Martinique

Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Kariʼnja. A part of the French West Indies (Antilles), Martinique is an overseas department and region and a single territorial collectivity of France.

It is a part of the European Union as an outermost region within the special territories of members of the European Economic Area, and an associate member of the CARICOM, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) but is not part of the Schengen Area or the European Union Customs Union. The currency in use is the euro. It has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2021 for its entire land and sea territory. In September 2023, the volcanoes and forests of Mount Pelée and the peaks of northern Martinique, in particular the Pitons du Carbet, were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Martinique has a land area of and a population of 349,925 inhabitants as of January 2024. One of the Windward Islands, it lies directly north of Saint Lucia, northwest of Barbados and south of Dominica. Virtually the entire population speaks both French (the sole official language) and Martinican Creole.

Etymology

It is thought that Martinique is a corruption of the Taíno name for the island (/, meaning 'island of flowers', or , 'island of women'), as relayed to Christopher Columbus when he visited the island in 1502. According to historian Sydney Daney, the island was called or ''Iouanacaera'' by the Caribs, which means 'the island of iguanas'.

History

Pre-European contact and early colonial periods

The island was occupied first by Arawaks, then by Caribs. The Arawaks came from Central America in the 1st century AD and the Caribs came from the Venezuelan coast around the 11th century.

Christopher Columbus charted Martinique (without landing) in 1493, during his second voyage, but Spain had little interest in the territory. Columbus landed during a later voyage, on 15 June 1502, after a 21-day trade wind passage, his fastest ocean voyage. He spent three days there refilling his water casks, bathing and washing laundry.

The Indigenous people Columbus encountered called Martinique "Matinino". He was told by Indigenous people of
San Salvador that "the island of Matinino was entirely populated by women on whom the Caribs descended at certain seasons of the year; and if these women bore sons they were entrusted to the father to bring up."

In 1635, Spain formally ceded Martinique to France after 133 years of Spanish rule. On 15 September 1635, Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc, French governor of the island of St. Kitts, landed in the harbour of St. Pierre with 80 to 150 French settlers after being driven off St. Kitts by the English. D'Esnambuc claimed Martinique for the French king Louis XIII and the French "Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique" (Company of the American Islands), and established the first European settlement at Fort Saint-Pierre (now St. Pierre). D'Esnambuc died in 1636, leaving the company and Martinique in the hands of his nephew, Jacques Dyel du Parquet, who in 1637 became governor of the island.

In 1636, in the first of many skirmishes, the Indigenous Kalinago rose against the settlers to drive them off the island. The French repelled the natives and forced them to retreat to the eastern part of the island, on the Caravelle Peninsula in the region then known as the Capesterre. When the Caribs revolted against French rule in 1658, the governor Charles Houël du Petit Pré retaliated with war against them. Many were killed, and those who survived were taken captive and expelled from the island. Some Caribs fled to Dominica or St. Vincent, where the French agreed to leave them at peace.

After the death of du Parquet in 1658, his widow Marie Bonnard du Parquet tried to govern Martinique, but dislike of her rule led King Louis XIV to take over the sovereignty of the island. In 1654, Dutch Jews expelled from Portuguese Brazil introduced sugar plantations worked by large numbers of enslaved Africans.

In 1667, the Second Anglo-Dutch War spilled out into the Caribbean, with Britain attacking the pro-Dutch French fleet in Martinique, virtually destroying it and further cementing British preeminence in the region. In 1674, the Dutch attempted to conquer the island, but were repulsed.

Because there were few Catholic priests in the French Antilles, many of the earliest French settlers were Huguenots who sought religious freedom. Others were transported there as a punishment for refusing to convert to Catholicism, many of them dying en route. Those who survived were quite industrious and over time prospered, though the less fortunate were reduced to the status of indentured servants. Although edicts from King Louis XIV's court regularly came to the islands to suppress the Protestant "heretics", these were mostly ignored by island authorities until Louis XIV's Edict of Revocation in 1685.

As many of the planters on Martinique were Huguenots suffering under the harsh strictures of the Revocation, they began plotting to emigrate from Martinique with many of their recently arrived brethren. Many of them were encouraged by the Catholics, who looked forward to their departure and the opportunities for seizing their property. By 1688, nearly all of Martinique's French Protestant population had escaped to the British American colonies or Protestant countries in Europe. The policy decimated the population of Martinique and the rest of the French Antilles and set back their colonisation by decades, causing the French king to relax his policies in the region, which left the islands susceptible to British occupation over the next century.

Post-1688 period

Under governor of the Antilles Charles de Courbon, comte de Blénac, Martinique served as a home port for French pirates, including Captain Crapeau, Étienne de Montauban, and Mathurin Desmarestz. French language original, as reprinted in ''Le Diable Volant: Une histoire de la flibuste: de la mer des Antilles à l'océan Indien (1688–1700)'' / (''The Flying Devil: A History of the Filibusters: From the Antilles to the Indian Ocean (1688–1700)''). In later years, pirate Bartholomew Roberts styled his jolly roger as a black flag depicting a pirate standing on two skulls labeled "ABH" and "AMH" for "A Barbadian's Head" and "A Martinican's Head" after governors of those two islands sent warships to capture Roberts.

On 28 November 1717 the pirate Blackbeard and his pirates captured a French frigate named ''La Concorde'' near the island of Martinique in the West Indies. After selling her cargo of slaves on the island, Blackbeard made the vessel his flagship, added more heavy cannons and renamed her ''Queen Anne's Revenge''.

