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 The
smallest island in the world ever to
have been partitioned between two
different nations, St. Martin/St.
Maarten has been shared by the French
and the Dutch in a spirit of neighborly
cooperation and mutual friendship for
almost 350 years.
The border is almost imperceptible. and
people cross back and forth without ever
realizing they are entering a new
country. There are four boundries, Belle
Vue / Cole Bay, French Quarter / Dutch
Quarter, Low Lands / Copecoy and Oyster
Pond, testifying to centuries of
peaceful cohabitation and the treaty
that made the arrangement possible.
HISTORY AND CULTURE
Before Columbus arrived here during his
second voyage in 1493, the island had
already been inhabited for some one
thousand years. The first people to
settle here were a tribe of Arawak
Indians who left their homeland in the
Orinoco basin of South America and kept
migrating upwards along the chain of
islands in the Caribbean. They gave it
the name "Sualouiga" meaning "Land of
Salt" for the salt-pans and the brackish
water they found here in great
abundance. The few fresh water springs
around Paradise Peak, Mount William,
Billy Folly, and in the Lowlands could
only support a small population, and
this is where they mainly tended to
congregate. A number of artifacts from
this period are to be found preserved in
the St.Martin Museum: On the Trail of
the Arawaks.
Full country name: St Martin
Area: 54 sq km
Population: 27,000
Capital City: Marigot
People: Mixed African and European descent, Spanish immigrants
Language: French, English
Religion: Catholic
Government: sub-prefecture of Guadeloupe (an overseas départment of France)
Head of State: Prefect Paul Girot de Langlade
Head of Government: President of the General Council Jacques Gillot
GDP: US$3.7 billion
GDP per capita: US$9,200
Major Industries: Construction, cement, rum, sugar, tourism.
Major Trading Partners: France, Martinique, Germany, USA
Member of EU: Yes |
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