Martinique

Martinique is an overseas department and region of France in the Windward Islands of the eastern Caribbean, between Dominica and Saint Lucia. Fort-de-France is the capital, French is the sole official language, and nearly everyone also speaks Martinican Creole.

The Saladoid people came from the Orinoco basin in the 1st century AD, and the Kalinago arrived from the Venezuelan coast around the 11th century. Columbus charted the island in 1493 and landed on 15 June 1502 after his fastest Atlantic crossing. Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc arrived from St. Kitts on 15 September 1635 with French settlers, founded Fort Saint-Pierre and claimed the island for Louis XIII.

Sugar plantations made the colony rich; today most of the sugarcane goes into rum, and bananas, sent mainly to mainland France, are the main crop. After World War II the writer Aimé Césaire founded the Progressive Party of Martinique and pushed for independence.

Martinique is part of the European Union and uses the euro, though it is outside the Schengen Area. The whole island and its waters became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2021, and in September 2023 the volcanoes and forests of Mount Pelée and the Pitons du Carbet joined the World Heritage list. Grey and black volcanic sand lines the beaches of the north, while Les Salines in the south has white sand, and Diamond Rock rises off the southern coast. Saint-Pierre, the first French town, was the capital until Fort-de-France took over in the early 20th century, and ferries link the island with Guadeloupe, Dominica and Saint Lucia. The international airport is named after Aimé Césaire.