Martinique was attacked or occupied several times by the British, in 1693, 1759, 1762 and 1779. Excepting a period from 1802 to 1809 following signing of the Treaty of Amiens, Britain controlled the island for most of the time from 1794 to 1815, when it was traded back to France at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars. Martinique has remained a French possession since then.

Despite the introduction of successful coffee plantations to Martinique in the 1720s, making it the first coffee-growing area in the Western hemisphere, the planter class lost political influence as sugar prices declined in the early 1800s. Slave rebellions in 1789, 1815 and 1822, plus the campaigns of abolitionists such as Cyrille Bissette and Victor Schœlcher, persuaded the French government to end slavery in the French West Indies in 1848. Martinique was the first French overseas territory in which the abolition decree came into force, on 23 May 1848.

As a result, some plantation owners imported workers from India and China. Despite the abolition of slavery, life scarcely improved for most Martinicans; class and racial tensions exploded into rioting in southern Martinique in 1870 following the arrest of Léopold Lubin, a trader of African ancestry who retaliated after he was beaten by a Frenchman. After several deaths, the revolt was crushed by French militia.

20th–21st centuries

On 8 May 1902, Mont Pelée erupted and completely destroyed St. Pierre, killing 30,000 people. Refugees from Martinique travelled by boat to the southern villages of Dominica, and some of them remained permanently on the island. The only survivor in the town of Saint-Pierre, Ludger Sylbaris, was saved by the thick walls of his prison cell. Shortly thereafter, the capital shifted to Fort-de-France, where it remains today.

During World War II, the pro-Nazi Vichy government controlled Martinique under Admiral Georges Robert. German U-boats used Martinique for refuelling and re-supply during the Battle of the Caribbean. In 1942, 182 ships were sunk in the Caribbean, dropping to 45 in 1943, and five in 1944. Free French forces took over on the island on Bastille Day, 14 July 1943.

In 1946, the French National Assembly voted unanimously to transform the colony into an Overseas Department of France. Meanwhile, the post-war period saw a growing campaign for full independence; a notable proponent of this was the author Aimé Césaire, who founded the Progressive Party of Martinique in the 1950s. Tensions boiled over in December 1959 when riots broke out following a racially-charged altercation between two motorists, resulting in three deaths. In 1962, as a result of this and the global turn against colonialism, the strongly pro-independence OJAM () was formed. Its leaders were later arrested by the French authorities. However, they were later acquitted. Tensions rose again in 1974, when gendarmes shot dead two striking banana workers. However the independence movement lost steam as Martinique's economy faltered in the 1970s, resulting in large-scale emigration. Hurricanes in 1979–80 severely affected agricultural output, further straining the economy. Greater autonomy was granted by France to the island in the 1970s–80s.

In 2009, Martinique was convulsed by the French Caribbean general strikes. Initially focusing on cost-of-living issues, the movement soon took on a racial dimension as strikers challenged the continued economic dominance of the ''Béké'', descendants of French European settlers. President Nicolas Sarkozy later visited the island, promising reform."Sarkozy offers autonomy vote for Martinique"
, AFP While ruling out full independence, which he said was desired neither by France nor by Martinique, Sarkozy offered Martiniquans a referendum on the island's future status and degree of autonomy.

On 2 February 2023, Martinique adopted its independent activist flag, symbolising its three colors of Pan-Africanism.

Governance

Like French Guiana, Martinique is a special collectivity (Unique in French) of the French Republic. It is also an outermost region of the European Union. The inhabitants of Martinique are French citizens with full political and legal rights. Martinique sends four deputies to the French National Assembly and two senators to the French Senate.

On 24 January 2010, during a referendum, the inhabitants of Martinique approved by 68.4% the change to be a "special (unique) collectivity" within the framework of article 73 of the French Republic's Constitution. The new council replaces and exercises the powers of both the General Council and the regional council.

Administrative divisions

Martinique is divided into 4 '' arrondissements'' and 34 '' communes''. It had also been divided into 45 ''cantons'', but these were abolished in 2015. The four arrondissements of the island, with their respective locations, are as follows:
* Fort-de-France is the prefecture of Martinique. It takes up the central zone of the island. It includes four communes. In 2019, the population was 152,102.Populations légales 2019: 972 Martinique
, INSEE Besides the capital, it includes the communities of Saint-Joseph and Schœlcher.
* La Trinité, one of the three subprefectures on the island, occupies the northeast region. It has ten communes. In 2019, the population was 75,238. La Trinité contains the communities of La Trinité, Ajoupa-Bouillon, Basse-Pointe, Le Gros-Morne, Le Lorrain, Macouba, Le Marigot, Le Robert and Sainte-Marie.
* Le Marin, the second subprefecture of Martinique, makes up the southern part of the island and is composed of twelve communes. In 2019, the population was 114,824. The subprefecture includes the communities of La Marin, Les Anses d'Arlet, Le Diamant, Ducos, Le François, Rivière-Pilote, Rivière-Salée, Sainte-Anne, Sainte-Luce, Saint-Esprit, Les Trois-Îlets, and Le Vauclin.
* Saint-Pierre is the third subprefecture of the island. It comprises eight communes, lying in the northwest of Martinique. In 2019, the population was 22,344. In addition to Saint-Pierre, its communities include Le Carbet, Case-Pilote-Bellefontaine, Le Morne-Rouge, and Le Prêcheur.

