The island of Martinique is one of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean.
Neighbouring islands are Dominica to the north and Saint Lucia to the
south. Martinique is - like Guadeloupe - a French overseas department
and as such is part of the EU. The island is dominated by the volcano
Mont Pelée, which erupted on May 8, 1902, completely destroying the city
of Saint Pierre and killing 30,000 people.
Martinique has a
north-south extension of 63km and is between 11 and 32km wide. The north
consists of relatively young volcanic rock. The 1397m high Pelée volcano
is still active. Together with the 1196m high Pitons du Carbet, it
dominates the northern half. While the south of the island consists of
older volcanic rock, the cones are rounded and flatter. The former
volcano Montagne Vauclin is just 504 m high. The Pétrifications savanna
in the far south is evidence of other volcanoes that have sunk into the
sea.
Between the north and south of the west coast, alluvial
areas near Lamentin and Rivière-Salée extend deep into the interior of
the country. Only in the southeastern coastal strip are there larger
coral reefs and many small and tiny islands offshore. In the
northeastern coastal section, the surf is so strong that swimming there
is life-threatening! The southwestern part has the most beautiful
beaches and is the tourist center.
Only about 20% of the
population still works in agriculture. Sugar cane cultivation has
decreased to 8,000 hectares. Bananas are now picked on many former sugar
plantations. In the north of the island, vegetable cultivation has
expanded greatly, and in the northeast there are larger pineapple
plantations.
Similar to France, strikes are common on the island,
leading to disruptions in public transport and the service sector.
The Martinique department includes the arrondissements
of Fort-de-France, La Trinité, Le Marin and Saint-Pierre.
In the
south of the island there are many beautiful beaches with many tourists.
In the north, the rainforests and the black sand beaches are worth
seeing. There is a large peninsula on the Atlantic side and on the
opposite side on the Caribbean Sea. On the Atlantic side near the town
of La Trinité, there is the little-developed, frayed Ile La Caravelle.
On the other side, south of the capital Fort-de-France, you can explore
the Trois-Ilets peninsula via a circular road. The interior of the
island is mountainous.
Anses-d'Arlet
Le Carbet
Le Diamant
Fort-de-France - Prefecture (capital)
Le François
Lamentin
Le
Marin - Sub-prefecture, holiday resort in the south with the largest
marina on the island
Le Precheur
Sainte-Anne
Sainte-Luce
Saint Pierre - Sub-prefecture, former capital until the eruption of Mont
Pelée
Schoelcher
La Trinité - Sub-prefecture
Trois-Ilets
The native Indians were, as on the other Caribbean
islands, Arawak Indians who were driven out by the warlike Carib
Indians. They called the island Madinina, the island of flowers. It was
rediscovered by Christopher Columbus in November 1493, but was not set
foot on until his fourth voyage on June 15, 1502, and he probably named
it after Saint Martin. The warlike Caribs prevented Europeans from
settling there for over 100 years. The Spanish, however, showed no
interest in the island.
In 1624, French shipwreck survivors
landed on the island. After their rescue, they reported on its beauty,
which sparked interest in it. But it was not until September 1635 that
the island was conquered by Pierre Belain d’Esnambuc, who landed between
Carbet and Saint-Pierre with around a hundred men and built Fort
Saint-Pierre. The Carib Indians offered fierce resistance. However, they
did not succeed in endangering the fort and its garrison. They had to
come to terms with the Europeans. D'Esnambuc's nephew, the Norman
Jacques du Parquet, ruled as governor of the island from 1637 to 1658
until his death. He succeeded in subjugating the Caribs and bringing
more settlers to the island. In 1636, a "Compagnie des Iles d'Amerique"
was founded on behalf of King Louis XIII. On October 31 of the same
year, the king granted permission to bring slaves from Africa to the
Caribbean to work in the sugar cane fields. However, it was not until
1640 that the first slaves arrived there. When this company went
bankrupt, du Parquet bought the island. Frenchmen who came from the
Tourraine region and from Normandy and other volunteers from Europe were
recruited as settlers and transported to the islands. They were mostly
small farmers who received a three-year work contract. By 1638 the
colonists had advanced as far as what is now Fort-de-France, where they
laid the foundation stone of Fort Saint-Louis. Dutch Jews, expelled from
Brazil by Catholic Portuguese, were given a new home on the island. They
brought with them the knowledge of bleaching sugar and helped the
plantations to quickly become rich. With the introduction of sugar cane,
the need for land increased sharply. The Carib Indians were pushed back
further and further and were completely expelled from the island by
1660.
