 Facts at a Glance
Full country name: Department of Martinique
Area: 1080 sq km (421 sq mi)
Population: 400,000 (growth rate 1.1%)
Capital city: Fort-de-France (pop 100,000)
People: African descent (90%) French (5%), plus Indian, Syrian and
Lebanese
Language: French, French Creole patois, some English
Religion: Roman Catholic (90%), Seventh Day Adventist, Hindu, Jewish
Government: Overseas department of France
President: Jacques Chirac
 Environment
Martinique is a tiny island located in the eastern Caribbean. It's bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The island of Dominica is Martinique's neighbor to the north; St Lucia is to the south.
Roughly 65km (40mi) long and 20km (12mi) wide, Martinique has a terrain punctuated by hills, plateaus and mountains. The highest point is the 1397m (4582ft) Mont Pelée, an active volcano at the northern end of the island. The center of the island is dominated by the Pitons du Carbet, a scenic mountain range reaching 1207m (3959ft).
Martinique has lots of colorful flowering plants, with the type of vegetation varying with altitude and rainfall. Rainforests cover the slopes of the mountains in the northern interior, which are luxuriant with tree ferns, bamboo groves, climbing vines and hardwood trees like mahogany, rosewood, locust and gommier. The drier southern part of the island has brushy savanna vegetation such as cacti, frangipani trees, balsam, logwood and acacia shrubs. The island has lizards, possums, mongoose and venomous fer-de-lance snakes. Endangered birds include the Martinique trembler, white-breasted trembler and white-breasted thrasher.
Martinique excels in warm, sunny weather, averaging temperatures between 21°C (70°F) and 28°C (83°F) whether it's January or July. Measurable rain falls an average of 13 days a month in April, the driest month, and about twice as often in September, the rainiest month. Martinique's average humidity is high, ranging from 80% in March and April to 87% in October and November. The mountainous northern interior is both cooler and rainier than the coast.
 History
When Columbus sighted Martinique it was inhabited by Carib Indians who called the island Madinina, 'Island of Flowers.' Three decades passed before the first party of French settlers, led by Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc, landed on the northwestern side of the island. They built a small fort in 1635 and established a settlement that would become the island's first capital, Saint-Pierre. The following year, French King Louis XIII signed a decree authorizing the use of slaves in the French West Indies.
The settlers quickly went about colonizing the land and by 1640 had extended their grip south to Fort-de-France, where they constructed a fort on the rise above the harbor. As forests were cleared to make room for sugar plantations, conflicts with the native Caribs escalated into warfare, resulting in the forced removal in 1660 of those Caribs who'd managed to survive the fighting.
 Sugar high (22K)
The British took a keen interest in Martinique as well, invading and holding the island for most of the period from 1794 to 1815. The island prospered under British occupation; the planters simply sold their sugar in British markets rather than French. The occupation also allowed Martinique to avoid the turmoil and bloodshed of the French Revolution: by the time the British returned the island to France in 1815, the Napoleonic Wars had ended and the French empire was again entering a period of stability.
Martinique's most famous daughter is the Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon. Legend has it that upon her birth in 1763 in Trois-Ilets a soothsayer took one look at her and declared that one day she would become queen.
Not long after French administration was re-established on Martinique, sugar cane's golden era began to wane as glutted markets and the introduction of sugar beets in mainland France eroded prices. With less wealth, the aristocratic plantation owners lost much of their political influence, and an abolitionist movement led by Victor Schoelcher gained momentum. It was Schoelcher, the French cabinet minister responsible for overseas possessions, who convinced the provisional government to sign the 1848 Emancipation Proclamation that brought an end to slavery in the French West Indies.
In 1902, a blast from Mont Pelée (a still-active volcano) laid waste to Saint-Pierre with a burst of superheated gas and burning ash 40 times stronger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Only one of the town's 30,000 residents survived (and he was in jail). Saint-Pierre, long regarded as the most cultured city in the French West Indies, was eventually rebuilt. However, the capital was moved permanently to Fort-de-France and Saint-Pierre has never been more than a shadow of its former self.
In 1946 Martinique became an overseas department of France, with a status similar to those of metropolitan departments, and in 1974 it was further assimilated into the political fold as a region of France. Both of France's Caribbean outposts, Martinique and Guadeloupe, use French currency and stamps and fly the French flag. However, in recent years there have been increased rumblings for greater internal autonomy and separatist groups continue to organize.
