|
Welcome to Martinique on the Paradise
Islands website.
Martinique is the most
northern of the Windward
Islands, 15 miles south
of
Dominica and 23 miles
north of
St Lucia. The
island is an overseas
department of France;
French speaking, part of
the European Union and
with the euro as the
official currency.
Creole patois is also
spoken widely and
English is not commonly
spoken by locals. The
main industry is tourism
and island is popular
with French travellers
and it has a limited
number of direct
flights, other than from
Paris. |
|
 |
|
The
island was discovered by
Columbus in 1493 but he
did not land on the
island until his 4th
voyage in 1502, when it
was decided by the
Spanish not to occupy
the island. Martinique
remained in the hands of
the Carib people for
another 133 years until
the French arrived in
1635 and settled in the
northwest region (now
known as St Pierre).
Apart from a few
occupations by the
British, the island has
essentially remained in
French hands for most of
the last 4 centuries and
in 1974 was granted the
status of a French
region. |
|
Mount
Pelee Volcano |
Fishing
Harbour |
|
Martinique is a volcanic
island and has a
mountainous interior
with lush rain forests
and black sand beaches
in the north. Mount
Pelee which is the
highest peak at 1,397
metres erupted in 1902
killing some 30,000
people and destroying
the town of Saint Pierre
(the volcano is now
dormant). In the south
there are beautiful
beaches popular with
tourists. The capital is
Fort-de-France on the
west coast of this
fairly large island (50
miles long and 22 miles
wide) with a total
population of over
400,000. |
|
 |
|
Popular
sights and destinations
include the town of
Sainte-Anne in the south
with easy access to the
white sandy beaches
including the most
famous beach Le Salines.
Balata with is pretty
church and Jardin de
Balata. The lookout at
Macouba; the fishing
village of Tartane and
the marina at Le Marin. |
|
Travel, holiday, vacation and photograph
guide to Martinique and the Caribbean. All text and images are Copyright
Paradise Islands
org 2009. All photographs on this website are obtained with
the permission of the owners and come from various sources
including the islands tourist boards. Some of our own images
maybe reproduced with permission - please see notes
attached to each image to avoid any copyright penalty.
Home
|
About Us |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
