La Martinique
French research project 2014
Géographie
La Martinique is an island in between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and north of Trinidad and Tobago. It's tiny 1,100 square km and 350km coastline is home to 1,397m high mountains, A big river (literally called 'La Grande Rivière'), and currently inactive volcanoes. It is also 44% woodlands and forests.
Culture & Histoire
With a population of about 401,000 (compared to a 4.077 million in Melbourne alone), the amount of residents are few, but Martinique always has visiting tourists and is built surrounding tourism and vacation getaways, with a large selection of hotels and resorts. The language is officially French, although Creole Patois is widely used. The island is very reliable on france for legal systems, currency and national profits. The religion is mostly Catholic, the ethnic group is mostly African-White-Indian mixture, and the people of the islands are known as Martiniquais. Every year, Martinique holds many festivals, including May in Saint Peirre, which commemorates the lives lost from the valcano eruption in 1902, Sainte Marrie Culinary week, which celebrates Martinique's unique history and traditions surrounding food, and fête de la musique, which celebrates the islands many flavours in music. Martinique's history is like many developed countries, and was first Visited by Columbus (a Spanish explorer) in about 1502, but the island was ignored and left alone. Then, in 1635, when the French, who had promised the native Caribs the western half of the island, established a settlement. The French proceeded to eliminate the Caribs and later imported African slaves as sugar plantation workers.
On visite!
Martinique has a wide range of holiday accommodations, ranging from small, comfortable inns to four star hotels. These include Tourist apartments, rural cottages, country inns, family vacation villages, resort hotels, and furnished lodgings. Also, it is legal to camp almost anywhere in La Martinique, including mountain ranges, forests and woodlands, and most beaches. Activities include hiking (climb up the volcanic peak of Mount Pelee), swimming, snorkelling, scuba diving, sailing, windsurfing, golf, and tennis. Expect to spend at least US $80.00 a day on Martinique. Food is cheaper than on most of the other Caribbean islands but accommodation costs are higher. There are no low budget accommodations. Martinique is approximately 8 hours by plane from Paris.
Faites pour Amusement!
1. Napoleon’s bride, Empress Josephine, was born and raised in Martinique
2. In 1902, Mount Pelèe erupted, destroying Saint-Pierre, which was once the largest city on the island
3. The island has a devastating hurricane every 8 years on average
4. There is an unemployment rate of 23%
5. It often exports pineapples, avocados, bananas, flowers, vegetables, and sugarcane.