 Economic Profile
GDP: US$4 billion
GDP per head: US$10,500
Inflation: 3.9%
Major industries: Tourism, rum, sugar cane, bananas, pineapples,
cut flowers
Major trading partners: France, UK, Guadeloupe, French Guiana
 Culture
Despite the ubiquitous French influence on Martinican culture, French-Indian Creole traditions dominate the island's cuisine, language, music and customs. Although French is the official language, most Martinicans also speak Creole, which grew out of the pidgin that early setters used to communicate with each other, and which also bears the traces of the many tongues spoken by African slaves.
The biguine (or beguine), an Afro-French dance music with a bolero rhythm, originated in Martinique in the 1930s. A more contemporary French West Indies creation, zouk, draws on the biguine and other French Caribbean folk forms. With its Carnival-like rhythm and hot dance beat, zouk has become as popular in Europe as it is in the French Caribbean.
A literary and philosophical movement known as Négritude emerged in the 1930s, largely through the writings of Martinican native Aimé Césaire, a poet and long-time mayor of Fort-de-France. Négritude strived to advance black social and cultural values and re-establish bonds with African traditions that had been suppressed by French colonialism.
Potters home away from home (26K)
 Events
Martinique has a spirited Mardi Gras Carnival during the five-day period leading up to Ash Wednesday each February/March. The streets fill with rum-fueled revelers and there are costume parades, music and dancing. Much of the activity is centered around La Savane in Fort-de-France. Saint-Pierre commemorates the 8 May eruption of Mont Pelée with live jazz and a candlelight procession from the cathedral.
Martinique has several major sporting events, including the Tour de la Martinique, a week-long bicycle race held in mid-July; the Tour des Yoles Rondes, a week-long race of traditional sailboats held in early August; and a semi-marathon around Fort-de-France in November. Music lovers can enjoy the biennial week-long Martinique Jazz Festival, held in December on odd-numbered years, or the guitar festival held on even-numbered years.
Public Holidays
1 January - New Year's Day
Easter Holidays - Good Friday, Easter Monday
Fortieth day after Easter - Ascension Thursday
Eighth Monday after Easter - Pentecost Monday
1 May - Labor Day
8 May - Victory Day
22 May - Slavery Abolition Day
14 July - Bastille Day
21 July - Schoelcher Day
15 August - Assumption Day
1 November - All Saints Day
11 November - Armistice Day
25 December - Christmas Day
 Facts for the Traveler
Visas: US and Canadian citizens can stay up to 3 months by showing proof of citizenship. Citizens of the European Union (EU) need an official identity card, valid passport or French carte de séjour. Citizens of most other foreign countries, including Australia, need a valid passport and a visa for France. A roundtrip or onward ticket is officially required of visitors.
Health risks: Sunburn, diarrhea
and intestinal parasites; bilharzia (schistosomiasis) can be present in
fresh water
Time: GMT/UTC -4 hours
Electricity: 220V, 50 Hz
Weights & Measures: Metric (see the conversion
table)
Tourism: Estimated 775,000 visitors per year
 Money & Costs
Currency: French franc (FF)
Relative costs:
Budget meal: US$5-10
Moderate restaurant meal: US$10-20
Top-end restaurant meal: US$20 and upwards
Budget room: US$65-125
Moderate hotel: US$125-250
Top-end hotel: US$250 and upwards
Budget travelers should expect to pay at least US$80 a day on Martinique, while you can keep a moderate budget from going much over US$150 by sticking to public transportation and a few picnic meals. Traveling in total comfort will run to US$300 a day or more for food and lodging, although you'll obviously spend more if you shop till you drop.
Hotels, larger restaurants and car rental agencies accept Visa (Carte Bleue) and MasterCard (Eurocard). For most other situations, you'll need to use francs. Avoid changing money at hotel lobbies, where the rates are worse than at exchange offices or banks. As in France, taxes and service charges are included in hotel rates and tips are usually included in restaurant bills.
 When to Go
Martinique is warm year-round, with temperatures usually peaking close to 30°C (around 85°F) during the day. Humidity is highest in September and lowest in April. The best time to go to Martinique is the slightly cooler, drier season of late winter to early spring (February to May). Note that this is also the peak tourist season and prices will be highest and attractions and lodgings most crowded.
 Attractions
Fort-de-France
Although it's the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the French West Indies, much of Fort-de-France's charm lies in its natural setting on the edge of the Baie des Flamands, framed by the Pitons du Carbet rising to the north. The city's mix of narrow bustling streets, parks, offices and turn-of-the-century buildings housing boutiques and cafes gives it a flavor owing as much to the sidestreets of Paris as it does to that of the Caribbean.
The city's focus is the Savane, a large park with fountains, tall palms and occasional open-air concerts. The city's other large waterfront space is the Park Floral, where you can shop for coconuts and other island-grown produce at the public market; there's also a fish market nearby.
