|
|
List of
Banks in the Caribbean
List of Banks in Saint Martin (French)
Saint Martin (French: Saint-Martin; Dutch:
Sint Maarten) is an island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately 300
km (186 miles) east of Puerto Rico. The 87 km2 island is divided roughly
60/40 between France (53 km2) and the Netherlands Antilles (34
km2); it is the smallest inhabited sea island divided between two
nations, a division dating to 1648. The southern Dutch half comprises
the Eilandgebied Sint Maarten (Island Territory of St. Maarten) and is
part of the Netherlands Antilles. The northern French half comprises the
Collectivité de Saint-Martin (Collectivity of St. Martin) and is an
overseas collectivity of France.
On January 1, 2007 the population of the entire island was 74,852
inhabitants, 38,927 of whom lived on the Dutch side, and 35,925 on
the French side.
Collectively, the two territories are known as "St-Martin / St Maarten".
Sometimes SXM, the IATA identifier for Princess Juliana International
Airport (the island's main airport), is used to refer to the island.
Banque des Antilles Francaises
Address: Rue de la Republique 1
Phone: (590) 590 29-1330 / (590) 590 87-7383
Fax: (590) 590 29-1348
Banque Francaise Commerciale
Address: Bellevue
Phone: (590) 590 29-1130 / (590) 590 87-0506 / (590) 590 87-5047
Fax: (590) 590 87-5484
Banque Inchauspe et Cie
Address: Les Portes de St. Martin
Phone: (590) 590 87-2121 / (590) 590 87-2137 / (590) 590 87-8236
Fax: (590) 590 87-2172
Banque Populaire Bred
Address: 7 Rue Republique
Phone: (590) 590 51-1600
Fax: (590) 590 29-7001
BFC Antilles-Guyane
Address: Bellevue
Phone: (590) 590 87-5380
Fax: (590) 590 87-0560
Credit Mutuel
Address: 5 Rue de la République. Marigot
Phone: (590) 590 29-5490
Fax: (590) 590 29-4682
RBTT
Address: Marigot
Phone: (590) 690 71-5060
Geography
Map of Saint Martin.Saint Martin has a land area of 87 km2, 53 km2 of
which is under the sovereignty of France, and 34 km² under the
sovereignty of the Netherlands.
The main cities are Philipsburg (Dutch side) and Marigot (French side).
While the city with the highest population, Marigot, lies on the French
side, the Dutch side is more highly populated.
The highest hilltop is the Pic Paradis (424 m) on center of a hill chain
(French side). There is no river on the island, but many dry guts.
Hiking trails give access to the dry forest covering tops and slopes.
The average yearly air temperature is 27 °C (min 17 °C, max 35 °C) and
sea surface temperature 26.4 °C. The total average yearly rainfall is
995 mm, with 99 days of thunder.
The island is south of Anguilla, separated from the British territory by
the Anguilla Channel. Saint Martin is northwest of Saint Barthélemy,
separated from the French territory by the Saint-Barthélemy Channel.
History
Main article: History of Saint Martin
Timeline
Circa AD 800 — Settled by Arawak Indians who arrived from South America;
The Carib indians followed later and gave the island the name Soualiga,
or Land of Salt.
November 11, 1493 — Claimed for Spain by Columbus, named Isla de San
Martín upon his arrival.
1624 — Some French cultivate tobacco in French Quarter.
1631 — Dutch small colony on Groot Baai ("Great Bay") to collect salt.
1633–1648 — The Spanish navy captures Saint Martin from the Dutch until
the peace of Westhpalia. Spanish army from Puerto Rico builds the first
military fort.
March 23, 1648 — Divided into French (north) and Dutch (south) zones (Dutch
zone subordinate to Sint Eustatius until 1672).
1679–1689 — French occupy entire island.
1689–1792 — Dutch zone under Dutch West India Company administration.
1690–1699 — English occupy entire island.
1699–1702 — French occupy entire island.
1703–1717 — Dutch occupy entire island.
February 24, 1779 – February 3, 1781 — French occupy entire island.
February 3, 1781 – November 26, 1781 — British occupy entire island.
May 18, 1793 – April 5, 1794 — Dutch administer entire island.
April 29, 1795 – March 24, 1801 — French occupy entire island.
March 24, 1801 – December 1, 1802 — British occupy entire island.
July 9, 1810 — Annexed along with the Netherlands by France (not
effected).
1810–1816 — British occupy entire island.
1816 — French and Dutch zones restored.
1919 – April 1, 1983 — Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten united as
Netherlands Windward Islands.
1936 — Dutch side officially adopts the Dutch spelling Sint Maarten.
September 4, 1960 — Hurricane Donna hits the island causing extensive
damage.
September 5, 1995 — Hurricane Luis devastates the island.
November 20, 1999 — Hurricane Lenny slams the island causing
catastrophic damage and claims 3 lives.
June 23, 2000 — Referendum supports a "status aparte" as a separate
entity within the Kingdom of the Netherlands by 68.9%.
December 7, 2003 — The population of the French part of the island votes
in favour of secession from Guadeloupe in order to form a separate
overseas collectivity (COM) of France.
November 2, 2006 — Sint Maarten and Curaçao sign agreement with the
Netherlands on "status aparte".