Representation of the State

The prefecture of Martinique is Fort-de-France. The three sub-prefectures are Le Marin, Saint-Pierre and La Trinité. The French State is represented in Martinique by a prefect (Stanislas Cazelles since 5 February 2020), and by two sub-prefects in Le Marin (Corinne Blanchot-Prosper) and La Trinité / Saint-Pierre (Nicolas Onimus, appointed on 20 May 2020).

The prefecture was criticized for racism following the publication on its Twitter account of a poster calling for physical distancing against the coronavirus and showing a black man and a white man separated by pineapples.

Institutions

The President of the Executive Council of Martinique is Serge Letchimy as of 2 July 2021.

The Executive Council of Martinique is composed of nine members (a president and eight executive councilors).

The deliberative assembly of the territorial collectivity is the Assembly of Martinique, composed of 51 elected members and chaired by Lucien Saliber as of 2 July 2021.

The advisory council of the territorial collectivity of Martinique is the Economic, Social, Environmental, Cultural and Educational Council of Martinique (Conseil économique, social, environnemental, de la culture et de l'éducation de Martinique), composed of 68 members. Its president is Justin Daniel since 20 May 2021.

National representation

Martinique has been represented since 17 June 2017, in the National Assembly by four deputies (Serge Letchimy, Jean-Philippe Nilor, Josette Manin and Manuéla Kéclard-Mondésir) and in the Senate by two senators ( Maurice Antiste and Catherine Conconne) since 24 September 2017.

Martinique is also represented in the Economic, Social and Environmental Council by Pierre Marie-Joseph since 26 April 2021.

Institutional and statutory evolution of the island

During the 2000s, the political debate in Martinique focused on the question of the evolution of the island's status. Two political ideologies, assimilationism and autonomism, clashed. On the one hand, there are those who want a change of status based on Article 73 of the French Constitution, i.e., that all French laws apply in Martinique as of right, which in law is called legislative identity, and on the other hand, the autonomists who want a change of status based on Article 74 of the French Constitution, i.e., an autonomous status subject to the regime of legislative specialty following the example of St. Martin and St. Barthelemy.

Since the constitutional revision of 28 March 2003, Martinique has four options:
* First possibility: the status quo, Martinique retains its status as an Overseas Department and Region, under Article 73 of the Constitution. The DROMs are under the regime of legislative identity. In this framework, the laws and regulations are applicable as of right, with the adaptations required by the particular characteristics and constraints of the communities concerned.
* Second possibility: if the local stakeholders, and first and foremost the elected representatives, agree, they can, within the framework of Article 73 of the Constitution, propose an institutional evolution such as the creation of a single assembly (merger of the general council and the regional council). However, the department and the region will remain. The government may propose to the President of the Republic to consult the voters on this issue. In case of a negative answer, nothing will be possible. In case of positive response, the final decision will be taken by the Parliament, which will finally decide whether the reform is carried out by passing an ordinary law.
* Third possibility: those elected may propose the creation of a new collectivity within the framework of Article 73 of the French Constitution. This new community will replace the department and the region. It will bring together the competences currently attributed to the General Council and the Regional Council. This community governed by Article 73 is subject to the regime of legislative identity and is therefore not autonomous. It will have as institutions an executive council, a deliberative assembly and an economic and social council.
* Fourth possibility: if a consensus is reached, the elected representatives may propose to the government a change of status, i.e., the transformation of Martinique into an overseas collectivity (COM). Indeed, since the constitutional revision of 28 March 2003, the overseas departments may, under Article 74, become an overseas collectivity (COM) like St. Martin and St. Barthélemy.

Unlike the overseas departments, the overseas collectivities are subject to legislative specialization. The laws and decrees of the Republic apply to them under certain conditions established by the organic law defining their status. The overseas departments have a greater degree of autonomy than the DOMs. They have an executive council, a territorial council and an economic and social council. The prefect is the representative of the French State in the overseas collectivity.

However, the French Constitution specifies in Article 72-4 that "no change may be made, for all or part of one of the communities mentioned in the second paragraph of Article 72-3, from one of the regimes provided for in Articles 73 and 74, without the prior consent of the electors of the community or part of the community concerned having been obtained, under the conditions provided for in the following paragraph.

In 2003, a new organization is envisaged, in which the regional and departmental institutions would be merged into a single institution. This proposal was rejected in Martinique (but also in Guadeloupe) by 50.48% in a referendum held on 7 December 2003.

On 10 January 2010, a consultation of the population was held. Voters were asked to vote in a referendum on a possible change in the status of their territory. The ballot proposed voters to "approve or reject the transition to the regime provided for in Article 74 of the Constitution". The majority of voters, 79.3%, said "no".

The following 24 January, in a second referendum, 68.4% of the population of Martinique approved the transition to a "single collectivity" under Article 73 of the Constitution, i.e., a single assembly that would exercise the powers of the General Council and the Regional Council.

New collectivity of Martinique

The project of the elected representatives of Martinique to the government proposes a single territorial community governed by Article 73 of the Constitution, whose name is "Territorial Community of Martinique". The single assembly that replaces the General Council and the Regional Council is called the "Assembly of Martinique". The Assembly of Martinique is composed of 51 councilors, elected for a six-year term of office by the proportional representation system (the electoral district is divided into four sections). A majority bonus of 20% is granted to the first place list.

