About

Geography

A fact so charming, it always has to be mentioned first: The island of Sint Maarten-Saint Martin is the smallest land mass in the world to be shared by two different nations. Only 37 square miles are owned by France and the Netherland Antilles.

The French territory covers about two thirds of the island and is technically a part of Europe and the European Community. The Dutch side is a member island of the Netherlands Antilles and part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but not considered European territory. There is no real border, just modest monuments and signs. The island is known as an almost perfect holiday environment; beaches and nightlife are spectacular, shopping and dining the best in the Caribbean.

To get a feel of the area covered by St. Martin, multiply 6 miles by 6 miles. You got already 36 square miles… But not to worry, this is the biggest small island in the world. Without visiting, its impossible to imagine the variety of landscape, cultures and entertainment to be found here. St. Martin just doesn’t FEEL that small…

Its central mountain range provides for a rugged and interesting terrain, with winding roads up and down the hills, through small villages and still plenty of untouched land.

The Caribbean’s largest lagoon is the Simpson Bay Lagoon, landlocked with the exception of two narrow channels with draw bridges. The Lagoon is large enough to have a real sail and is home to a giant fleet of yachts, which are either berthed in one of the luxury marinas or anchored in the sheltered waters. St. Maarten has become the yachting center of the Caribbean, home port to some of the world’s most outrageous megayachts.

St. Martin is the ultimate micro cosmos, home to residents from over 90 different nations. The island broke out of the Antillean group of third-world economies and societies and became the exiting, active, bustling economic center of the Northeastern Caribbean. To be sure, there are problems associated with its rapid growth, but there are also stunning success stories to be told.

One is the Concordia Agreement: The Dutch and the French side agreed more than 350 years ago that residents of either side of the island can be commercially active on the other side without any Red Tape or border difficulties. This contract of peaceful coexistence turns out to be the oldest active, undisputed treaty on our planet! St. Martin entered the “Big Time” during the Eighties when investor friendly policies on the Dutch side lead to a rapidly developing tourism industry. The French side soon followed with special tax incentives for French citizens to invest into tourism and charter boats.

 

History

The Amerindian people, descended from the Arawak Indians who came to St. Martin/ St. Maarten around 800 AD used to call the island ‘Sualouiga’ or ‘Land of Salt’ as salt ponds were scattered all over the island. The Spaniards were the first Europeans to exploit these salt ponds, but it was the Dutch that started the wide-scale exploitation.

They used salt to preserve meat and the tons of fish they netted in the Baltic Sea. With the break from Spain in the 16th century the Dutch lost access to Portugal’s natural salt deposits and were in dire need of a new source. They cast their eyes on St. Martin/St. Maarten with its numerous salt ponds and a new and important trade developed.

At the time that the Dutch finally established a settlement in St. Martin/St. Maarten in 1631, there was already a colony of 14 French families based on the island. In 1633 the Spaniards invaded St. Martin/St. Maarten and the attempts of the French and Dutch to protect their settlements were futile, so they retreated until the Spanish troops left the island in 1648. On March 23rd 1648, The French and Dutch signed the “Treaty of Concordia” (click for original text). The island has been divided, and the story of how it happened has been embellished throughout history to become the ‘Legend of St. Martin/St. Maarten’. Even after the signing of the treaty however, the island changed hand 16 times with even English powers vying for control. In 1817 the partition treaty was eventually enforced, giving the French 21 square miles and the Dutch 16 square miles and giving shape to the island as we know it today.

The slave trade first made its mark on St. Martin/St. Maarten in 1648 with the development of sugar plantations, and was to last 220 years until its abolition in 1848. With the abolition of slavery, the plantations on St. Martin/St. Maarten dried out leaving virtually no sugar industry. The island was now wholly dependent on its salt treasure. The ‘white gold’ was produced in great quantities and St. Martin/St. Maarten became a king in the world of salt production. In 1850 more then 330,000 barrels were produced and a third of the island’s population was employed in the industry. After the 1920′s the salt industry endured a period of stagnation and decline until in 1949 the salt ponds eventually breathed their last.

