Nations Online Logo
Nations Online
All Countries of the World
 Home to Continents to The Americas to Martinique

___ Martinique

Destination Martinique, a virtual travel guide to the Island of Flowers (Madinina). This page aims to give you a broad overview of Martinique's art, culture, people, environment, geography, history, economy and government.
Beside a country profile with facts and figures, the page contains links to sources which provide you with all the information you need to know about this Caribbean nation, e.g.: official web sites of Martinique, addresses of Martinique and foreign embassies, domestic airlines, city- and country guides with extensive travel and tourism information on accommodation, tourist attractions, events and more like weather information, maps, statistics and local newspapers from Martinique.

Bay of St. Piere, Martinique
Bay of St. Piere with Mount Pelee © Martinique.org
  

Department of Martinique

Country Profile


Flag of Martinique
Official Flag of Martinique
is the French tricolore.
  Inofficial Flag of Martinique
Inofficial Flag of Martinique

Background:
Martinique belongs to the Windward Islands, the southern group of the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies.
Colonized by France in 1635, the island has subsequently remained a French possession except for three brief periods of foreign occupation.

Timeline
June 15, 1502 Columbus lands at Carbet on the Caribbean side of the island.
1635 First French settlement under Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc.
1636 King Louis XIII permits the introduction of slaves to the French West Indies.
1685 Establishment of Colbert's "Black Code" which, in 60 articles, officially governs the lives of slaves until 1848.
1762 - 1848 Martinique is occupied several times by the British.
May 22, 1848 Abolition of slavery.
May 8, 1902 Eruption of Mt. Pelée destroying St.-Pierre. Fort-de-France becomes the capital.
March 19, 1946 Martinique acquires the status of a French department. Four deputies and 2 senators represent it.
1983 The Regional Council is established following the French decentralization laws of 1982.
(Source: Martinique Promotion Bureau - martinique.org)

Windward Islands: Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
 
where in the Caribbean is Martinique

Official Name:
Département d'outre-mer de la Martinique
short form: Martinique
int'l long form: Department of Martinique
alternative name: Madinina (flower island)

ISO Country Code: mq

Time:
Local Time = UTC -4h
Actual Time: Tue-May-13  10:18

Capital City: Fort-de-France

Other Cities: La Trinite, Le Marin, Le Robert, Le Vauclin, Marigot, Schoelcher, St. Pierre.

Government: Overseas Department of France.

Geography:
Location: Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean.
Area: 1 000 sq km
Terrain: Mountainous with indented coastline; dormant volcano.

Climate: Maritime tropical; moderated by trade winds; rainy season (June to October)

People:
Nationality: Martiniquais
Population: 433 000
Ethnic Groups: African and African-white-Indian.
Religions: Christianity 90%
Languages: French (official), Creole patois
Literacy: 98%

Natural resources: Touristy coastal scenery and beaches, cultivable land.

Agriculture products: Pineapples, avocados, bananas, flowers, vegetables, sugarcane

Industries: Construction, rum, cement, oil refining, sugar, tourism.

Exports partners: France 45%, Guadeloupe 28% (2000)

Imports partners: France 62%, Venezuela 6%, Germany 4%, Italy 4%, USA 3% (2000)

Currency: Euro (EUR)

Mount Pelee, Martinique
Mount Pelee, Martinique


Note: External links will open in a new browser window.

Official Sites of Martinique

Prefecture Région Martinique
The prefecture's official web site provides also some information about the island.

Département de la Martinique - Conseil Général
Department of Martinique - General Council (in French)


Région Martinique - Conseil Régional
Regional Council of Martinique.


L'Assemblée Martinique
The Martinique Parliament is a fiction. Visitors should be aware that the Assembly of Martinique described here is not a very institutional parliament. ( mostly in French)


Ministère de l'Outre-Mer
Site of the French ministry for the overseas territories.

Diplomatic Missions
Directory of French representations abroad (in French)
List of French diplomatic missions around the world.
Foreign Embassies and Consulates in France
Address list of Diplomatic Missions accredited in France.


Weather
Meteo Antilles
Antilles weather.

Maps
Map of Martinique, Dominica and Guadeloupe
Political Map of Martinique, Dominica and Guadeloupe.

Google Earth Google Earth Martinique
Zoomable satellite view of Martinique.
Google Earth Google Earth Fort-de-France
Zoomable satellite view of Martinique.

to Map of Central America and the Caribbean
Reference Map of Central America and the Caribbean. 

News

Caribbean Net News
Caribbean Net News with Caribbean and Martinique related news.
RFO Martinique
Radio Martinique has some regional news (in French).
 

 

Arts & Culture


Centre Martiniquais d'Action Culturelle
Martinique events (in French).

Madina
Cinema complex.

Musée Départemental d'Archéologie et de Préhistoire
Departmental museum of archaeology and prehistory (in French).
 