The executive body of this community is called the "executive council", which is composed of nine executive councilors, including a president. The president of the community of Martinique is the president of the executive council. The executive council is responsible to the Assembly of Martinique, which may overrule it by a motion of constructive censure. Unlike the previous functioning of the General Council and the Regional Council, the Assembly of Martinique is separate from the Executive Council and is headed by a bureau and a president.

The new collectivity of Martinique combines the powers of the general and regional councils, but may obtain new powers through empowerments under Article 73. The executive council is assisted by an advisory council, the Economic, Social, Environmental, Cultural and Educational Council of Martinique.

The bill was approved on 26 January 2011, by the French Government. The ordinary law was submitted to Parliament during the first half of 2011 and resulted in the adoption of Law No. 2011-884 27 July 2011, on the territorial communities of French Guiana and Martinique.

Political forces

Political life in Martinique is essentially based on Martinican political parties and local federations of national parties (PS and LR). The following classification takes into account their position with regard to the statutory evolution of the island: there are the assimilationists (in favor of an institutional or statutory evolution within the framework of Article 73 of the French Constitution), the autonomists and the independentists (in favor of a statutory evolution based on Article 74 of the French Constitution).

Indeed, on 18 December 2008, during the congress of Martinique's departmental and regional elected representatives, the thirty-three pro-independence elected representatives (MIM/CNCP/MODEMAS/PALIMA) of the two assemblies voted unanimously in favor of a change in the island's status based on Article 74 of the French Constitution, which allows access to autonomy; this change in status was massively rejected (79.3%) by the population during the referendum of 10 January 2010.

Defence

The defence of the department is the responsibility of the French Armed Forces. Some 1,400 military personnel are deployed in Martinique and Guadeloupe – centred on the 33e régiment d'infanterie de Marine in Martinique and incorporating a reserve company of the regiment located in Guadeloupe.

Five French Navy vessels are based in Martinique, including: the surveillance frigates and , the patrol and support ship ''Dumont d'Urville'', the ''Combattante'' and the coastal harbor tug (RPC) ''Maïtos''. The naval aviation element includes Eurocopter AS565 Panther and Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin helicopters able to embark on the two ''Floréal''-class surveillance frigates as required. One ''Engins de Débarquement Amphibie – Standards'' (EDA-S) landing craft is to be delivered to naval forces based in Martinique by 2025. The landing craft is to better support operations in the territory and region.

About 700 National Gendarmerie are also stationed in Martinique.

Geography

Part of the archipelago of the Antilles, Martinique is located in the Caribbean Sea about northeast of the coast of South America and about southeast of the Dominican Republic. It is north of St. Lucia, northwest of Barbados and south of Dominica.

The total area of Martinique is , of which is water and the rest land. Martinique is the 3rd largest island in The Lesser Antilles after Trinidad and Guadeloupe. It stretches in length and in width. The highest point is the volcano of Mount Pelée at above sea level. There are numerous small islands, particularly off the east coast.The Atlantic, or "windward" coast of Martinique is difficult to navigate by ship. A combination of coastal cliffs, shallow coral reefs and cays, and strong winds make the area notoriously hazardous for sea traffic. The Caravelle peninsula clearly separates the north Atlantic and south Atlantic coast.
The Caribbean, or "leeward" coast of Martinique is much more favourable to sea traffic. Besides being shielded from the harsh Atlantic trade winds by the island, the sea bed itself descends steeply from the shore. This ensures that most potential hazards are deep underwater, and prevents the growth of corals.

The north of the island is especially mountainous. It features four ensembles of ''pitons'' (volcanoes) and ''mornes'' (mountains): the Piton Conil on the extreme North, which dominates the Dominica Channel; Mont Pelée, an active volcano; the Morne Jacob; and the Pitons du Carbet, an ensemble of five extinct volcanoes covered with rainforest and dominating the Bay of Fort de France at . Mont Pelée's volcanic ash has created grey and black sand beaches in the north (in particular between Anse Ceron and Anse des Gallets), contrasting markedly from the white sands of Les Salines in the south.

The south is more easily traversed, though it still features impressive geographic features. Because it is easier to travel to, and due to the many beaches and food facilities throughout this region, the south receives most of the tourism. The beaches from Pointe de Bout, through Diamant (which features right off the coast of Roche de Diamant), St. Luce, the department of St. Anne and down to Les Salines are popular.

Relief

The terrain is mountainous on this island of volcanic origin. The oldest areas correspond to the volcanic zones at the southern end of the island and towards the peninsula of La Caravelle to the east. The island developed over the last 20 million years according to a sequence of movements and volcanic eruptions to the north.

The volcanic activity is due to the subduction fault located here, where the South American Plate slides beneath the Caribbean Plate. Martinique has eight centres of volcanic activity. The oldest rocks are andesitic lavas dated to about 24 million years ago, mixed with tholeiitic magma containing iron and magnesium. Mount Pelée, the island's most dramatic feature, formed about 400,000 years ago. Pelée erupted in 1792, 1851, and twice in 1902. The eruption of 8 May 1902, destroyed Saint-Pierre and killed 28,000 people in 2 minutes; that of 30 August 1902, killed nearly 1,100, mostly in Le Morne-Rouge and Ajoupa-Bouillon.

The east coast, coast of the wind or of the islands, has been called in the Caribbean "''cabesterre''". This term in Martinique designates more specifically the area of La Caravelle. This windward coast, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, is directly exposed to the trade winds and the sea bottom. The northern part of the Grand River in Sainte-Marie is basically surrounded by cliffs, with very few mooring points; access to maritime navigation is limited to inshore fishing with small traditional Martinique boats.