Bibliothèque Schoelcher: Library, fraternité, egalité (23K)
Fort-de-France's interesting buildings include the Bibliothèque Schoelcher, an elaborate, colorful structure with a Byzantine dome. Designed by architect Henri Pick and built in Paris for the 1889 World Exposition, it was then dismantled, shipped to Fort-de-France and reassembled. Another Pick creation is the Cathédrale Saint-Louis, dating from 1895 and featuring fine stained-glass windows and a massive organ. Other places worth visiting include the Palais de Justice, a neoclassical 1906 courthouse resembling a French train station; the Musée Départemental d'Archéologie, which has displays on the island's Amerindian past; and the Aquarium de la Martinique, featuring a tropical river habitat.
Saint-Pierre
Once the 'Little Paris of the West Indies' and the capital of Martinique, Saint-Pierre soldiers on in the shadow of its cosmopolitan past and the nearby volcano which destroyed it nearly a century ago. Despite this disaster, Martinicans began rebuilding the city soon after the eruption, and much of Saint-Pierre, with its wrought-iron balconies and shuttered doors, still has a fin-de-siècle flavor. The Musée Vulcanologique displays such intriguing artifacts of the 1902 eruption as petrified rice and a blob of molten nails. If that isn't enough wreckage for you, stroll a short way to the ruins of the old theater, where you can mount the twin staircase and view what's left of the lower story.
Molten
moment, Saint-Pierre (20K)
Off the record
Anse Turin, a long gray-sand beach just south of Saint-Pierre, is the home of the Musée Paul Gauguin, shrine to one of the great post-impressionist painters. Browse memorabilia, letters and reproductions of Gauguin's paintings, including Bord de Mer I and L'Anse Turin - avec les raisiniers, which were painted on the nearby beach during Gauguin's five-month stay on Martinique in 1887.
Route de la Trace
The Route de la Trace follows a trail blazed by 17th-century Jesuits into the mountains north of Fort-de-France. It winds through a rainforest of tall tree ferns, anthurium-covered hillsides and clumps of bamboo, and along the eastern flanks of the volcanic mountain peaks of the Pitons du Carbet. Islanders like to say that the Jesuits' fondness for rum accounts for the road's many zigs and zags.
Less than a 10-minute drive out of the capital is the Balata Church, a scaled-down replica of the Sacré-Coeur Basilica in Paris. The view from this domed Roman-Byzantine church looks out across Fort-de-France to the Pointe du Bout resort area. A further 10-minute drive is the Jardin de Balata, a botanical garden in a rainforest setting laced with paths winding past tropical trees and flowers, including lots of ginger, heliconia, anthuriums and bromeliads.
It's a
bird... (26K)
Les Salines
If you want to hit the beach, head for the undeveloped southern tip of the island and lay down your towel at Les Salines, widely regarded as Martinique's finest strand. The arid climate here means that Les Salines is often sunny when other parts of the island are not. The beach attracts scores of visitors on weekends and holidays, but it's big enough to accommodate everyone without feeling crowded. Les Salines gets its name from Étang des Salines, the large salt pond that backs it. Beware of the poisonous manchineel trees (most marked with red paint) on the beach, particularly at the southeastern end.
 Off the Beaten Track
Sainte-Marie
One key to the history and culture of Martinique is its rum. When you've processed as much sugar as Martinique has, you end up with a lot of molasses - which tends to turn into rum if you let it sit around long enough.
The best place to start is the Musée du Rhum, just north of Sainte-Marie at the Saint-James Plantation distillery. There are displays of steam-powered sugar-making engines, rum stills and cane-crushing gears. There's also a tasting room where you can sample different rums; if you don't knock back too much you might still be capable of checking out the museum's sugar mill and distillery.
About 5km (3mi) north of Sainte-Marie is Fond Saint-Jacques, the site of an old Dominican monastery and sugar plantation dating from 1660. It was here that a Dominican friar modernized the distilling of rum. The chapel and most of the living quarters are still intact and there are many ruins on the grounds, including those of the mill, distillery basins, boiling house and sugar factory.
Anse Céron
A short scenic drive from Saint-Pierre, Anse Céron is a beautiful black-sand beach in a wild, jungle-like setting. Anse Céron is backed by coconut palms and faces Ilet la Perle, a rounded offshore rock that's a good diving spot.
Despite the remote location, the beach has a shower, toilets, picnic tables and a snack shop. A very steep one-lane drive continues for 1.5km (1mi) beyond the beach to access the start of a 6-hour, 20km (12mi) trail north to Grand Rivière.
Grand Rivière
Grand Rivière is an unspoiled fishing village scenically tucked beneath coastal cliffs at the northern tip of Martinique. Mont Pelée forms a rugged backdrop to the south, while there's a fine view of neighboring Dominica to the north.
