Martinique

§1. Martinique Introduction

Background:
  Colonized by France in 1635, the island has subsequently remained a French
  possession except for three brief periods of foreign occupation.

§2. Martinique Geography

Location:
  Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north
  of Trinidad and Tobago

Geographic coordinates:
  14 40 N, 61 00 W

Map references:
  Central_America_and_the_Caribbean

Area:
  total: 1,100 km²
  land: 1,060 km²
  water: 40 km²

Area - comparative:
  slightly more than six times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
  0 km

Coastline:
  350 km

Maritime claims:
  territorial sea: 12 nm
  exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate:
  tropical; moderated by trade winds; rainy season (June to October);
  vulnerable to devastating cyclones (hurricanes) every eight years on
  average; average temperature 17.3 degrees C; humid

Terrain:
  mountainous with indented coastline; dormant volcano

Elevation extremes:
  lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
  highest point: Montagne Pelee 1,397 m

Natural resources:
  coastal scenery and beaches, cultivable land

Land use:
  arable land: 9.09%
  permanent crops: 10%
  other: 80.91% (2005)

Irrigated land:
  30 km² (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
  hurricanes, flooding, and volcanic activity (an average of one major
  natural disaster every five years)

Environment - current issues:
  NA

Geography - note:
  the island is dominated by Mount Pelee, which on 8 May 1902 erupted and
  completely destroyed the city of Saint Pierre, killing 30,000 inhabitants

§3. Martinique People

Population:
  436,131 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 22.1% (male 48,988/female 47,525)
  15-64 years: 67.3% (male 147,082/female 146,470)
  65 years and over: 10.6% (male 20,791/female 25,275) (2006 est.)

Median age:
  total: 34.1 years
  male: 33.4 years
  female: 34.8 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
  0.72% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
  13.74 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
  6.48 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
  -0.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
  total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  total: 6.95 deaths/1,000 live births
  male: 4.68 deaths/1,000 live births
  female: 9.27 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 79.18 years
  male: 79.5 years
  female: 78.85 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  1.79 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  NA

Nationality:
  noun: Martiniquais (singular and plural)
  adjective: Martiniquais

Ethnic groups:
  African and African-white-Indian mixture 90%, white 5%, East Indian and
  Chinese less than 5%

Religions:
  Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant 10.5%, Muslim 0.5%, Hindu 0.5%, other 3.5%
  (1997)

Languages:
  French, Creole patois

Literacy:
  definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  total population: 97.7%
  male: 97.4%
  female: 98.1% (2003 est.)

§4. Martinique Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: Department of Martinique
  conventional short form: Martinique
  local long form: Departement de la Martinique
  local short form: Martinique

Dependency status:
  overseas department of France

Government type:
  NA

Capital:
  Fort-de-France

Administrative divisions:
  none (overseas department of France)

Independence:
  none (overseas department of France)

National holiday:
  Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)

Constitution:
  4 October 1958 (French Constitution)

Legal system:
  French legal system

Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
  chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995);
    Prefect Yves DASSONVILLE (since 14 January 2004); note - took office 8
    February 2004
  head of government: President of the General Council Claude LISE (since 22
    March 1992); President of the Regional Council Alfred MARIE-JEANNE (since
    NA March 1998)
  cabinet: NA
  elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term;
    prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French
    Ministry of Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils
    are elected by the members of those councils for six-year terms

Legislative branch:
  unicameral General Council or Conseil General (45 seats; members are
  elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional
  Council or Conseil Regional (41 seats; members are elected by popular vote
  to serve six-year terms)
  elections: General Council - last held March 2000 (next to be held in
    2006); Regional Council - last held on 28 March 2004 (next to be held by
    March 2010)
  election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
    party - left-wing candidates 13, PPM 11, RPR 6, right-wing candidates 5,
    PCM 3, UDF 3, PMS 2, independents 2; note - the PPM won a plurality;
    Regional Council (second round) - percent of vote by party - MIM 53.8%,
    PPM 30.6%; seats by party - MIM 28, PPM 9, other 4
  note: Martinique elects 2 seats to the French Senate; elections last held
    September 2004 (next to be held September 2008); results - percent of
    vote by party - NA; seats by party - PPM 1, left-wing candidate 1;
    Martinique also elects 4 seats to the French National Assembly; elections
    last held, first round - 9 June 2002, second round - 16 June 2002 (next
    to be held not later than June 2007); results - percent of vote by party
    - NA; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, PMS 1, MIM 1, left-wing candidate 1
    (candidacy of the left-wing candidate was found invalid by the
    Constitutional Council; new elections will be called)

