Martinique has a land area of 1,128 km2 (436 sq mi) and a population of 349,925 inhabitants as of January 2024.[4] One of the Windward Islands, it lies directly north of Saint Lucia, northwest of Barbados and south of Dominica. Virtually the entire population speaks both French (the sole official language) and Martinican Creole.[7]
It is thought that Martinique is a corruption of the Taíno name for the island (Madiana/Madinina, meaning 'island of flowers', or Matinino, 'island of women'), as relayed to Christopher Columbus when he visited the island in 1502.[8] According to historian Sydney Daney, the island was called Jouanacaëra or Iouanacaera by the Caribs, which means 'the island of iguanas'.[9]
Fort-de-France is the prefecture of Martinique. It takes up the central zone of the island. It includes four communes. In 2019, the population was 152,102. Besides the capital, it includes the communities of Saint-Joseph and Schœlcher.
[36]
one of the three subprefectures on the island, occupies the northeast region. It has ten communes. In 2019, the population was 75,238.[36] La Trinité contains the communities of La Trinité, Ajoupa-Bouillon, Basse-Pointe, Le Gros-Morne, Le Lorrain, Macouba, Le Marigot, Le Robert and Sainte-Marie.
is the third subprefecture of the island. It comprises eight communes, lying in the northwest of Martinique. In 2019, the population was 22,344.[36] In addition to Saint-Pierre, its communities include Le Carbet, Case-Pilote-Bellefontaine, Le Morne-Rouge, and Le Prêcheur.
Saint-Pierre
7 km of highway (A1 between and Le Lamentin) ;
Fort-de-France
919 km of departmental and national roads
Lighthouse of La Caravelle, Martinique1,197 km of communal roads.
(Cathédrale Saint Louis) in Fort-de-France, erected in 1850 by a bull of Pope Pius IX, is currently the seat of the archdiocese of Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France since 1967.
Saint-Louis Cathedral
Church of the Sacré-coeur () in Balata
Sacred Heart
Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption (Cathedral of ) in Saint-Pierre de la Martinique. The former church of Mouillage, located on the corner of Victor Hugo Street and Dupuy Street, in the Mouillage district of Saint-Pierre, was completed in 1956.
Our Lady of the Assumption
in Sainte-Marie, a town in Martinique, dates to 1658.
Our Lady of the Assumption Church
The Ipséité is a civil flag, designed for use in international cultural and sporting events to represent the territory.
Flag sometimes used by Martinique in taekwondo competitions.
A St Michael cross with white snakes. Also called the 'snake flag' of Martinique. Its use is sometimes controversial.
Also called ‘red, green and black’, this flag is used by the independence movement.
Flag of the Assembly of Martinique (Collectivité Territoriale de la Martinique).
In 1887, the artist lived in Martinique.[207] Gauguin painted the tropical landscape and the native women. The Paul Gauguin Interpretation Centre (former Gauguin Museum) is dedicated to his stay on the island.
Paul Gauguin
's seminal poem Cahier d'un retour au pays natal (Notebook of a Return to the Native Land) envisions the poet's imagined journey back to his homeland Martinique to find it in a state of colossal poverty and psychological inferiority due to the French colonial presence.[208][209]
Aimé Césaire
in 1890 published a travel book titled Two Years in the French West Indies, in which Martinique [Martinique Sketches] is its main topic; his descriptions of the island, people and history are lively observations of life before the Mont Pelée eruption in 1902 that would change the island forever. The Library of America republished his works in 2009 entitled Hearn: American Writings.[210][211]
Lafcadio Hearn
2009 French Caribbean general strikes
Bibliography of Martinique
Index of Martinique-related articles
Le Tour de Yoles Rondes de Martinique
List of colonial and departmental heads of Martinique
Regional Council of Martinique
Forster, Elborg, Robert Forster, and Pierre Dessailes – Sugar and Slavery, Family and Race: The Letters and Diaries of Pierre Dessailes, Planter in Martinique, 1808–1856.
Gerstin, Julian and Dominique Cyrille – Martinique: Cane Fields and City Streets.
Haigh, Sam – An Introduction to Caribbean Francophone Writing: Guadeloupe and Martinique.
Heilprin, Angelo – Mont Pelee and the Tragedy of Martinique.
Heilprin, Angelo – The Tower of Pelee. New Studies of the Great Volcano of Martinique.
Kimber, Clarissa Therese – Martinique Revisited: The Changing Plant Geographies of a West Indian Island.
Lamont, Rosette C. and Richard Miller – New French Language Plays: Martinique, Quebec, Ivory Coast, Belgium.
Laguerre, Michel S. – Urban Poverty in the Caribbean: French Martinique as a Social Laboratory.
Murray, David A. B. – Opacity: Gender, Sexuality, Race and the 'Problem' of Identity in Martinique.
Slater, Mariam K. – The Caribbean Family: Legitimacy in Martinique.
Tomich, Dale W. – Slavery in the Circuit of Sugar: Martinique and the World Economy, 1830–1848.
Watts, David – The West Indies: Patterns of Development, Culture, and Environmental Change Since 1492.
