Sint Maarten — map and facts

About Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, occupying the southern portion of the island of Saint Martin in the northeastern Caribbean. The capital is Philipsburg. Sint Maarten has a population of approximately 43,000 people, though this fluctuates considerably due to tourism and economic migration. The island is divided between Sint Maarten in the south, which is Dutch, and Saint-Martin in the north, which is a French overseas collectivity. Despite being part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Sint Maarten is not part of the European Union. It has its own government, parliament, and constitution, managing its own internal affairs, while the Netherlands handles defence and foreign policy. The economy is almost entirely dependent on tourism, with the island's international airport, Princess Juliana, being one of the busiest in the Caribbean. The US dollar is the de facto currency alongside the Netherlands Antillean guilder.

Geography and Landscape

The island of Saint Martin covers approximately 87 square kilometres in total, with Sint Maarten occupying the southern 34 square kilometres. The terrain is hilly and varied, with several peaks rising above the coastal areas, the highest point being Pic Paradis at 424 metres in the French portion. The coastline features numerous bays, lagoons, and beaches. Sint Maarten's most famous landmark is Maho Beach, located at the end of the runway of Princess Juliana International Airport, where aircraft pass at extremely low altitude, attracting visitors seeking the spectacle. Simpson Bay Lagoon, one of the largest lagoons in the Caribbean, straddles both the Dutch and French sides of the island. The climate is tropical and warm year-round, with a dry season from January to April and a wetter season from May to December. The island is vulnerable to Atlantic hurricanes, most destructively demonstrated by Hurricane Irma in September 2017.

History

The island of Saint Martin was inhabited by Arawak and later Carib peoples before European contact. Christopher Columbus sighted the island in 1493 and named it after Saint Martin of Tours. The Dutch and French both settled the island in the seventeenth century, and in 1648 the Treaty of Concordia divided the island between the two powers — a division that has persisted to the present day. The island changed hands several times during the colonial wars of the eighteenth century but ultimately returned to shared French and Dutch administration. Sint Maarten was part of the Netherlands Antilles from 1954 until 2010, when, following a referendum, it became a separate autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Hurricane Irma in 2017 caused catastrophic damage, destroying a large proportion of the island's buildings and infrastructure, and recovery efforts continued for several years thereafter.