Saint Martin (France)

Infobox Country
native_name = "Collectivité de Saint-Martin"
common_name = Saint Martin (France)
conventional_long_name = Collectivity of Saint Martin

national_anthem = "La Marseillaise"
official_languages = French
capital = Marigot
government_type =
leader_title1 = President of France
leader_title2 = Prefect
leader_title3 = President of the Territorial Council
leader_name1 = Nicolas Sarkozy
leader_name2 = Dominique Lacroix
leader_name3 = Franz Gumbs
largest_city = Marigot
sovereignty_type = Overseas Collectivity
sovereignty_note = of France
established_event1 = Island divided between France and the Netherlands
established_event2 = as separate Overseas Collectivity
established_date1 = 23 March 1648
established_date2 = 22 February 2007
area_km2 = 53.2
area_sq_mi = 20.5
area_rank = not ranked
area_magnitude = 1 E8
percent_water = negligible
population_estimate_rank = not ranked
population_estimate = 33,102
population_estimate_year = Oct. 2004
population_census = 29,078
population_census_year = March 1999
population_density_km2 = 622
population_density_sq_mi = 1,612
population_density_rank = not ranked
HDI = n/a
HDI_rank = n/a
HDI_year =2003
HDI_category =unranked
currency = Euro (€)
currency_code = EUR
time_zone =
utc_offset = -4
time_zone_DST =
utc_offset_DST = -3
cctld = .mf assigned but not in use, .fr and .gp in use

Saint Martin (French: "Saint-Martin"), officially the Collectivity of Saint Martin (French: "Collectivité de Saint-Martin"), is an overseas collectivity of France located in the Caribbean. It came into being on February 22, 2007, encompassing the northern parts of the island of Saint Martin and neighbouring islets, the largest of which is Île Tintamarre. The southern part of the island, Sint Maarten, is part of the Netherlands Antilles.

Politics and government

Saint Martin was for many years a French commune forming part of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas "région" and overseas "département" of France and is therefore in the European Union. In 2003 the population of the French part of the island voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe in order to form a separate overseas collectivity (COM) of France. [cite news
first =
last =
author = Staff reporter
coauthors =
title = French Caribbean voters reject change
url = http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2003/12/09/voters.htm
format = HTML
work =
publisher = Caribbean Net News
pages =
page =
date = 2003-12-09
accessdate = 2007-02-09
language = english
quote = However voters on the two tiny French dependencies of Saint-Barthelemy and Saint-Martin, which have been administratively attached to Guadeloupe, approved the referendum and are set to acquire the new status of "overseas collectivity".] On February 9, 2007, the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both the French part of Saint Martin and neighbouring Saint Barthélemy. [cite news
first =
last =
author = Staff reporter
coauthors =
title = Saint-Barth To Become An Overseas Collectivity
url = http://www.st-barths.com/jsb/pdf_files/weekly107.pdf
format = PDF
work =
publisher = St. Barth Weekly
pages =
page = 2
date = 2007-02-09
accessdate = 2007-02-09
language = english
quote = ] The new status took effect when the law was published in the Official Journal on February 22, 2007. [ [http://www.newmedia-fr.info/ixm_ixpnews.php?file=article&story_id=21579 Les élections du futur conseil territorial font débat - Politique - Nouvelles sur Newmedia.fr - New Media : Infos Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane, Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthelémy, Caraïbes - Infos Newmedia.fr ] ] Saint Martin remains part of the European Union, as explicitly stated in the Treaty of Lisbon. [citeweb|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:306:0042:0133:EN:PDF|title=Treaty of Lisbon, Article 2, points 287 and 293|accessdate=2008-01-31] Saint Martin is the most westerly point of the EU.

The new governance structure befitting an overseas collectivity took effect on July 15, 2007 with the first session of the Territorial Council (French: "Conseil territorial") and the election of Louis-Constant Fleming as president of the Territorial Council. On July 25, 2008 Fleming resigned after being sanctioned by the Conseil d'État for one year over problems with his 2007 election campaign [cite news
first =
last =
author = Staff reporter
coauthors =
title = Louis-Constant Fleming démissionné par le conseil d’Etat
url = http://www.fxgpariscaraibe.com/article-21561959.html
format =
work =
publisher = fxgpariscaraibe
pages =
page =
date = 2008-07-28
accessdate = 2008-08-17
language = french] . On August 7, Frantz Gumbs was elected as President of the Territorial Council [cite news
first =
last =
author = Staff reporter
coauthors =
title = Frantz Gumbs elected new president of Collectivité
url = http://news.caribseek.com/Sint_Maarten/The_Daily_Herald/article_68029.shtml
format =
work =
publisher = The Daily Herald
pages =
page =
date = 2008-08-08
accessdate = 2008-08-17
language =
quote = Frantz Gumbs, formerly president of Union Pour le Progrès (UPP) party, swept into power as new president of the Collectivité at an extraordinary meeting of the Territorial Council on Thursday after winning the 23-councillor vote with a clear majority over Marthe Ogoundélé-Tessi.] .

Before 2007, Saint Martin was coded as GP (Guadeloupe) in ISO 3166-1. In October 2007, it received the ISO 3166-1 code MF (alpha-2 code), MAF (alpha-3 code), and 663 (numeric code). [ISO 3166-1 Newsletter. [http://www.iso.org/iso/newsletter_vi-1.pdf Assignment of code elements for Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin and update of France and other French Territories] ]

Demographics

The French part of the island has a land area of 53.20 km² (20.5 sq mi). At the October 2004 supplementary French census, the population in the French part of the island was 33,102 (up from only 8,072 inhabitants at the 1982 census), which means a population density of 622 inhabitants per km² in 2004.

Economy

The official currency of Saint Martin is the euro, though the US dollar is also widely accepted. Tourism is the main economic activity.

INSEE estimated that the total GDP of Saint Martin amounted to 421 million euros in 1999 (US$449 million at 1999 exchanges rates; US$599 million at Oct. 2007 exchange rates).fr icon cite web| url=http://www.insee.fr/fr/insee_regions/guyane/publi/PIB_IDN.pdf| title=Estimation du PIB de Saint-Barthélemy et de Saint-Martin| author=INSEE, CEROM| format=PDF|accessdate=2007-11-13] In that same year the GDP per capita of Saint Martin was 14,500 euros (US$15,500 at 1999 exchanges rates; US$20,600 at Oct. 2007 exchange rates), which was 39% lower than the average GDP per capita of metropolitan France in 1999. In comparison, the GDP per capita on the Dutch side of the island, Sint Maarten, was 14,430 euros in 2004. [Total 2004 GDP of Sint Maarten ( [http://www.cbs.an/SNA/SNA93%20P12B.asp] ) divided by the number of inhabitants in 2004 ( [http://www.cbs.an/population/population_b2.asp] ), then converted from Netherlands Antillean gulden to euro by using the 2004 exchange rate.]

Maps

ee also

* Culture of St. Martin
* History of St. Martin
* Saint Martin, the island itself
* "O sweet Saint-Martin's Land" (bi-national song/anthem of Saint-Martin/Sint-Maarten)
* List of Sint Maarten governors

References

See also

*CIA World Factbook link|rn|Saint Martin