ABSTRACT
The island of Martinique is situated in the Lesser Antilles, 25km to the south of Dominica and 37km to the north of St Lucia. Area (including islets): 1,100sq km (425sq miles); capital: Fort-de-France; population: 422,277 (2002 estimate), 95% of African descent and 5% European; official language: French (a Creole patois is also widely spoken); religion: Roman Catholic 95%. Constitution: Martinique became an Overseas Department of France in 1946. It elects four deputies to the National Assembly and two to the Senate. Members of the Conseil Régional and the Conseil Général agreed proposals for greater autonomy in June 2001 which would lead to the creation of a collectivité territoriale governed by a single 41member Assembly elected for a five-year term. In March 2003 the French parliament agreed to submit these proposals to a referendum. History: French settlement in the island began in 1635 and was initially strongly resisted by the indigenous Caribs. The Carib name for the island, Madinina, may have suggested the dedication to St-Martin. The island was soon covered with sugar plantations worked by slaves imported from Africa. Slavery was abolished at the time of the French Revolution, but restored by Napoleon, whose first wife, Joséphine (Marie-Josèphe Tascher de la Pagerie), came from Martinique. The sugar economy was devastated by the catastrophic eruption of Mont Pelée in 1902, which destroyed the former capital, StPierre, and all but one of its inhabitants. It recovered to some extent in the aftermath, but bananas became a more important source of revenue. In 1946 the Governor was replaced by a Prefect and an elected Conseil Général, which was given enhanced powers in 1960.