Flora and fauna

The northern end of the island catches most of the rainfall and is heavily forested, featuring species such as bamboo, mahogany, rosewood and West Indian locust. The south is drier and dominated by savanna-like brush, including cacti, Copaiba balsam, logwood and acacia.

Anole lizards and fer-de-lance snakes are native to the island. Mongooses ('' Urva auropunctata''), introduced in the 1800s to control the snake population, have become a particularly cumbersome introduced species as they prey upon bird eggs and have exterminated or endangered a number of native birds, including the Martinique trembler, white-breasted trembler and White-breasted Thrasher. Bat species include the Jamaican fruit bat, the Antillean fruit-eating bat, the Little yellow-shouldered bat, Davy's naked-backed bat, the Greater bulldog bat, Schwartz's myotis, and the Mexican free-tailed bat.

Beaches

Martinique has many beaches: those in the south of the island have white sand, unlike those in the north which are of volcanic origin and therefore have black or gray sand.

Most of the beaches are wild, without services and without surveillance, but some are organized and enable water-sports and marine activities.

Hydrography

Due to the island's geographic and morphological characteristics, it has short and torrential rivers. The Lézarde, 30 km long, is the longest on the island.

Major urban areas

The most populous urban unit is Le Robert, which covers 11 communes in the southeastern part of the department. The three largest urban units are:

Economy

In 2014, Martinique had a total GDP of 8.4 billion euros. Its economy is heavily dependent on tourism, limited agricultural production, and grant aid from mainland France.

Historically, Martinique's economy relied on agriculture, notably sugar and bananas, but by the beginning of the 21st century this sector had dwindled considerably. Sugar production has declined, with most of the sugarcane now used for the production of rum. Banana exports are increasing, going mostly to mainland France. Chlordecone, a pesticide used in the cultivation of bananas before a ban in 1993, has been found to have contaminated farming ground, rivers and fish, and affected the health of islanders. Fishing and agriculture has had to stop in affected areas, having a significant effect on the economy. The bulk of meat, vegetable and grain requirements must be imported. This contributes to a chronic trade deficit that requires large annual transfers of aid from mainland France.

All goods entering Martinique are charged a variable "sea toll" which may reach 30% of the value of the cargo and provides 40% of the island's total revenue. Additionally the government charges an "annual due" of 1–2.5% and a value added tax of 2.2–8.5%.

Exports and imports

Exports of goods and services in 2015 amounted to €1,102 million (€504 million of goods), of which more than 20% were refined petroleum products (SARA refinery located in the town of Le Lamentin), €95.9 million of agricultural, forestry, fish and aquaculture products, €62.4 million of agri-food industry products and €54.8 million of other goods.

Imports of goods and services in 2015 were €3,038 million (of which €2,709 million were goods), of which approximately 40% were crude and refined petroleum products, €462.6 million were agricultural and agri-food products, and €442.8 million were mechanical, electrical, electronic and computer equipment.

Tourism

Tourism has become more important than agricultural exports as a source of foreign exchange. Most visitors come from mainland France, Canada and the United States. Roughly 16% of the total businesses on the island (some 6,000 companies) provide tourist-related services.

Agriculture

Banana

Banana cultivation is the main agricultural activity, with more than 7,200 hectares cultivated, nearly 220,000 tons produced and almost 12,000 jobs (direct + indirect) in 2006 figures. Its weight in the island's economy is low (1.6%); however, it generates more than 40% of the agricultural value added.

Rum

Rum, and particularly agricultural rum, accounted for 23% of agri-food value added in 2005 and employed 380 people on the island (including traditional rum). The island's production is about 90,000 hl of pure alcohol in 2009, of which 79,116 hl of pure alcohol is agricultural rum (2009).

Sugarcane

In 2009, sugarcane cultivation occupied 4,150 hectares, or 13.7% of agricultural land. The area under cultivation has increased by more than 20% in the last 20 years, a rapid increase explained by the high added value of the rum produced and the rise in world sugar prices. This production is increasingly concentrated, with farms of more than 50 hectares accounting for 6.2% of the farms and 73.4% of the area under production. Annual production was about 220,000 tons in 2009, of which almost 90,000 tons went to sugar production, and the rest was delivered to agricultural rum distilleries.

Pineapples

Pineapples used to be an important part of agricultural production. However, according to IEDOM, in 2005, they accounted for only 1% of agricultural production in value (2.5 million euros compared to 7.9 million in 2000).

Infrastructure

Transport

Martinique's main and only airport with commercial flights is Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport. It serves flights to and from Europe, the Caribbean, Venezuela, the United States, and Canada. See List of airports in Martinique.

Fort-de-France is the major harbour. The island has regular ferry service to Guadeloupe, Dominica and St. Lucia. There are also several local ferry companies that connect Fort-de-France with Pointe du Bout.

The road network is extensive and well-maintained, with freeways in the area around Fort-de-France. Buses run frequently between the capital and St. Pierre.

Roads

In 2019, Martinique's road network consisted of 2,123 km:
* 7 km of highway (A1 between Fort-de-France and Le Lamentin);
* 919 km of departmental and national roads
* 1,197 km of communal roads.

In proportion to its population, Martinique is the French department with the highest number of vehicle registrations.

In 2019, 19,137 new vehicles were registered in Martinique, i.e. 42 new vehicles were purchased per 1,000 inhabitants (+14 in five years), to the great benefit of dealers.