In 1664 Jean Baptiste Colbert bought the island from
Parquet's successors. He founded the "Compagnie des Indes Occidentales"
on behalf of the French royal family. Ten years later this company was
also ruined and the island fell directly into the possession of the
king.
At the end of the 17th and mid-18th centuries, the Dutch
and English repeatedly attempted to conquer the island. The south of the
island in particular came under British rule in 1691, 1703 and 1759. In
1762, even the well-protected Fort Royal was bombarded by English
cannons.
Between 1794 and 1815, the island was completely under
British control. During this period, there was a major economic boom. In
the middle of the 18th century, 16,000 whites, 1,700 free people of
color and 60,000 slaves lived on Martinique. In 1763, the joint
administration with Guadeloupe was abandoned. In 1766 and 1780,
hurricanes swept across the island and caused great devastation, and in
1771 there was an earthquake. In 1783, the island became a crown colony.
During the French Revolution, the population was divided between
supporters of the new ideas and those loyal to the king, and violent
conflicts broke out.
After the slave trade was banned in 1815,
slavery was abolished completely on May 22, 1848. Over 72,000 slaves
became free French citizens overnight. This resulted in a shortage of
cheap labor that could only be partially compensated. Between 1854 and
1889, over 25,000 Indians were recruited to work in the sugar cane
fields. The increasing, cheap supply of European beet sugar led to the
great sugar crisis on the Caribbean islands between 1883 and 1890. The
price of cane sugar fell by half and many of the habitations
(plantations) became so financially straitened that they were bought up
by their creditor banks and industrial companies. On the island of
Martinique, plantation farming was concentrated on a few Béké families
such as Hayot and Despointes. The cane-cutting field workers felt the
economic pressure on plantation owners through drastic wage cuts, which
led to sporadic strikes. In February 1900, major uprisings broke out.
The workers gathered around Sainte-Marie and moved from factory to
factory. They were only stopped at Le François by the gendarmerie and
marines using firearms. At least ten people died and many were injured.
The resulting Rivière-Salée agreement brought the field workers a 50%
wage increase.
In May 1902, the volcano Mont Pelée erupted. At
first, only a light rain of ash fell on the town of Saint-Pierre, then
the crater lake poured into the valley of the Rivière Blanche and on May
8th there was a major eruption. A hot cloud of ash and lava destroyed
the town in a few seconds, killing all 30,000 inhabitants.
During
World War I, many islanders fought alongside France on the various
battlefields.
During World War II, the island was initially under
the administration of the Vichy government. From November 1942 to July
1943, the Americans established a naval blockade. The "Committee for
National Liberation", which had previously worked underground or in
DOMINICA, subsequently took power. After the end of the war, all French
overseas territories in the Caribbean became overseas departments and
thus part of France.
In 1949, the international airport in
Lamentin was opened.
In March 1964, the then President Charles de
Gaulle visited the island.
In 1982-83, President Mitterand
ordered an expansion of self-government by creating a regional council,
the Conseil Régional.
The Rocher du Diamant was known to the English as "His Majesty's Ship Diamant Rock" for 18 months during the Napoleonic Wars. This round, 176m high rock, about 2,000m off the coast, was equipped with several ship's guns and had a crew of 110 men. The French allegedly stranded some rum barrels on the island in order to recapture it on May 27, 1805. But the fact is that the English were shot to pieces here for three days by five French ships with a total of 148 cannons. Today there are only seabirds on the island. The fishermen can take you to the island. Swimming there is not possible due to very dangerous currents in the sea!
Sugar cane was grown on Martinique from 1660 onwards. The first
coffee plantations were established in 1723.
The area used to
grow sugar cane on the French Caribbean islands has also continued to
decline, particularly in recent decades. The cultivation of sugar beet
in Europe led to an oversupply of cane sugar. On the island of
Martinique, the farmers were doubly affected: in 1891 a hurricane raged
on the island, followed by a severe drought in 1895 and in 1902 the
volcano Mont Pelée erupted. Of the 21 sugar factories, only a third
survived these disasters. World War I and the Great Depression brought
further losses. Between 1930 and 1937, the number of small rum
distilleries fell from 155 to 120, and by 1939 there were only 25. While
7,000 hectares of sugar cane were planted on Martinique in 1970, by 1985
there were only 4,100 hectares. The harvest yield fell from 450,000 tons
to 226,000 tons in the same period and sugar production fell from 27,000
tons to 8,600 tons. There is only one large-scale operation on the
entire island, "usines centrales", which processes around 2,000 tons of
sugar cane into industrial alcohol and rum during the harvest season
from February to June. The sugar cane comes from the factory's own
plantations and from independent planters who grow the sugar cane on
small 1 to 3 hectare fields and sell it to the factory. Of the many
former plantations, only a few are still well preserved.