Judicial branch:
  Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel

Political parties and leaders:
  Martinique Communist Party or PCM [Georges ERICHOT]; Martinique
  Independence Movement or MIM [Alfred MARIE-JEANNE]; Martinique Progressive
  Party or PPM [Pierre SUEDILE]; Martinique Socialist Party or PMS [Ernest
  WAN-AJOUHU]; Movement of Democrats and Ecologists for a Sovereign
  Martinique or Modemas [Garcin MALSA]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Michel
  CHARLONE]; Socialist Revolution Group or GRS [Philippe PIERRE-CHARLES];
  Union for French Democracy or UDF [Jean MAREN]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  Caribbean Revolutionary Alliance or ARC; Central Union for Martinique
  Workers or CSTM [Marc PULVAR]; Frantz Fanon Circle; League of Workers and
  Peasants; Proletarian Action Group or GAP

International organization participation:
  UPU, WCL, WFTU

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  none (overseas department of France)

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  none (overseas department of France)

Flag description:
  unofficial flag, derives from the civil ensign flown by French merchant
  ships and dates to 1766; a light blue field quartered by a white cross; in
  the center of each rectangle is a white, coiled snake representing the
  venomous Fer-de- lance; the flag of France is used for official occasions

§5. Martinique Economy

Economy - overview:
  The economy is based on sugarcane, bananas, tourism, and light industry.
  Agriculture accounts for about 6% of GDP and the small industrial sector
  for 11%. Sugar production has declined, with most of the sugarcane now used
  for the production of rum. Banana exports are increasing, going mostly to
  France. The bulk of meat, vegetable, and grain requirements must be
  imported, contributing to a chronic trade deficit that requires large
  annual transfers of aid from France. Tourism, which employs more than
  11,000 people, has become more important than agricultural exports as a
  source of foreign exchange.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
  $6.117 billion (2003 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
  NA

GDP - real growth rate:
  NA%

GDP - per capita (PPP):
  $14,400 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 6%
  industry: 11%
  services: 83% (1997 est.)

Labor force:
  165,900 (1998)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 10%, industry 17%, services 73% (1997)

Unemployment rate:
  27.2% (1998)

Population below poverty line:
  NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: NA%
  highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  3.9% (1990)

Budget:
  revenues: $900 million
  expenditures: $2.5 billion; including capital expenditures of $140 million
    (1996)

Agriculture - products:
  pineapples, avocados, bananas, flowers, vegetables, sugarcane

Industries:
  construction, rum, cement, oil refining, sugar, tourism

Industrial production growth rate:
  NA%

Electricity - production:
  1.205 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption:
  1.12 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:
  0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
  0 kWh (2003)

Oil - production:
  0 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption:
  13,800 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports:
  NA bbl/day

Oil - imports:
  NA bbl/day

Natural gas - production:
  0 m³ (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
  0 m³ (2003 est.)

Exports:
  $250 million f.o.b. (1997)

Exports - commodities:
  refined petroleum products, bananas, rum, pineapples

Exports - partners:
  France 45%, Guadeloupe 28% (2004)

Imports:
  $2 billion c.i.f. (1997)

Imports - commodities:
  petroleum products, crude oil, foodstuffs, construction materials,
  vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods

Imports - partners:
  France 62%, Venezuela 6%, Germany 4%, Italy 4%, US 3% (2004)

Debt - external:
  $180 million (1994)

Economic aid - recipient:
  $NA; note - substantial annual aid from France (1998)

Currency (code):
  euro (EUR)

Exchange rates:
  euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626
  (2002), 1.1175 (2001)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Martinique Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  172,000 (2001)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  319,900 (2002)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: domestic facilities are adequate
  domestic: NA
  international: country code - 596; microwave radio relay to Guadeloupe,
    Dominica, and Saint Lucia; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat
    (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 0, FM 14, shortwave 0 (1998)

Television broadcast stations:
  11 (plus nine repeaters) (1997)

Internet country code:
  .mq

Internet hosts:
  70 (2005)

Internet users:
  107,000 (2005)

§7. Martinique Transportation

Airports:
  2 (2005)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 1
  over 3,047 m: 1 (2005)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  total: 1
  under 914 m: 1 (2005)

Roadways:
  total: 2,105 km (including 261 km of expressways) (2000)

Ports and terminals:
  Fort-de-France, La Trinite, Marin

§8. Martinique Military

Military branches:
  no regular military forces; Gendarmerie

Military - note:
  defense is the responsibility of France

§9. Martinique Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  none

Illicit drugs:
  transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for the US and Europe


<Factbook 2006>
