Geographical location
Martinique is considered one of the French regional islands, located in the eastern Caribbean Sea within the group of Lesser Antilles, where it is bordered to the northwest by about 35 km, the Dominican Republics, and Saint Lucia to the south with a distance of 35 km, and French Guadeloupe, 120 km to the north, and the length of the island 80 km from north to south and 35 km from east to west with a total area of about 1,128 square km. The name of this island was taken from the Indian name Madiana, meaning Flower Island, as Christopher Columbus was told in 1502 by Caribbean residents.
Population
The population of Matrinik Island constitutes 0.01% of the total world population, with a population of 385,074 people according to the statistics of the United Nations on Friday, July 20, 2020.The population density of the island is 363 people per square kilometer, and the urban area constitutes 94.3% of the total Population, average age of 44.1 years.
A brief history of the island
The Arawaks from South America are considered the first to inhabit the land of Martinique Island, most of whom died due to the eruption of the volcanic mountain Bailey in 295 AD, and in 600 AD the Caribs arrived at the island and annihilated the Arawak and settled permanently in their place, and later in 1493 Columbus drew the island and landed there In 1502 during his fourth trip to the New World, but the Spaniards did not settle it and sailed south in search of more green lands for grazing, and in 1635 the French sent a group of 100 people to settle in Martinique for decades, and the years of French control over this island were marred by many battles and wars. The most famous of which is war Seven years with the British to give the French full control of the island in 1815, an agreement was signed to end all forms of slavery in 1848, and Martinique was proclaimed as the French foreign administration in 1964 until today.
Economy
Martinique depends on its economy to export typical products such as agricultural crops, including sugar cane, banana, pineapple, avocado, and eggplant, and the Martinique population also depends on their local consumption for fishing from the Caribbean such as lobsters, shellfish, cod, etc., and for the industrial sector, it includes cement, processed sugar , Clothing, metals, pottery, furniture, soft drinks, livestock feed, chemicals, yacht and sport boat building.