Martinique Carnival
Carnival Martiniquais © Martinique.org 

Business & Economy

The economy is based on sugarcane, bananas, tourism, and light industry. Agriculture accounts for about 6% of GNI and the small industrial sector for 11%.

Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de la Martinique
Official site of the Chamber (in French).


Transportation
Air Caraïbes
Serves destinations in the French Caribbean based in Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe.

Airport
Aéroport Martinique Aimé Césaire
Official website of Martinique's airport Aimé Césaire.

Ferry
Express des iles
Catamaran high speed link between Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique and Saint Lucia (in French)

Transit Martiniquais
Transit company of Martinique (in French)
 
 

Destination Martinique - Travel and Tour Guides

Discover Martinique: Mount Pelee, Fort-de-France, Saint-Pierre, Carnival, Beguine.
Links to accommodation, hotels, attractions, festivals, events, tourist boards, biking, cruising, diving, tours and much more.

Martinique Promotion Bureau
Official Martinique tourism web site (in French) but you can switch to
Martinique.org
Island guide by the US Martinique Promotion Bureau (in English).

Office du tourisme Trois-Ilets
Site of the tourism office of Trois-Ilets.

Mount Pelee
Site about Mount Pelee Vulcano
Tourist Martinique
Information about Martinique (in French).
Discover Martinique
An inspired guide to the island of Martinique.
Martinique Nature
Maps, webcams and pictures of the island also called Madinina.
Images de Martinique
A site with images of Martinique.


City Guides
Fort-de-France
Official site of the City of Fort-de-France.
Grand-Rivière
Site of the town of Grand-Rivière.
Mairie du Lamentin
Site of the municipality of Lamentin.
Comune Robert
Tourism site of the village of Robert.
Sainte Marie
Official website of the village of Sainte Marie.
 Books about Travel in Martinique

US books 

Travel Guides Martinique
   Travel Guides Martinique
   Guide de tourisme et voyages en Martinique (in French)
UK books  Martinique Travel Guides
fr books  Guide de tourisme et voyages en Martinique
German books  German Books: Reiseführer Martinique

Martinique Island
Landscape © Martinique.org

Education

L'universite des Antilles et de la Guyane - Martinique and Guyana
(in French)
 
 

Environment

Observatoire Volcanologique de la Montagne Pelée
Mount Pelee Volcano Observatory Website.

Eastern Caribbean Coalition for Environmental Awareness
Overall objective of ECCA's programme is to strengthen regional initiatives within the Eastern Caribbean, promote community based nature and heritage tourism, environmental education and to improve the conservation of island ecosystems.
 
 

History

Brief History of Martinique
 
 

Search

Annuaire Martinique
Martinique directory (in French)
Madinina
another Martinique directory (in French)
Martinique-online (in French)


Additional Information on Martinique

BBC News Country Profile: Martinique
Governments on the WWW: Martinique
LANIC - Martinique
Latin American Network Information Center
VICS - The Virtual Institute of Caribbean Studies
An Internet-based Institution for the Development and Study of the Caribbean Region and Its Peoples.
Open Directory Project: Martinique
Wikipedia: Martinique
The World Factbook -- Martinique
 
Travel Links
 Top Travel Destinations
 Maps of the World
 International Airlines
 
Popular Country Pages

Australia
Bhutan
Cape Verde
French Polynesia
Puerto Rico
Saint Lucia
Switzerland
US Virgin Islands

Updated Country Profiles
 Cambodia
 Ethiopia
 Seychelles
 Myanmar
 

Your comments and suggestions for this page:
Just type and submit, if you would like to get an answer, please include your email address:


  Writing about this country:
If you're interested in writing about this country for One World - Nations Online, submit your article.
  If you have relevant information about this country, please send us your comment
  If you know a site, that should be listed here, please suggest it.
  If you don't find what you are looking for please send me a request.


 
In Association with Amazon.com
Upgrade your knowledge, read a book!
search books by keywords:

 Google
Web nationsonline.org  
Support UNICEF Valid HTML 4.01!
Valid CSS
Other Countries and Territories in the Caribbean
Anguilla | Antigua and Barbuda | Aruba | Bahamas | Barbados | British Virgin Islands | Cuba | Dominica
Dominican Republic | Grenada | Guadeloupe | Haiti | Jamaica | Montserrat | Netherlands Antilles
Puerto Rico
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | Saint Lucia | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
| U.S. Virgin Islands

Countries of the World: A - C | D - G | H - L | M - P | Q - T | U - Z
Continents: Africa | The Americas | Asia | Australia/Oceania | Europe
The Martinique page was last modified on: Saturday, 15-Sep-2007 10:36:22 CEST


One World - Nations Online .:. let's care for this planet
Made to improve cross-cultural understanding and global awareness.
Site Map | Information Sources | Advertise with OWNO | Disclaimer: Privacy Policy, etc.
Contact: info@nationsonline.org | Copyright © 1998-2008 :: nationsonline.org