There
are also a number of small rum distilleries that have their own sugar
plantations of 20-200 hectares. Here, the sugar cane is still cut with a
machete out of a sense of quality and the “Rhum Agricole” is distilled.
One third of this is produced for local consumers, two thirds are
exported to France.
Martinique has been a French overseas department since March 19, 1946. The island is represented in the French parliament by four elected deputies and two senators. On Martinique, the French government is represented by a prefect who is appointed by the Minister of the Interior in Paris. The island is divided into 34 local government districts. The island parliament, the Conseil Général, has 45 seats. Elections are held every six years. The island is part of the European Union.
Airplane
The journey from Germany usually goes via Paris. As
Martinique is a French overseas department and is served by the
"domestic airport" Paris-Orly and flights from Germany usually go to
Charles de Gaulle airport, you usually have to change airports in Paris.
Thanks to the fast TGV and ICE connections to Paris, it is a good idea,
especially if you are coming from West Germany, to take the train to
Paris and fly directly. However, flights with a change in Paris can be
cheaper than direct flights from Paris. Condor flies to Martinique
directly from Frankfurt on Saturdays in winter, and the return flight
(also on Saturday) goes to Frankfurt with a short stopover via Barbados.
Ship
Martinique is connected to the neighboring islands of
Dominica, Guadeloupe and Saint Lucia by fast ferries - a good travel
option if you want to get to know more than one island.
As on all small Caribbean islands, Martinique also has a
well-developed bus network. These minibuses usually only run until dusk,
so you should think about your return journey in good time.
The
usual internationally known car rental companies are represented at the
airport and in the capital - but the cheapest prices can often be found
at smaller regional providers.
The car rental counters at the airport
are in the airport building (on the right as you come out of baggage
handling). Minibuses (so-called navettes) from the respective car rental
companies wait in front of the airport to take customers to the parking
spaces located a little further away.
The roads on Martinique are in
good condition.
The official language is French. The locals also speak Creole among themselves.
“Poupées Martiniquaises” black dolls in Creole costumes made of
Madras fabric
Basketry, straw hats, wall hangings
Jewelry made of
shells, coral and tortoise shell, shell necklaces
Jewelry made of
onyx (country of origin: Argentina)
Rum
Paté en Pot is a vegetable soup with bacon and lamb, seasoned with
bay leaves and cloves.
Les accras are meatballs made of fish, lobster
and crabs fried in oil, seasoned with garlic, thyme, allspice and
chives. Les crabes farcis is made from the meat of land crabs; it is
seasoned with garlic and allspice, slaked with coconut milk and mixed
with pureed avocado. Le blaff or Le court-bouillon are different types
of fish from the Atlantic and Caribbean Seas, steamed or grilled.
Poulet Créole is a baked or grilled chicken with a strongly spiced
sauce, a popular national dish.
Colombo de cabri or Colombo de porc
is goat or pork in a spicy Indian sauce.
For dessert, we recommend
Blanc-Manger, a dessert made from coconut and vanilla milk with cinnamon
and nutmeg.
The local beer is brewed in Lamentin, it is called Lorraine. This
brewery also produces Heineken beer and Pepsi Cola under license.
The
locals often mix their own rum punch. If you mix lime juice, rum and
sugar cane syrup to your own taste, it is called "ti-punch".
Planteur
(Planter's Punch) is mixed for tourists from rum and fruit juices to
make a pleasant long drink; every bartender has his own recipe.
P'tit
Punch is mixed on the French Caribbean islands from "Rhum Agricole",
which is clear rum distilled from the juice of freshly harvested sugar
cane; if only diluted with water, you get "Grappe Blanche". If the rum
is stored in oak barrels with the addition of molasses, this results in
"Rhum vieux". This can be aged for up to 15 years and is drunk like
cognac. Another rum drink is "Creole shrubb", a liqueur made from old
rum, orange juice and bitter oranges.
Maison Rousse. Small family hotel (4 rooms) in Fonds Saint Denis in the middle of the north of the island. Fantastic location off the road in the middle of the countryside. Friendly owners who also run the small restaurant. Located directly on the "Le Canal des Esclaves" hiking trail. (Status: 12/2004).
Crime is not very common, but valuables should still be left in the hotel safe.
Sunscreen with a high sun protection factor should be used. The risk of sunburn is particularly high on boat trips that involve swimming. The European health insurance card is accepted in all French overseas departments.
The dry season is from January to April, while the months of July to December are known as the rainy season. The island is in the area of cyclones, which regularly cause major damage.