Collectivité de Saint-Martin (Collectivity of Saint Martin) and is a dependency of France.

Collectively, the two territories are known as "St.Martin/St. Maarten". Sometimes SXM, the IATA identifier for Princess Juliana International Airport (the island's main airport), is used to refer to island.

Neither of the two halves of Saint Martin have separate FIPS PUB 10-4 territory codes; they are coded as GP (Guadeloupe) and NA (Netherlands Antilles).

1 Geography
2 Common history
- 2.1 Border division
3 Culture and tourism
4 Shopping
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Geography

The main towns are Philipsburg (Dutch side) and Marigot (French side). The island has approximately a total resident population above 71,000, divided evenly between each half. Human density is 3 times that of the Netherlands. In addition there is an average of 1,000,000 tourists visitors per year.

The highest hilltop is the Pic Paradis (414 m) on center of an hill chain. There is no river on the îsland, but a lot of dry guts. Hiking trails give access to the dry forest covering tops and slopes.

The average yearly air temperature is 27 C (min 17 C, max 35 C) and sea surface temperature 26.4 C. The total average yearly rainfall is 995 mm, with 22 days of thunder.

[edit] Common history

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 (Dutch), Saint Martin (French and English).

Flags flying in Marigot harbor, Saint-Martin.

When Columbus sailed these seas, St.Martin was populated, if populated at all, by Carib amerindians. The former Arawaks had been chased by the warlike Caribs coming from the North coast of South America a short time before the arrival of the Spaniards who followed in Columbus' wake. The English word cannibal is derived from an Arawak word which referred to the Caribs. The Arawaks were a relatively cultured, 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, on the other hand, concentrated on warfare. They killed and, allegedly, ate the Arawak men, then "married" the Arawak women.

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 and, one year later, built a fort (now Ft.Amsterdam) and another artillery battery at Pointe Blanche to assert their claim and control access to Great bay salt pond. The Spaniards introduced the first african slaves to the area in the 16th century but the main influx of african slaves took place in the 18th century with the development of Sugarcane plantations by the French protestants and some Dutch jews. Slavery was abolished in the first half of the 19th century, whereupon 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. West Indian cultures such as in St. Martin are, consequently, exceedingly rich and varied.

[edit] Border division

Map showing French Saint-Martin (north) and Dutch Sint Maarten (south)

On March 23, 1648, France and the Dutch Republic agreed to divide the island between their two nations, so they signed the Treaty of Concordia.
Since 1975, several versions of a legend about the division have become popular, especially in tourism publications. An often repeated story is that the island was divided into two sections through a race; the French-dominated community chose one person for the race and the Dutch-dominated community chose another, a man named Menno Versteeg. The two representatives were put back to back in one extreme of the island, and made to walk along the coast in opposite directions. They were not allowed to run. At the point where they eventually met, a line was drawn across the island, connecting their starting point with their meeting point. This became the frontier which divides Saint-Martin from Sint Maarten, according to the legend. The reason for the difference in size between the two sides was said to be that the French representative moved faster than the Dutch.

In one version, the explanation for the French walker's quicker pace is that he drank wine beforehand, while the Dutch walker drank beer. This is used to support the claim that wine has restorative effects and that it was the French drink of choice that enabled the French walker to move faster. In another version, the French walker is said to have gained his advantage over the Dutch walker solely by running and thus cheating.

[edit] Culture and tourism

Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten, the Dutch side, is known for its festive nightlife, beaches, and plentiful casinos, while Saint-Martin, the French side, is known more for its nude beaches, jewelry and clothes shopping, exotic drinks made with native rum-based guavaberry liquors, and rich French Caribbean cuisine.

The island is served by many major airlines that bring in large jets, including Boeing 747s and Airbus A340s, carrying tourists from across the world on a daily basis. This fuels the island's largest revenue source, tourism. Princess Juliana International Airport — which opened a major new terminal in November, 2006 — is famous for its short landing strip —only 2,130 metres/7,000 ft, which is barely enough for heavy jets. Because of this, the planes approach the island flying extremely low, right over the beach. Photos of large jets flying at 10–20 m/30-60 ft over relaxing tourists at the beach are often dismissed as photoshopped, but are nevertheless showing actual landings.^[1]

Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin is home to several world-class accommodations, including hotels, villas, and timeshares, many of which are privately available for rent or sale. Some properties have over 200 rooms, while others have fewer than twenty. Many are located directly on beaches and in upscale shopping districts. Villas pepper the coast, boasting private beaches. Some are private residences, while others are available to affluent renters.

View of cruise ships docked in St. Martin's Dutch side

Rental cars are the primary mode of transportation for visitors staying on island. The island is served by several well-known agencies. If any driving is expected off the major roads (such as to some of the more secluded beaches), a 4-wheel drive is recommended. Traffic on the island, however, 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. It is important to monitor local weather information during this time.

The island is widely known for its hundreds of gourmet (and more moderately priced) restaurants on both sides of the island.

Neighbouring islands include Saint-Barthélemy (French), Anguilla (British), Saba (Dutch), Sint Eustatius "Statia" (Dutch), Saint Kitts and Nevis (Independent, formerly British). With the exception of Nevis, all of these islands are easily visible on a clear day from St. Maarten.

[edit] Shopping

Shopping on Sint Maarten and Saint Martin offers high quality duty-free goods in numerous boutiques. The island has a well-earned reputation as a "shopper's paradise". Popular goods include local crafts & arts, exotic foods, jewelry, liquor, tobacco, leather goods, as well as most designer goods. Because of Duty free Tax free abound the island has become more of a shopping and relaxing destination. Most often the designer goods are offered at significant discounts, often up to 40% lower than US retail prices.