Driving Directions Martinique
MARTINIQUE is one of the larger Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles group in the southern Caribbean. It is administered as an overseas department of France. The Lesser Antilles group consists of the smaller islands to the east and south of the Caribbean, which further divided into the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands.
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Trinidad and Tobago, lying just off the coast of Venezuela, form the slightly larger tail end of this island group. The original inhabitants of Martinique were Arawak and Carib Indians, but the establishment of the French colonies in the 17th century introduced Europeans and African slaves.
In the later years of the 19th century, there was a further influx of people from India who came to work on the plantations.
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The rocky, volcanic island of Martinique has sandy beaches of black, white, and peppered sand, a mountainous interior, and a tropical climate.
Martinique’s most famous peak is that of the volcano, Mount Pelee (1,448 meters or 4,750 feet). When this erupted in 1902, it destroyed the town of St Pierre, causing the death of 30,000 people.
Martinique periodically subjected to hurricanes that can cause considerable damage. The island’s economy relies mainly on tourism with sugar, bananas, pineapples, citrus fruits, nutmeg and spices being grown in some parts of the island.
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