Saint Martin, also called Sint Maarten in Dutch, is an island in the Caribbean Sea. It is part of the Lesser Antilles island group. The island is about 34 square miles (88 square kilometers) in area. The northern part, accounting for about three-fifths of the island, is an overseas collectivity (administrative unit) of France. The French collectivity is typically written as St.-Martin. Its capital is Marigot. The southern part is an autonomous (self-governing) country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its capital is Philipsburg. Until 2010, the southern part of the island belonged to the Netherlands Antilles, which was a largely autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
About 79,000 people inhabit the island of St. Martin. Most are of African origin, the descendants of people taken there in the 1600’s to work as slaves on sugar cane plantations. Dutch is the official language, but most people use English as their common language. Tourism is the mainstay of the economy.
In 1631, the Dutch became the first Europeans to settle on the island of St. Martin. The island was highly prized for its natural salt-bearing lakes. It changed hands many times among the Spanish, Dutch, and French. In 1648, the French and Dutch agreed to share the territory. In 2017, Hurricane Irma devastated the entire island of Saint Martin, killing eight people and causing $3 billion in property damage.
See also Netherlands Antilles .
