The Collectivity of Saint Martin is an overseas collectivity of France in the West Indies in the Caribbean. With a population of 35,334 as of January 2017, it encompasses the northern 60% of the divided island. The southern 40% constitutes Sint Maarten, which has been a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 2010. It is the only place in the world where France borders the Netherlands.
About Collectivity of Saint Martin in brief
The Collectivity of Saint Martin is an overseas collectivity of France in the West Indies in the Caribbean. With a population of 35,334 as of January 2017 on an area of 53.2 square kilometres, it encompasses the northern 60% of the divided island. The southern 40% constitutes Sint Maarten, which has been a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 2010. Saint Martin was inhabited by Amerindian peoples for many centuries, with archaeological evidence pointing to a human presence on the island as early as 2000 BC. The island was named by Christopher Columbus in honour of St Martin of Tours because he first sighted it on the saint’s feast day on 11 November 1493. In 2007 Saint Martin became a territorial collectivity with its own Prefect and Territorial Council. In 2017 Saint Martin again devastated by a hurricane, causing widespread destruction across the entire island. It is the only place in the world where France borders the Netherlands.
To the north across the Anguilla Channel lies the British Territory of Anguillas. The highest peak on the whole island is Picis, which is also the highest peak in the French region of Marigot, lying west of the capital of Basses Basses. The region of Terres Basses is generally hilly, with the peak being Picis at 424 m above sea level. The northern half of the island forms the northern part of the French overseas région and département of Guadeloupe; the southern half forms the Dutch territory of SintMaarten. The French island of Saint Barthélemy and further south are the Dutch islands of Saint Eustatius and Saba Saba, and the British island of St Vincent and the Grenadines, which are all in the Leeward Islands. The Collectivity of Saint Martin occupies the island of Leeward islands, the southern part of which is the French territory of Saint-Martin and Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
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This page is based on the article Collectivity of Saint Martin published in Wikipedia (as of Jan. 04, 2021) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