Public transport

The public entity "Martinique Transport" was created in December 2014. This establishment is in charge of urban, intercity passenger (cabs), maritime, school and disabled student transport throughout the island, as well as the bus network.

The first exclusive right-of-way public transport line in Martinique (TCSP), served by high service level buses between Fort-de-France and Le Lamentin airport, was put into service on 13 August 2018. Extensions to Schœlcher, Robert and Ducos are planned.

Ports

Given the insular nature of Martinique, its supply by sea is important. The port of Fort-de-France is the seventh largest French port in terms of container traffic. After 2012, it became the Grand Port Maritime Port (GPM) of Martinique, following the State's decision to modernize port infrastructures of national interest.

Air services

The island's airport is Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport. It is located in the municipality of Le Lamentin. Its civilian traffic (1,696,071 passengers in 2015) ranks it thirteenth among French airports, behind those of two other overseas departments (Guadeloupe – Pôle Caraïbes de Pointe-à-Pitre Airport, Guadeloupe, and La Réunion-Roland-Garros Airport). Its traffic is very strongly polarized by metropolitan France, with very limited (192,244 passengers in 2017) and declining international traffic.

Railroads

At the beginning of the 20th century, Martinique had more than 240 km of railways serving the sugar factories (cane transport). Only one tourist train remains in Sainte-Marie between the Saint-James house and the banana museum.

Communications

The country code top-level domain for Martinique is .mq, but .fr is often used instead. The country code for international dialling is 596. The entire island uses a single area code (also 596) for landline phones and 696 for cell phones. (596 is dialled twice when calling a Martinique landline from another country.)

Mobile telephony

There are three mobile telephone networks in Martinique: Orange, SFR Caraïbe and Digicel. The arrival of Free, in partnership with Digicel, was planned for 2020.45

According to Arcep, by mid-2018, Martinique is 99% covered by 4G.

Television

The DTT package includes 10 free channels: 4 national channels of the France Télévisions group, the news channel France 24, Arte and 4 local channels Martinique 1re, ViàATV, KMT Télévision. Zouk TV stopped broadcasting in April 2021 and will be subsequently replaced by Zitata TV, whose broadcasting is delayed following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Viewers in Martinique do not have free access to other free national channels in the DTT package in mainland France (TF1 group, M6 group, etc.).

Viewers in the French overseas territories also do not have free access to the public service cultural channel Culturebox, which is not broadcast locally on DTT.

The French-language satellite package Canal+ Caraïbes is available in the territory.

Telephone and Internet

In early 2019, Orange put into service "Kanawa", a new submarine cable linking Martinique to French Guiana.

Martinique is also connected by other submarine cables: ECFS (en), Americas-2 (en) and Southern Caribbean Fiber.

Demographics

Population

Martinique had a population of 349,925 as of January 2024. The population has been decreasing by 0.9% per year since 2013. There are an estimated 260,000 people of Martinican origin living in mainland France, most of them in the Paris region.

Ethnic groups

The population of Martinique is mainly of African descent generally mixed with European, Amerindian ( Carib), Indian (descendants of 19th-century Tamil and Telugu immigrants from South India), Lebanese, Syrian or Chinese. Martinique also has a small Syro- Lebanese community, a small Indian community, a small but increasing Chinese community, and the ''Béké'' community, descendants of the first European settlers.

The Béké population represents around 1% of Martinique's population, mostly of noble ancestry or members of the old bourgeoisie. In addition to the island population, the island hosts a mainland French community, most of which live on the island on a temporary basis (generally from 3 to 5 years).

Religion

About 90% of Martiniquans are Christian, predominantly Roman Catholic as well as smaller numbers of various Protestant denominations. There are much smaller communities of other faiths such as Islam, Hinduism and the Baháʼí Faith.

The island has 49 parishes and several historic places of worship, such as the Saint-Louis Cathedral of Fort de France, the Sacred Heart Church of Balata, and the Co-Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption, Saint-Pierre.

Catholic Church

Catholic parishes are present in each municipality and village of the territory. The island has the following places of worship classified as historic monuments:
* Saint-Louis Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint Louis) in Fort-de-France, erected in 1850 by a bull of Pope Pius IX, is currently the seat of the archdiocese of Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France since 1967.
* Church of the Sacré-coeur (Sacred Heart) in Balata
* Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption (Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption) in Saint-Pierre de la Martinique. The former church of Mouillage, located on the corner of Victor Hugo Street and Dupuy Street, in the Mouillage district of Saint-Pierre, was completed in 1956.
* Our Lady of the Assumption Church, in Sainte-Marie, a town in Martinique, dates to 1658.

The Archdiocese of Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France (Latin: archidioecesis Sancti Petri et Arcis Gallicae seu Martinicensis) is an ecclesiastical circumscription of the Catholic Church in the Caribbean, based in Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France, on the island of Martinique. The archdiocese of Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France is metropolitan and its suffragan dioceses are Basse-Terre and Pointe-à-Pitre and Cayenne.

Languages

The official language of Martinique is French, which is spoken by most of the population. The department was integrated into France in 1946, and consequently became French. Most residents also speak Martinican Creole (''Martinique Creole'', ''Kréyol Mat'nik, Kreyòl''), a form of Antillean Creole closely related to the varieties spoken in neighboring English-dominated islands of Saint Lucia and Dominica. Martiniquan Creole is based on French, Carib and African languages with elements of English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Also, unlike other varieties of French creole, such as Mauritian Creole, Martinican Creole is not readily understood by speakers of Standard French due to significant differences in grammar, syntax, vocabulary and pronunciation. It continues to be used in oral storytelling traditions and other forms of speech and to a lesser extent in writing.

