Saint Martin (French: Saint-Martin; Dutch: Sint
Maarten) is an island in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately 300 km (190 mi) east of
Puerto Rico. The 87-square-kilometre (34 sq mi)
island is divided roughly 60/40 between the French Republic (53 km2, 20 sq mi)
and the Kingdom of the Netherlands
(34 km2, 13 sq mi), but the two parts are roughly
equal in population. The division dates to 1648. The southern Dutch part
comprises Sint Maarten and is one of four
constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The northern
French part comprises the Collectivity of Saint Martin
and is an overseas collectivity of
France. As part of France proper, the French part of the island is part of the European Union. The island is also known for having an airport
runway 10/28 extremely close to the beach. On 1 January 2009, the population of
the whole island was 77,741 inhabitants, with 40,917 living on the Dutch side,
and 36,824 on the French side.
Collectively, the two territories are known
as "St-Martin / St Maarten", or sometimes "SXM", the IATA
identifier for Princess Juliana
International Airport, the island's main airport. St. Martin (the
French portion) received the ISO 3166-1 code MF in October 2007. The
Dutch part changed in status to a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands
in 2010 and was given the code SX. On 23 March 1648, the Kingdom of France and the Dutch Republic agreed to divide the island between their two
territories, with the signing of the Treaty of Concordia. The
main cities are Philipsburg (Dutch side)
and Marigot (French side). The
Dutch side is more heavily populated. The largest settlement on the entire
island is Lower Prince's Quarter, on
the Dutch side.
The highest hilltop is the
Pic Paradis (424 metres (1,391 ft)) in the centre of a
hill chain on the French side. Both sides are hilly with large mountain peaks.
This forms a valley where many houses are located. There are no rivers on the
island, but many dry gullies. Hiking trails give access to the dry forest covering tops and slopes. The island is located
south of Anguilla, separated from the British territory by the Anguilla Channel. Saint Martin is northwest of Saint Barthélemy,
separated from the French territory by the Saint-Barthélemy Channel.
These covers posted by Denise during her holidays in St.Martin. The covers posted on July 07, 2016 and I received them on July 28, 2016.
The main post office building in Marigot, St.Martin - French part.
The main post office building in Marigot, St.Martin - French part.
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