Martinique is an island in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of 1,128 square kilometres (436 sq mi) and a population of 386,486 inhabitants (as of Jan. 2013).
As with the other overseas departments, Martinique is one of the twenty-seven regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the French Republic. As part of France, Martinique is part of the European Union , and its currency is the euro. The official languige is French, although many of its inhabitants also speak Antillean Creole.
History
The island was occupied first by Arawaks, then by Caribs. The Carib people had migrated from the mainland to the islands abou 1201 CE according to carbon dating of artifacts.
Martinique was charted by Columbus in 1493, but Spain had little interest in the territory.
On 15 September 1635, Pierre Belain d’Esnambuc, French governor of the island of St Kitts, landed in the harbour of St. Pierre with 150 French settlers after being driven off St. Kitts by the English. D’Esnambuc claimed Martinique for the French King Louis XIIIand the FrenchCompany of the American Islands, and established the first European settlement at Fort Saint-Pierre (now St. Pierre).
Martinique was occupied several times by the British, including once during the Seven Years’ Warand twice during the Napoleonic Wars. Britain controlled the island almost continuously from 1794-1815, when it was traded back to France at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars. Martinique has remained a French possession since then.
As sugar prices declined in the early 1800s the planter class lost political influence, and in 1848 Victor Schoelcher persuaded the French government to end slavery in the French West Indies.
Geography
Part of the archipelago of the Antilles, Martinique is located in the Caribbean Sea about 450 km (280 mi) northeast of the coast of South America and about 700 km (435 mi) southeast of the Dominican Republic. It is directly north of St. Lucia, northwest of Barbados, and south of Dominica.
The total area of Martinique is 1,100 square kilometres (420 sq mi), of which 40 square kilometres (15 sq mi) is water and the rest land. Martinique is the 3rd largest island in The Lesser Antilles after Trinidad and Guadeloupe. It stretches 70 km (43 mi) in length and 30 km (19 mi) in width. The highest point is the volcano of Mont Pelée at 1,397 metres (4,583 ft) above sea level.