Martinique

= = =Martinique=

Martinique is an island in the Caribbean Sea. Similarly to Guadeloupe, Martinique serves as an overseas region of France, which has 26 regions in all. As it is a part of France, Martinique is part of the European Union, and its currency is the Euro. Martinique's official language is French, though some speak Creole. All of Martinique's inhabitants are official French citizens and are entitles to all of the benefits of French citizenship. They must also follow French laws.

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Martinique has a total combined area of 1,128 square kilometers (that equals roughly 436 square miles).
Its geographic coordinates are 14°40'N 61°00'W, and it lies just southeast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Martinique is slightly more than six times larger in mass than Washington, DC in the United States of America.

Other Figures
Total Coastline Area: 350 kilometers. Climate Type: Tropical; frequented by trade winds and rainy seasons. Ecological Crises: None listed as of 3/13/2011. Natural Hazards: Dormant Volcano, Cyclones every eight years and a disaster every five years (on average). Land Use: Arable Land 8%, Perm. Crops 8%, Perm. Pastures 17%, Forests 44%, Other 23% as of 1993.

The Capital of Martinique is Fort-De-France. It lies on the western side of the Island. The overall population of Martinique is 429,510 as of 1993.

The tallest mountain of Martinique is Mount Pelée at 1,397 meters. Mount Pelée is actually an active volcano. It lies to the north of the island. The majority of Martinique is made up of forested mountain regions.

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History
Martinique was originally inhabited by the Arawaks and Caribs. In the year 295AD, Mount Pelée erupted and decimated most of the island's population. However, around 400AD, the Arawaks returned and repopulated the island, followed by the Caribs around 600AD.

In 1493, Christopher Columbus came to the island, but didn't land his ships there until 1502 (his fourth voyage to the island in all). The Spanish, however, ignored the island, as they had put their interests in other areas of the New World.

The 17th Century
In 1635, Cardinal Richelieu created the //Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique// (Company of the Islands of the Americas). This group occupied Martinique and began to govern the island on the behalf of the French. On September 1st, Pierre Bélain d'Esnambuc occupied the island with 80-100 French settlers. Any resistance they encountered was subdued easily due to the superior armor and weaponry that the French were carrying with them.

After falling ill and dying the following year, d'Esnambuc left the island under the control of his nephew, Jacques Dyel du Parquet. By 1636, the colony had upwards of 700 inhabitants. They grew crops such as manioc and potatoes, as well as rocou, indigo, tobacco, cacao and cotton. Because of the value of these exotic goods and the rate at which traders arrived at the island, Martinique grew moderately prosperous during the 1600's.

//Slavery in Martinique//
In 1636, King Louis XIII signed the //Traite des Noirs//, which legalized slavery in the colony. This was important, as at the point at which the document was signed, Martinique's main export was sugar, the process by which it was gathered being very labor intensive. The treaty also legalized the forcible removal of Africans to be sent to Martinique as slaves. Ever since, Creolization has been a main theme of the culture of Martinique.

Originally, the settlers of Martinique were peasants and indentured servants who came to the island for the sun and a relatively easy life. However, though they were only required to work for three years before being granted their own land, few of them survived to that point. Constant immigration was therefore required.

The 18th Century
During the Seven-Years' War in the 1700's, Britain captured Martinique. The island was under British control from 1762-1763. The sugar trade made the island so valuable to the French that during the signing of the Treaty of Paris (which ended the Seven-Years' War), they relinquished //all// of Canada to regain Martinique.

The 19th Century
In the 1800's, Martinique suffered from several major natural disasters. In 1839, a 6.5-measuring earthquake killed over 700 people and almost totally destroyed Fort Royal. Fort Royal was rebuilt out of wood, severely decreasing damage from quakes, but also severely increasing the risk for fire damage. In 1848, François Auguste Perrinon became head of the Committee of Colonists of Martinique. Perrinon was the head of the abolitionist movement as well. On April 27th, the French Empire abolished slavery. However, the news did not reach Martinique until June 3rd, by which point it had already been abolished by Claude Rostoland. The imprisonment of a slave had caused a revolt, and Rostoland had abolished slavery in order to quell the revolt. At this time, Fort Royal had become Fort-de-France.

The 20th Century
On May 8, 1902, Mount Pelée destroyed Saint Pierre, killing nearly all of the 29,000 inhabitants that lived there. The only survivors were a shoemaker and a prisoner who was saved due to the design of his jail cell, which only had one window, the rest of the walls shielding him from the ash and fire. Saint Pierre had been the commercial capital of the island, and held four banks. The title of Capital was transferred to Fort-de-France while the town was rebuilt.

In 1903, a hurricane hit Martinique, killing 31 people. Another massive earthquake in 1906 caused further damage to the sugar plantations, but there were no deaths.

In 1913, France sent 1,100 military officers and recruits to Martinique to begin training for the upcoming World War. When the War finally came about, 18,000 Martiniquans took part in the fighting, but only 1,306 people died. The French used Martinique's sugar for their rum, and this helped re-boost the dwindling economy.

In 1921-22, the global market for sugar crashed. Because of this, Martinique introduced bananas as another main crop.

In 1945, Aimé Césaire became the Mayor of Fort-de-France. He was a member of the Communist Party. He was mayor for 56 years. However, after the Hungarian Communist Repression of 1956, he became disillusioned and quit the Communist Party. In 1947, the High Court of Justice in Versailles gave him a sentence of 100 years of hard labor after being tried for collaboration. However, he received a pardon in 1957 after six months of work.

In 1946, the French National Assembly changed Martinique from a colony into a department along with Guadeloupe, Réunion and French Guiana.

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