With the closing down of the plantations and the slowing down of the salt production many unemployed migrated to other islands in hope of a better life. In 1914 there were still 3000 living souls on St. Martin/St. Maarten, but by the 1940′s the population was down to 2000. The imposed isolation by the two world wars also helped along the decline. World War II had the greatest effect on St. Martin. During this war, German submarines threatened the entire Caribbean. The US Army tried to eliminate these U-boats from the air and was forced to build many air runways on numerous islands, which is how St. Martin/St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana airport began its life in 1943. With the airport, a gateway was opened to the rest of the world and the new industry of tourism nestled on the island.

The duty free status, a result of the import and export taxes being rescinded in 1939, and the many unspoiled white sandy beaches, made St. Martin/St. Maarten a popular travel destination. The influx of people and money changed the island completely. Not only did St. Martin/St. Maarten go through huge economic growth; in 1965 the population jumped to more than 4000 inhabitants. In five years the population had doubled and by the mid-80′s 40,000 people were living on the island.

The laid-back island attitude of old has now made place for a patchwork of more then 100 hotels and guesthouses and innumerable luxury villa’s and apartments. The island welcomes almost 900 000 cruise ship visitors and more than 570,000 plane arrivals a year. In less then a decade the little pearl of the Caribbean has become one of the most affluent in the region.

We can not go through St. Martin/St. Maarten’s history without mentioning the most significant recent events that left a deep impact on the island. In 1995 the powerful and destructive hurricane Luis struck the islands with huge devastation. It took four years for the island to recover but in 1999 hurricane Lenny was destined to pass over the island to wreak more havoc. Despite serious damage inflicted by rain and flood, the people of St. Martin/St. Maarten know how laughter can heal the soul, and that is one of the reasons visitors keep coming to the island, the prime tropical escape of the Caribbean. Welcome to St. Martin/St. Maarten, The Friendly Island

 

Economy in Saint Martin

The official currency of Saint Martin is the euro, though the US dollar is also widely accepted. Tourism is the main economic activity.

INSEE estimated that the total GDP of Saint Martin amounted to 421 million euros in 1999 (US$449 million at 1999 exchanges rates; US$599 million at Oct. 2007 exchange rates). In that same year the GDP per capita of Saint Martin was 14,500 euros (US$15,500 at 1999 exchanges rates; US$20,600 at Oct. 2007 exchange rates), which was 39% lower than the average GDP per capita of metropolitan France in 1999. In comparison, the GDP per capita on the Dutch side of the island, Sint Maarten, was 14,430 euros in 2004.

 

Politics and Government in Saint Martin

Saint Martin was for many years a French commune forming part of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas région and département of France and is therefore in the European Union. In 2003 the population of the French part of the island voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe in order to form a separate overseas collectivity (COM) of France.On 9 February 2007, the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both the French part of Saint Martin and (separately) the neighbouring Saint Barthélemy.The new status took effect once the local assembly was elected on 15 February 2007.Saint Martin remains part of the European Union.

The new governance structure befitting an overseas collectivity took effect on 15 July 2007 with the first session of the Territorial Council (French: Conseil territorial) and the election of Louis-Constant Fleming as president of the Territorial Council. On 25 July 2008 Fleming resigned after being sanctioned by the Conseil d’État for one year over problems with his 2007 election campaign. On 7 August, Frantz Gumbs was elected as President of the Territorial Council. However, his election was declared invalid on 10 April 2009 and Daniel Gibbs appointed as Acting President of the Territorial Council on 14 April 2009. However, Gumbs was reelected on 5 May 2009.

Before 2007, Saint Martin was coded as GP (Guadeloupe) in ISO 3166-1. In October 2007, it received the ISO 3166-1 code MF (alpha-2 code), MAF (alpha-3 code), and 663 (numeric code).

 

Politics and Government in Sint Maarten

The Constitution of Sint Maarten was unanimously adopted by the island council of Sint Maarten on 21 July 2010. Elections for a new island council were held on 17 September 2010, since the number of seats was increased from 11 to 15. The newly elected island council became the Estates of Sint Maarten on 10 October.

Eugene Holiday was appointed as the first Governor of Sint Maarten (Dutch: gouverneur) by the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in September 2010. He also assumed office on 10 October 2010.

 

Via St. Maarten

Via Wikipedia