Originally called Martinica by Christopher Columbus, who spent 3 days there refilling his water casks, bathing and washing laundry when he landed there on 15 June 1502, Martinique is an overseas region of France (formerly a part of its colonial empire) located in the Windward Island chain in the Caribbean south of Dominica (Guadeloupe, meanwhile, is North of Dominica). The capital of the territory was originally St.-Pierre, but the volcano of Mont Pelée erupted in the 8th of May, 1902, obliterating the city and killing over 30,000, with refugees arriving in Dominica by boat. The only survivor in St.-Pierre was a convict, Ludger Sylbaris, who was saved by the thick walls of his prison cell. As a result, the capital shifted to Fort-de-France, which remains the capital to this day. The majority of the current population is of Sub-Saharan African descent due to the slave trade.
Martinique was a major topic of one of the only battles set in North America in World War II, the Battle of the Caribbean. Martinique was officially pro-Vichy France until mid-1943, and relations between it and the United Kingdom deteriorated following the Second Armistice at Compiègne, with the territory seen as a possible base for Axis ships, and the US preparing plans for an invasion by an expeditionary force to capture the island, with the US and Britain establishing several blockades. 286 tons of gold from the Bank of France that were originally intended for Canada were also rerouted there and kept in Fort Desaix. In return for the Allies not bombarding and invading the French Antilles, Admiral Robert agreed to keep the French fleet stationed there immobilized, and Free French sympathizers eventually took control of the gold at Fort Desaix and the French fleet in 1943 as Admiral Robert returned to France.
Notable people from Martinique:
- Joséphine de Beauharnais, first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte and, for a time, Empress consort of the French, was born in Martinique, in a family of békés (creole word for descendants of white French colonists).
- Author, poet and politician Aimé Césaire, founder of the Négritude movement.
- Actor/voice actor Thierry Desroses (the French voice of Samuel L. Jackson) was born in France from Martinican parents.
- News anchor and TV show host Audrey Pulvar.
- TV show host Sabine Quindou, co-host of the science show C'est pas sorcier.
- The parents of rapper Didier Morville aka JoeyStarr of Suprême NTM fame came from Martinique.
The Martiniquan flag
goes into detail about Martinique's unusual struggles in finding a flag to adopt.
The French national anthem
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Government
- Overseas department under a unitary semi-presidential republic
- President of Executive Council: Serge Letchimy
- Capital and largest city: Fort-de-France
- Population: 375,053
- Area: 1,128 km
- Currency: Euro (€) (EUR)
- ISO-3166-1 Code: MQ
