Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island and an Overseas department and region, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of ...

is a small Caribbean island which is an overseas department/region and

single territorial collectivity A single territorial collectivity (french: collectivité territoriale unique) is a chartered subdivision of France that exercises the powers of both a region and a department. This subdivision was introduced in Mayotte in 2011, in French Guia ...

of France. An integral part of the

French Republic France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Martinique is located in the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc bet ...

of the West Indies in the eastern

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. It has a land area of and a population of 376,480 inhabitants as of January 2016. One of the

Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea Nor ...

, it is directly north of

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindi ...

, northwest of

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate ...

and south of Dominica. Martinique is also an Outermost Region (OMR) of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

and a special territory of the European Union; the currency in use is the

euro The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

. Virtually the entire population speaks both French (the sole official language) and

Martinican Creole Antillean Creole (Antillean French Creole, Kreyol, Kwéyòl, Patois) is a French-based creole that is primarily spoken in the Lesser Antilles. Its grammar and vocabulary include elements of Carib, English, and African languages. Antillean Cre ...

. Given its geography, the balance of its

transport network A transport network, or transportation network, is a network or graph in geographic space, describing an infrastructure that permits and constrains movement or flow. Examples include but are not limited to road networks, railways, air routes ...

is unusual: there are three airports, only 2.5 km of

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

, and 2,105 km of paved highways (in 2000). Sea transport is also important, and there are two harbours at

Fort-de-France Fort-de-France (, , ; gcf, label= Martinican Creole, Fodfwans) is a commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. It is also one of the major cities in the Caribbean. Hi ...

and La Trinité.

Road transport

As of 2000,

had 2,105 km of paved highways. There is a part of the N5 road that has been upgraded as a motorway, running from the capital

through

Lamentin Lamentin ( Guadeloupean Creole: ) is a commune in the French overseas department and region of Guadeloupe. It is part of the agglomeration of Pointe-à-Pitre, in the north part of Basse-Terre. Three islets are included in the commune: Christoph ...

, Ducos and

Rivière Salée The Rivière Salée (in its upper course: ''Rivière les Coulisses'') is a river of Martinique. It flows into the Caribbean Sea near the town Rivière-Salée Rivière-Salée (, literally ''Salty River''; Martinican Creole: , or ) is a town and ...

until Les Coteaux.

Rail transport

Martininique has now⁽²⁰¹⁸⁾ only one railway line in operation: The little-known 2.5 km long

Le Train des Plantations Le Train des Plantations of the Les Rails de la Canne à Sucre association is a long, privately owned heritage railway with Usine Sainte-Marie's (USM's) original gauge of in Sainte-Marie in Martinique. Location The narrow gauge train runs ...

is a heritage railway that runs from the Rhum Museum in Sainte-Marie through some sugarcane and banana plantations over two Bailey bridges to the Banana Museum. In former times several narrow gauge sugarcane railways existed. Saint-Pierre had horse-drawn trams, which had an unusually narrow gauge. At least two steam locomotives are preserved in an optically refurbished condition, but not operational.

Air transport

It has three airports, the main one being

Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport international de Martinique-Aimé-Césaire, ) is the international airport of Martinique in the French West Indies. Located in Le Lamentin, a suburb of the capital Fort ...

. See List of Airports in Martinique.

References

Transport in Martinique Rail transport in Martinique {{Martinique-stub