Martinique - Tropical Beauty with French Charm

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Caribbean Martinique

Martinique is a beautiful place for sailboat travelling

This island with an area of 1,106  square kilometres belongs to the Leeward Islands and to the Lesser Antilles. From Europe, one can get to this scenic place several times a week with some international airlines via Basel or Paris. Besides, Martinique is optimally integrated into the internal Caribbean air network. Cruise liners, mainly from the USA, regularly arrive at the harbour of Martinique‘s capital Fort-de-France. Merchant ships of Compagnie Générale Maritime, mostly carrying bananas, are leaving for Dieppe, Rouen, Bordeaux or Le Havre once a week.
 

From the North to the South, Martinique has a maximum length of approximately 60 kilometres. At the narrowest point, there are less than 10 kilometres between the both shores. The highest mountain is the Mont Pelé volcano in the North of the island which is 1,397 metres high and still active. The cliffy landscape of the island’s east coast is of particular interest to yachties. The western side has many beaches and is much less craggy than the East. Approximately 2,000 years ago, the island was supposedly inhabited by the tribe of the Arawak. Then, in 1493, none other than Christopher Columbus discovered this dreamlike spot. Nevertheless, he didn’t drop anchor there because he thought this was the legendary and very dangerous island Martinio housing the Amazons.

The name of the island can presumably be traced back to the Indian word Madinia which means „the flower island“. There are indeed plenty of flowers on Martinique. Orchids, lilies and many other tropical flowers are surpassing each other in their bewitching beauty. Besides, because of the indigenous and imported woody plants like mangroves, coconut and banana palms, mountain bamboo and mahogany, the island may  appear  to be a huge garden to some charter tourists. Since the 18th century, the island constitutes the center of French possessions in the Caribbean. In this context, it is interesting to know that Joséphine Tascher de la Pagerie was born in 1763 in Les Trois-Ilets, Martinique, and in 1796, she married Napoleon. In 1804, she eventually became the first Empress of the French.

The population of Martinique is composed of various ethnic groups which has a noticeable influence on the unique atmosphere of the island since different groups coexist peacefully here. With 560 people per square kilometre, Martinique is relatively densely populated. The capital and economic centre of the island  is Fort-de-France which is situated  on Martinique‘s west coast and has a population of 120,000 inhabitants. The central location of the city and its excellent roadstead offered optimal conditions for building a harbour which is now visited by many cruise liners and yachts of all descriptions.

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