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Until the island was affected by Hurricane Irma in 2017 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which put a stop to cruising, tourism accounted for 80% of the economy and about four-fifths of the labor force was engaged in that sector. As an island in the Caribbean Sea, Saint Martin enjoys the kind of weather and natural geography that supports tourism.
Saint Martin (French: Saint-Martin; Dutch: Sint Maarten) is an island in Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the northeastern Caribbean, approximately 300 km (190 mi) east of Puerto Rico. The 87 km 2 (34 sq mi) island is divided roughly 60:40 between the French Republic (53 km 2 or 20 sq mi) [ 1 ] and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (34 km ...
Staysail schooner "Rich Harvest" The offshore off-licence is the name coined by the media to describe a 2004 venture to bring "tax- and duty-free" alcohol and cigarettes to Teesside, England, by selling the imported goods from a boat anchored just outside the UK's 12-mile limit. [1]
Sint Maarten (Dutch pronunciation: [sɪntˈmaːrtə(n)] ⓘ) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean region of North America. [8] With a population of 58,477 [9] [2] as of June 2023 on an area of 34 km 2 (13 sq mi), it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the northern 56% of the island constitutes the French ...
In 1939, St. Martin received a major boost when it was declared a duty-free port. The Dutch began focusing on tourism in the 1950s. It took the French another twenty years to start developing their tourism industry. Currently, tourism provides the backbone of the economy for both sides of the island.
Philipsburg was founded in 1763 by John Philips, a Scottish captain in the Dutch navy; the settlement soon became a centre of international trade. Two historic forts bear witness to Philipsburg's strategic importance in St. Maarten's history: Fort Amsterdam and Fort Willem. [2]
The French territory of St. Martin is part of the Diocese of Basse-Terre and Pointe-à-Pitre (in Latin, Dioecesis Imae Telluris and in French, Diocèse de Basse-Terre et Pointe-à-Pitre), attached to the organization of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese includes the territories of Guadeloupe, St. Barthélemy and St. Martin.
In 1994, France and the Netherlands signed the Franco-Dutch treaty on Saint Martin border controls, which improved the mutual border controls at their airports on the island. [11] Today there is a movement in both Sint Maarten and Saint Martin promoting the unification of the island, which would make the border between them disappear. [12]