According to Countryaah website, Martinique has around 375,000 residents.
Ethnic composition
Since numerous African slaves were deported to the island as a result of the colonization by France, the proportion of blacks and mixed race is 90% of the population. Whites are still in the minority at 5%. The Indian share of the population is 3%, while the smallest ethnic groups at 2% include Chinese, Syrians and Lebanese.
Religious
affiliation The largest proportion of the population, around 85%, belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. Around 11% of the people are Protestant and mainly belong to the Adventist Church and the rest are Islamic or Hindu.
National languages
French is the national language of the department of Martinique, the official language is mainly spoken in the boardrooms of politics, economics and trade, while the local population mainly speaks on Creole. Créole is spoken by a total of seven to ten million all over the world, in the Caribbean, partly in the southern states in the USA and on the islands of the Indian Ocean. The historical background is the French colonial era, the slaves who had been abducted from all parts of Africa had to communicate with each other and with their masters so that they learned the basic terms of French, which was simplified in the vocabulary in the pronunciation and in the grammar. Later on, expressions from other languages such as Spanish and English were added.
For example, although patois is spoken on the neighboring island of Dominica, which is characterized by many English vocabulary, the Creoles of Martinique can communicate with those of Dominica without any problems. It is also interesting that Creoles from the French West Indies can communicate with Creole-speaking people in the southern states of the USA and the Creoles from Mauritius, the Seychelles and La Réunion.
Capital, other cities
The capital of Martinique is Fort-de-France with about 100,000 residents. This makes the city the largest in the entire Caribbean.
Other cities are:
Le Lamentin with around 36,000 residents
Schoelcher with around 21,000 residents
Sainte-Marie with around 20,000 residents
Trois Ilets with around 1700 residents
Le François with around 18,500 residents
Saint-Joseph with around 16,000 residents
Ducos with around 15,500 residents
Riviere-Pilote with around 13,000 residents
St. Pierre with around 6,000 residents
Martinique: geography
Boundaries, area and land use
Martinique has no direct border neighbors. About 40 km north is Dominica and about 35 km south is St. Lucia. Check topmbadirectory for politics, flags, famous people, animals and plants of Martinique.
Martinique covers an area of 1,128 km²
ForestThe island is heavily forested, in the north the rainforest dominates the landscape up to an altitude of 1,000 m, which later changes into the cloud forest. Towards the coast it turns into dry forest. On the west side you can find cacti, acacias and agaves.
Meadow and pasture land Around 2% of the land is used as meadow or pasture land
Fields and fields Around 11% of the land is used as arable land or fields, especially for growing pineapples, sugar cane, avocados, bananas, flowers and vegetables.
SwampThere are small mangrove swamps in front of the south coast.
MountainsThe island is of volcanic origin, even today the north of the country is criss-crossed with numerous mountains and small volcanoes.
Coastline
Martinique has a coast to the Caribbean and the Atlantic with a length of around 350 km.
Tidal range in Fort de France
In Fort de France, the mean tidal range is around 1 m.
For detailed explanations of ebb and flow, see Tides, Ebb and Flow
Compare
The world’s highest tidal range is found in the Bay of Fundy in Canada, where it is up to 16 m, with spring tide even over 20 m. The Bay of Fundy is located on the Atlantic between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, which is called Nova Scotia in German and whose capital is Halifax. On the German North Sea coast it varies between 1 m and 3 m. In the western Baltic Sea, on the other hand, the tidal range is only 0.3 m, while it is barely noticeable in the eastern Baltic Sea.
Longitude and latitude
Martinique extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):
Δφ = from 14 ° 23 ‘to 14 ° 52’ north latitude Δλ = from 60 ° 52 ‘to 61 ° 14’ west longitude
You can find detailed information on this subject under: Geographical longitude and latitude
Legal time
The following value applies to Central European Time (CET), i.e. the time without summer time. A minus sign means that it is earlier there and a plus sign that it is later than after CET:
Δt (CET) = – 5 h
Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under: Time zones, time, date line.
Highest point of the sun in Fort de France
The capital of Martinique, Fort de France, is located at a northern latitude of around φ = 14 ° 30` = 14.5 °, in the middle of the tropics. If the declination δ of the sun has the value of 14 ° 30` N, and thus the image point of the sun is exactly above the city or island, the sun is perpendicular there. This happens exactly twice a year, roughly 35 days before the 21/22. June and then again 35 days after the 21./22. June.
Attention
If the image point of the sun and thus the declination δ is north of the latitude of Fort de France, the sun is not in the south at noon, as in our latitudes, but in the north. In this case, the sun moves from east to north to west, where, like us, it sets.
For more information, see High Suns.
mountains
Montagne Pelée
The highest mountain in the country is the Montagne Pelée with a height of 1,397 m.
Other high mountains are:
Le Morne-Vert with a height of 1,196 m.
Morne Jacob with a height of 884 m.
Montagne du Vauclin with a height of 504 m.
Morne Bigot with a height of 460 m.
Rivers
Rivière la Lézarde
The longest river in the country is the Rivière la Lézarde with a length of around 30 km.
Other rivers in the country are:
Rivière Capot with a length of 20.5 km
Riviere du Lorraine with a length of around 15 km
Rivere du Galon with a length of around 13 km
Riviere Salée with a length of around 6 km
Riviere Monsieur
Riviere Blanche
Lakes
Lac de la Manzo
On the island there is an artificially created reservoir, Lac de la Manzo, which supplies the island with drinking water, especially in dry seasons.
Caribbean and Atlantic
Martinique borders from northwest to southeast with a length of about 165 km on the Atlantic Ocean and on the other side with a length of about 185 km on the Caribbean. In the northwest and southeast of the island is the transition from the Caribbean to the “actual” Atlantic.
The Caribbean
The Caribbean is a marginal sea of the Atlantic and lies between the islands of the Caribbean and the American continent. In the west, Mexico and other Central American states border the Caribbean. In the south of Colombia and Venezuela. The border in the east and north form the following islands or archipelagos starting from Venezuela in a semi-circle to the “actual” Atlantic: Trinidad and Tabago, Grenada, St. Lucia, Dominica, British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Haiti and Cuba.
The deepest point in the Caribbean is the Cayman Rift between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands with a depth of 7,680 m. Together with the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean forms the “American Mediterranean”.
The Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean (Atlantic) is the second largest ocean in the world after the Pacific with an area of around 106 million km². It separates America from Europe and Africa. At 9,220 m, it has its deepest point in the Milwaukee Deep – part of the Puerto Rico Trench. Its salt content is on average 3.54% (g/ l). Its water volume is approximately 355 million km³.
Coming from the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf Stream crosses the Atlantic to the coast of Norway and is largely responsible for the climate in Western and Northern Europe.
The Atlantic includes numerous so-called marginal seas – e.g. the American Mediterranean. In addition, the Atlantic – especially in seafaring – is divided into the North Atlantic and South Atlantic. The Strait of Gibralta is certainly a very well-known connection between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, where it separates Europe (Gibralta/Great Britain) from Africa (Morocco). The Panama Canal connects the Pacific with the Atlantic for around 82 km. The Atlantic and Pacific meet at the legendary Cape Horn on the southern tip of the American continent.
