Saint Martin (Dutch: Sint Maarten; French: Saint-Martin) is a tropical island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately 240 km (150 miles) east of Puerto Rico. The 98 km² (38 square-mile) island is divided roughly in half between France and the Netherlands; it is one of the smallest inhabited landmasses in the world that is divided between two nations. The southern Dutch half is called Sint Maarten and is part of the Netherlands Antilles; the northern French half is called Saint-Martin and is part of the French overseas région and département of Guadeloupe. Collectively, the two territories are known as, "St.-Martin/St. Maarten", "St. Martins", or simply, "SXM" (SXM is the IATA identifier for Princess Juliana International Airport, the island's main airport). Remarkably, neither of the two halves of Saint Martin warrants a separate FIPS PUB 10-4 territory code; they are presumably coded as GP (Guadeloupe) and NA (Netherlands Antilles).
The main towns are Marigot (French side) and Philipsburg (Dutch side).
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 inh. per km² in 2004.
Sint Maarten, the Dutch part of the island, has a land area of 34 km² (13.1 sq mi). At the 2001 Netherlands Antilles census, the population in Sint Maarten was 30,594, for a population density of 900 inh. per km². In 2004 the population of Sint Maarten was estimated at 33,119.
I lived there from october 1992 until april 2006.
ReplyDeleteSXM was in its heyday when these were taken. It has really gone to hell in a handbasket now. Too many cars, people, too much crime.
But, it was really something else back then, though. I loved it . . .
Yeah to this day, it was one of the best vacations I have taken. The same thing happened to Corfu,Greece, totally over run now with McDonald's, Hard Rock Cafe, etc..
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