Along the sea there's a fish market and rows of brightly painted fishing boats lined up on a little black sand beach. The waters are sometimes good for surfing at the western edge of town. While there's no road around the tip of the island there's a 20km (12mi) hiking trail leading to Anse Couleuvre, on the northwestern coast.
 Activities
Martinique's highlands offer great hiking within easy reach of Fort-de-France, particularly through the rainforest in the Pitons du Carbet or to the ruins of Château Dubuc on the Caravelle Peninsula. More strenuous trails lead up the flanks of Mont Pelée in the northwestern corner of the island and around the undeveloped northern coast.
Many of Martinique's nicest white or tan-sand beaches and best swimming are on the southwestern coast; the gray and black-sand beaches on the northeastern coast generally have dangerous water conditions. In the Trois-Ilets area, Anse-à-l'Ane and Anse Mitan both have sandy beaches that attract crowds. Popular east-coast beaches include Cap Chevalier and Macabou to the south and the Caravelle Peninsula beaches of Anse l'Étang and Tartane.
More than a dozen ships were sent to the bottom of Saint-Pierre Bay by the 1902 volcanic eruption, which makes it an excellent area for diving. Grand Anse, with its calm waters and good coral, is a popular dive spot for beginners. Cap Enragé, north of Case-Pilote, has underwater caves housing lots of fish and lobsters. Rocher du Diamant (Diamond Rock) also has cave formations but trickier water conditions. Ilet la Perle, a rock off the northwestern coast, is a good place to see groupers, eels and lobsters when water conditions aren't too rough. Snorkeling is good around Grand Anse and Sainte-Anne, and along the coast from Saint-Pierre to Anse Céron.
 Getting There & Away
France has the best access to Martinique. Air France, AOM, Air Liberté and Nouvelles Frontières have daily flights between Paris and Martinique. It's also easy to get to the island from the US. American Airlines flights from Miami, New York and Boston connect at San Juan in Puerto Rico; Air France flies directly from Miami. There's a 30FF departure tax when leaving Martinique, although some air tickets already have the tax included in the fare.
Within the Caribbean, Air Martinique, Air Guadeloupe and Air France fly between Martinique and Guadeloupe, St Martin and St Lucia. Antigua-based LIAT connects Martinique with the English-speaking Caribbean.
In addition to ferry connections between Martinique, Guadeloupe, Dominica and St Lucia, Compagnie Générale Maritime has a weekly cargo/passenger boat to France. Cruise ships land at Pointe Simon in Fort-de-France. Yachting is very popular in Martinique and there are numerous charter companies operating on the island.
All
aboard the ferry to Guadeloupe (25K)
 Getting Around
The best transportation option on Martinique is to rent a car. There are numerous car rental agencies at the airport that can set you up. Be aware that many companies offer a rate that adds on an extra charge for every km you drive. Your home driver's license is valid - as is driving on the right. Motorcycles can also be rented.
Public transportation, the cheapest transport option, consists of buses known as taxi collectifs. One of the most useful routes runs between Fort-de-France and Saint-Pierre. It runs frequently on weekdays, less frequently on Sunday, and takes about 45 minutes. Taxis are more convenient but considerably more expensive.
There are a couple of regular ferries (vedettes) running between the main resort area of Pointe du Bout and Fort-de-France, providing a good alternative to heavy bus and car traffic and city parking hassles - and they're quicker to boot.
Martinique's only commercial airport is in Lamentin, 9km (6mi) east of Fort-de-France. The airport is just a 10-minute ride from the capital and about 20 minutes from the Pointe du Bout resort area. Taxis are readily available at the airport but are expensive, so if you plan to rent a car during your stay consider picking it up at the airport. Because of the taxi union, there's no direct bus service from the airport.
 Recommended Reading
- Creole Folktales by Patrick Chamoiseau recounts stories the
author heard as a child growing up in Martinique. His novel Texaco,
which won the prestigious Prix Concourt, recounts the social history of
a shanty town in Martinique.
- Le Quatrième Siècle and Malemort by Martinican
native Édouard Glissant examine contemporary West Indian life against
the backdrop of slavery and colonial rule.
- Sugar and Slavery, Family and Race, is a collection of letters
and a diary by Pierre Dessalles, a planter in Martinique between 1808 and
1856.
- Aimé Césaire's Modernism and Négritude
is a must-have collection of poems by the long-term mayor of Fort-de-France.
- The Day the World Ended is an account of the Mt Pelée
eruption in 1902 by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan Witts.
 Lonely Planet Guides
 Travelers' Reports
 On-line Info
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