Saint Martin
- For other uses, see Saint Martin (disambiguation).
Saint Martin (Dutch Sint Maarten, French Saint-Martin) is an island in the northeast Caribbean (West Indies). Half Dutch and half French, the tropical 38 square-mile (88 km²) island is approximately 150 miles east of Puerto Rico and a few thousand miles southwest of Amsterdam and Paris.
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History of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten
Close to 500 years ago, an Italian sea captain financed by Spanish royalty went looking for new lands to claim. He found a vast amount of unexpected real estate, as history has so often recited, and it was he who named this island St.Martin. Whether Christopher Columbus landed here, anchored here of merely sailed past, he literally put this 37 square miles of mountain top on the map. Saint Maarten (Dutch spelling) or Saint Martin (French, Spanish, Italian, English spelling) was named for St.Martin of Tours on whose feast day, November 11, 1493, Columbus first saw these white sand shores. The island name, incidentally, is generally pronouncing the English manner, simply St.Martin. St. Martin of Tours, for those who might be curious, lived from 330 to 397, was a bishop, a missionary and father of monasticism in Gaul. He was one of the most revered saints of Western Europe, one of the first persons not a martyr to be publicly venerated as a saint.
When Columbus sailed these seas, St.Martin was populated, if populated at all, by Arawak or Carib Indians. The Arawaks were subjugated by the warlike Carib Indians from South America a short time before the arrival of the Spanish who followed in Columbus' wake. The English word 'cannibal', we note in passing, is derived from an Arawak word which referred to the Caribs. The Arawaks were a relatively cultured people who introduced agriculture, fashioned pottery and whose social organization was headed by hereditary chieftains who derived their power from personal deities called zemis. The Caribs, on the contrary, concentrated on warfare. They killed and ate the Arawak men, then married the Arawak women.
As the Spanish conquered each island, they rounded up its Indians and put them to work. By 1550, a few Arawaks remained on Cuba and Trinidad. The Caribs' territory was not completely conquered until the mid-seventeenth 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 1620's. Despite the Dutch presence on the island, the Spaniards recaptured St.Martin in 1633 and one year later built a fort at Pointe Blanche to assert their claim. The Spaniards introduced the first slaves to the area in the sixteenth century but the main influx of slaves took place in the eighteenth century with the development of sugar plantations by the French. Slavery was abolished in the first half of the nineteenth century, whereupon the British imported Chinese and East Indians to take the place of slaves. Thus, these islands are peopled by a mixture of Amer-Indian, African, Asian and European peoples. West Indian cultures are, consequently, exceedingly rich and varied, can scarcely be matched in other parts of the world.
Political status
France and the Netherlands agreed to divide the island on November 11, 1648. The southern, Dutch half is called Sint Maarten and is part of the Netherlands Antilles, which is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands though not in the European Union. Its currency is the Antillean Guilder. The northern, French half is called Saint-Martin and is part of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas department of France and therefore in the European Union. The official currency in Saint-Martin is the Euro. In 2003 the population of the French part voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe to form a separate territorial collectivity.
Collectively, the two territories are known as, "St. Martin/St. Maarten", "St. Martins", or simply, "SXM". (SXM is the IATA identifier for Princess Juliana International Airport, the island's main airport.)
Characteristics and tourist information
Sint Maarten, the "Dutch-side", is known for its festive nightlife, fun beaches, and plentiful casinos, while Saint-Martin, the "French-side", is known more for its sexy daylife of world-famous 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, carrying tourists from across the world on a daily basis. This fuels the island's largest revenue source, tourism.
Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin is home to several world-class accommodations, including hotels, villas, and timeshares. Some properties have over two hundred 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.
Rental cars are the primary mode of transportation for visitors staying on island. The island is served by several well-known agencies. It is common and recommended to reserve a rental car over the Internet through a discount Caribbean specialist, well in advance of arrival. If any driving is expected off the major roads (such as to some of the more secluded beaches), a 4-wheel drive is recommended.
The island is prone to hurricane activity, especially in the late summer and early fall months and tourism is usually down dramatically during this time. Many shops, restaurants, and other local businesses close completely during hurricane season.
Neighboring islands include Saint Barts, Anguilla, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Saint Kitts, and Nevis.
External link
- Maps (http://www.jmbcommunications.com/map.html)
de:Saint Martin fr:Saint-Martin (île) nl:Sint-Maarten (eiland) ru:Святого Мартина (остров)
Categories: Caribbean islands