French and Creole are in a diglossic situation in Martinique, where French is used in official dialogue and Martinican Creole is used in casual or familial contexts. Creole was a spoken language with a developed "oraliture"; it was not until the mid 20th century that it began to be written. Since then, decreolization of the language has taken place via the adoption of Standard French features, mostly unconsciously, but some speakers have noticed that they do not speak Creole like their parents once did.

Being an overseas department of France, the island has European, French, Spanish, Caribbean, Martinican, Black (African), Indian (Tamil) and Creole markers of identity, all being influenced by foreign factors, social factors, cultural factors and, as a reportedly important marker, linguistic practices. Martinican and Creole identities are specifically asserted through encouragement of Creole language and its use in literature, in a movement known as ''Créolité,'' that was started by Patrick Chamoiseau, Jean Bernabé and Raphaël Confiant. Martinican Creole used to be a shameful language, and it was not until the 1970s that it has been revalorized through literature and increasing code switching. People now speak Martinican Creole more often and in more contexts.

Speaking Creole in public schools was forbidden until 1982, which is thought to have discouraged parents from using Creole in the home. In collaboration with GEREC (''Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherches en Espace Créolophone'') Raphaël Confiant created KAPES KREYOL ( CAPES for Creole, ''Certificat d'aptitude au professorat de l'enseignement du second degré)'', which is an aptitude exam that allowed Creole teachers in secondary school. This debuted 9 February 2001. Recently, the education authority, ''Académie de la Martinique'', launched "Parcours Creole +" in 2019, a project trialling bilingual education of children in French and Martinican. Rather than being a topic to be learned itself, Creole became a language that classes were taught in, such as arts, math, physical activity, etc. Parents can also choose the "Parcours Anglais +", learning in classes conducted in French and English from kindergarten until their final year, as in the Creole + course. A "Parcours Espagnol +", where children learn in and with French and Spanish, is in the planning stages.

Though Creole is normally not used in professional situations, members of the media and politicians have begun to use it more frequently as a way to redeem national identity and prevent cultural assimilation by mainland France.

Linguistic features of Martinican Creole

Martinican Creole has general locative marking (GLM, also called general locative adposition, goal/source (in)difference and motion-to=motion-from). This means that source locations, final locations and static entity locations are expressed morphologically identically. Some West African languages that are possibly contributors to Martinican Creole also present GLM. Martinican Creole locative marking exists in 3 morphological types, including:

# spatial prepositions as free morphemes;
#* These include "''an''" (in), "''adan''" (inside), "''douvan''" (in front), "''anba''" (under) and "''anlè''" (on).
# spatial morphemes "a-", "an(n)-", and "o(z)-" bound to the noun on their right;
#* Only bare lexemes that depict certain locations will take on these particles
# phonologically null locative markers
#* In ambiguous sentences, these are added to polysyllabic city names

Culture

As an overseas ''département'' of France, Martinique's culture has blended the French, African and Caribbean influences. The city of Saint-Pierre (destroyed by a volcanic eruption of Mount Pelée), was often referred to as the "Paris of the Lesser Antilles". Following traditional French custom, many businesses close at midday to allow a lengthy lunch, then reopen later in the afternoon.

Today, Martinique has a higher standard of living than most other Caribbean countries. French products are easily available, from Chanel fashions to Limoges porcelain. Studying in the ''métropole'' (mainland France, especially Paris) is common for young adults. Martinique has been a vacation hotspot for many years, attracting both upper-class French and more budget-conscious travelers.

Cuisine

Martinique has a hybrid cuisine, mixing elements of African, French, Carib Amerindian and Indian subcontinental traditions. One of its most famous dishes is the Colombo (compare kuzhambu () for gravy or broth), a unique curry of chicken (curry chicken), meat or fish with vegetables, spiced with a distinctive '' masala'' of Tamil origins, sparked with tamarind, and often containing wine, coconut milk, cassava and rum. A strong tradition of Martiniquan desserts includes cakes made with pineapple, rum, and a wide range of local ingredients.

Literature

Sisters Jeanne Nardal and Paulette Nardal were involved in the creation of the Négritude movement. Yva Léro was a writer and painter who co-founded the Women's Union of Martinique. Anna Marie-Magdeleine wrote with her partner under the pseudonym Carbet.

Aimé Césaire is perhaps Martinique's most famous writer; he was one of the main figures in the Négritude literary movement. René Ménil was a surrealist writer who founded the journal '' Tropiques'' with Aimé and Suzanne Césaire and later formulated the concept of Antillanité. Other surrealist writers of that era included Étienne Léro and Jules Monnerot, who co-founded the journal ''Légitime Défense'' with Simone Yoyotte and Ménil. Édouard Glissant was later influenced by Césaire and Ménil, and in turn had an influence on Patrick Chamoiseau, who founded the Créolité movement with Raphaël Confiant and Jean Bernabé. Raphaël Confiant was a poetry, prose and non-fiction writer who supports Creole and tries to bring both French and Martinican Creole together in his work. He is specifically known for his contribution to the Créolité movement.

Frantz Fanon, a prominent critic of colonialism and racism, was also from Martinique.

