Welcome to Sint
Maarten and St
Martin island on the Paradise
Islands website; an
island of two nations.
The island is divided in
two halves; the northern
half belongs to the
French and the southern
half belongs to the
Dutch and forms part of
the Netherlands Antilles.
The island was
originally named "Isla
de San Martin" by
Christopher Columbus
when he landed here in
1493 and claimed the
island for Spain. In
1648 the island was
divided (as it is now) and
during the following 160
years the whole island
was occupied by the
French, Dutch and
English (at least twice
each!) until in 1816 the
French and Dutch areas
resumed under the
original 'Treaty of
Concordia' agreement made
in 1648. |
|
 |
The Dutch
St Maarten (also
known as "Sint Maarten"
or "Eilandgebied Sint
Maarten") lies to the
south with it's capital
of
Philipsburg and a
population of around
50,000. The word Eilandgebied means
'island area' in Dutch
and it is part of the
Netherlands Antilles,
although there are plans
for Sint Maarten to
become a separate
country within the
Kingdom of the
Netherlands. The area occupied by
the Dutch is around 13
square miles.
Philipsburg is a popular
stopover with many
cruise lines operating
in the Caribbean and
tourism forms the
backbone of the island's
economy together with a
flourishing real estate
market in condominiums
and vacation homes.
English is spoken on the
Dutch side of the island
and the official
currency is the
Netherlands Antilles
Florin, but travellers
will have no problem
using US dollars. |
|
Grand
Case St Martin |
Orient
Beach St Martin |
The
French St Martin
(also known as
"St-Martin" or "Collectivite
de Saint-Martin") lies
to the north with it's
capital of Marigot,
occupying around 20
square miles of the
total island area and
with a population of
around 35,000. Unit 2007
the French section of
the island was
part of Guadeloupe as a
"commune" or overseas
region of France and
bizarrely part of the
European Union. Since
2007 it is a separate
overseas collectivity
(COM) of France together
with neighbouring St
Barthelemy.
Tourism is the main
economic activity and the
official currency is the
euro; however, as with
Sint Maarten and most of the Caribbean
region the US dollar is
widely accepted. The
native language is
French and St Martin is
less populated and
slightly larger than
it's Dutch neighbour. |
|
 |
This
shared island lies just under
200 miles due east of Puerto
Rico within the Leeward
island chain and it's close
neighbours include
the
island of Anguilla and St Barts
with the
Virgin Islands
just to the north west.
By air, travellers will
be arriving at the
Princess Juliana Airport
(located on the Dutch
side). Interestingly the
end of the runway is at
Maho Bay beach which has
become a holy grail for
die-hard aviation
enthusiasts who can
almost reach up a touch
the aircraft landing and
taking off. |
|
Final
approach! |
Philipsburg town beach |
|
For
cruise passengers, Philipsburg
(St Maarten) is the most
popular port for cruise
ships with a large
wharf. Marigot (St
Martin) has only one
cruise ship berth. |
|
Travel, holiday, vacation and photograph
guide to Sint Maarten / Saint Martin and the Caribbean. All text and images are Copyright
Paradise Islands
org 2008. 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 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Explore
Sint
Maarten
and St Martin |
|
 |
|
Philipsburg |
|
 |
|
Airport Maho Beach |
|
|