Music

Martinique has a large popular music industry, which gained in international renown after the success of zouk music in the later 20th century. Zouk's popularity was particularly intense in France, where the genre became an important symbol of identity for Martinique and Guadeloupe.Ledesma and Scaramuzzo, pp. 289–303 Zouk's origins are in the folk music of Martinique and Guadeloupe, especially Martinican chouval bwa, and Guadeloupan gwo ka. There's also notable influence of the pan-Caribbean calypso tradition and Haitian kompa.

Film

Martinique has been the site for filming many films, including movies, TV shows, and documentaries. The Martinique Film Commission offers aid opportunities, including residence grants, writing assistance, development assistance and production assistance.

Symbols and flags

Martinique adopted a new flag on February 2, 2023, featuring a red triangle at the hoist and two horizontal bands of green and black. The flag of France is also flown alongside it as the country's parent country. A previous competition to create a flag in 2018 was annulled by the local administrative tribunal, but the island began a new public vote in 2022, with the hummingbird design being selected as the winner. However, the designer withdrew her design due to accusations of plagiarism, and the runner-up design, the rouge-vert-noir ("red-green-black"), was adopted. This flag is also the preferred symbol of Martinique's independence movement.

Image:Flag of the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique.svg, The Ipséité is a civil flag, designed for use in international cultural and sporting events to represent the territory
Image:MARTINIQUE TAEKWONDO DRAPEAU.svg, Flag sometimes used by Martinique in taekwondo competitions
Image:Snake Flag of Martinique.svg, A St Michael cross with white snakes. Also called the 'snake flag' of Martinique. Its use is sometimes controversial.
Image:Flag of the Front National de Libération de la Martinique.svg, Also called ‘red, green and black’, this flag is used by the independence movement.
Image:Flag-of-Martinique.svg, Flag of Martinique adopted on February 2, 2023

Image:BlasonMartinique.svg, Coat of arms based on the controversial 'snake flag'. Its use by the National Gendarmerie was ended in 2018.

Sport

Association football

The Martinique national football team is affiliated with CONCACAF, but not FIFA, so it does not play in World Cup Qualifiers, but can play friendly matches and CONCACAF tournaments such as the CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup. Since Martiniquais people are French citizens, they may choose to represent France in international competitions. Several French players also have had roots in Martinique although they were born or raised in France. Among the most famous include Thierry Henry, Eric Abidal, Raphaël Varane, Sylvain Wiltord and Loïc Rémy, all of whom represented France on multiple occasions and in Henry's case won the European Golden Boot twice. Henry and Varane also have won a FIFA World Cup each.

Martinique has its own soccer league known as the Ligue de Football de Martinique. The Martinique men's soccer championship, known as the Regional 1 (R1) – Trophée Gérard Janvion, is a premier local soccer competition in the territory. It is held annually in the form of a championship between fourteen amateur clubs between the months of September and May. The competition is organized by the Martinique Football League and, although the clubs in the league are affiliated with the French Football Federation, there is no promotion to the French national championships.

At the end of the twenty-six-day (two-stage) championship, the top four teams qualify for the Ligue Antilles, while the bottom three are relegated to the lower division, the Régionale 2.

Surf

The Martinique Surf Pro is an international surfing competition held every year in April in Basse-Pointe (Martinique). It was created in 2015 by two Martinicans, Nicolas Ursulet and Nicolas Clémenté and is organized by the Caribbean Surf Project (CSP).51 It is the only Caribbean competition in the World Surf League, the world surfing championship. It is part of the World Qualifying Series calendar, the entry league to the WSL's elite circuit, the Championship Tour.

Regattas

Le Tour de Yoles Rondes de Martinique is an annual sailing regatta, the island's largest sporting event, which takes place in late July and early August and is very popular with spectators.

The event is organized by the ''Fédération des yoles rondes''. Crews circumnavigate Martinique on a 180-kilometer course over eight stages. The race begins with a prologue time trial from the starting town.

The time trial determines the starting order of the first ten boats, and the time between starts is determined by the advantage of each boat over the next during the prologue; all Boats below the top ten start simultaneously. The next seven legs circumnavigate the island. The leg around the southern part of the island, starting in the commune of Le Diamant, passing through Sainte-Anne and finishing in Le François, is known as the Défi de l'Espace Sud (Southern Challenge Zone).

Handball

The Martinique Handball Championship, organized by the Martinique Handball League, concludes with the Poule des As (play-off) which determines the Martinique champion in the women's and men's categories. The Poule des As is a very popular event in Martinique, the pavilions are filled for the finals held at the Palais des Sports de Lamentin.

The highest division is the Pré-Nationale, equivalent to the Pré-Nationale (or even the Nationale 3) in metropolitan France. The champions of the Poule des As come every year to Metropolitan France to play in the finals of the French Handball Championships of N1, N2 and N3 Women, N2 and N3 Men Metropolitan/Ultra Marines.

The winners (female and male) of the Martinique Handball Cup, receive a reward of 10 000 Euros. The main players of the Martinique Handball Championship in recent years have been: Katty Piejos, Cédric Sorhaindo, Joël Abati.

Notable people

Below is a list of notable people born in Martinique, with at least one parent or grandparent born in Martinique, or who are living or have lived in Martinique.

Painters and sculptors

* Victor Anicet
* Jean-François Boclé
* Hector Charpentier
* Henri Guédon
* René Louise
* Joseph René-Corail, also known as Khokho

Film-makers, screenwriters, directors and actors

* Lucien Jean-Baptiste

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