February 22, 2007 — French side becomes a separate overseas collectivity
(COM).
October 10, 2010 — Date set for dissolution of Netherlands Antilles.
Details
Flags flying in Marigot harbor, Saint-Martin.In 1493, Christopher
Columbus embarked on his second voyage to the New World. According to
legend, Columbus sighted and perhaps anchored at the island of Saint
Martin on November 11, 1493, the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours. In
his honor, Columbus named the island San Martin. This name was
translated to Sint Maarten (Dutch), Saint-Martin (French) and "Saint
Martin" in English.
At Columbus's time, St. Martin was populated, if populated at all, by
Carib amerindians. The former Arawaks had been chased by the Caribs
coming from the North coast of South America a short time before the
arrival of the Spaniards who followed in Columbus' wake. The English
word cannibal is derived from the Spanish pronunciation for Carib. The
Arawaks were agricultural people who fashioned pottery and whose social
organization was headed by hereditary chieftains who derived their power
from personal deities called zemis.
The Caribs' territory was not completely conquered until the mid-17th
century when most of them perished in the struggle between the French,
English, Dutch, Danes and Spanish for control of the West Indies. The
Dutch first began to ply the island's ponds for salt in the 1620s.
Despite the Dutch presence on the island, the Spaniards recaptured St.
Martin in 1633 and, one year later, built a fort (now Ft. Amsterdam) and
another artillery battery at Pointe Blanche to assert their claim and
control access to Great bay salt pond. The Spaniards introduced the
first African slaves to the area in the 16th century but the main influx
of African slaves took place in the 18th century with the development of
Sugarcane plantations by the French Protestants and some Dutch Jews.
Slavery was abolished in the first half of the 19th century, whereupon
on some of their territories the British imported Chinese and East
Indians to take the place of slaves. Thus, St. Martin and the other
islands are populated by a mixture of Amerindian, European, African,
Indians and Asian peoples. West Indian cultures such as in St. Martin
are, consequently, exceedingly rich and varied.
Border division
Border crossing between St. Martin and Sint Maarten.
A newer monument, crossing from St. Martin to Sint Maarten, dedicated in
2008.On March 23, 1648, France and the Dutch Republic agreed to divide
the island between their two nations, with the signing of the Treaty of
Concordia.
Folklore surrounds the history of the once ever-changing border division
between St. Martin and Sint Maarten, and a popular story among locals
narrates that "to divide the island in two sections, [in 1648] the
inhabitants were told to choose two walkers, one chosen by the
French-dominated community and the other one by the Dutch-dominated
community, who were put back to back in one extreme of the island,
making them walk in opposite directions while stuck to the litoral line,
and not allowing them to run. The point where they eventually met was
set as the other extreme of the island, and the subsequently created
line was chosen as the frontier, dividing Saint-Martin from Sint
Maarten. Seemingly, the French walker had walked more than his Dutch
counterpart (each one earned his land, respectively, 54 km² and 32 km²).
As the first man chose wine as his stimulant prior to the race, while
the latter chose beer, the difference between such beverages' lightness
was said to be the cause of the territorial differences by French
locals, while Dutch locals tended to blame the French walker for
running."
In 1994, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and France signed the
Franco-Dutch treaty on Saint Martin border controls, which allows for
joint Franco-Dutch border controls on so-called "risk flights". After
some delay, the treaty was ratified in November 2006 in the Netherlands,
and subsequently entered into force on 1 August 2007. Though the treaty
is now in force, its provisions are not yet implemented as the working
group specified in the treaty is not yet installed.
St. Martin received the ISO 3166-1 code MF in October 2007. The
status of the Dutch side was due to change to a country within the
Kingdom of the Netherlands in December 2008, but this has been postponed
to 10 October 2010. It is expected the Dutch part will also get its
own ISO 3166-1 code when the status change goes into effect.
Demographics
On January 1, 2007 the population of the entire island of Saint Martin
was 74,852 inhabitants, 38,927 of whom lived on the Dutch side of the
island, and 35,925 on the French side of the island. Although
half-French and half-Dutch, English is the dominant language. A local
dialect is spoken informally on both sides of the island. In addition
there is an average of 1,000,000 tourist visitors per year.
Culture and tourism
Main article: Culture of Saint Martin
Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten, Dutch side.
Marigot, Saint Martin, French side.St. Martin's Dutch side is known for
its festive nightlife, beaches, jewelry, exotic drinks made with native
rum-based guavaberry liquors, and plentiful casinos. The island's Saint
Martin|French side is known for its nude beaches, clothes, shopping
(including outdoor markets), and rich French and Indian Caribbean
cuisine. English is the most commonly spoken language along with a local
dialect. The official languages are French for Saint Martin, and both
Dutch and English for Sint Maarten. Other common languages include
various French-based creoles (spoken by immigrants from other French
Caribbean islands), Spanish (spoken by immigrants from the Dominican
Republic), and Papiamento (spoken by immigrants from Aruba, Bonaire and
Curacao).
The island is home to accommodations including hotels, villas, and
timeshares, many of which are privately available for rent or sale.
Rental cars are the primary mode of transportation for visitors staying
on island. If any driving is expected off the major roads (such as to
some of the more secluded beaches), a 4-wheel drive is recommended.
Traffic on the island, however, has become a major problem; long traffic
jams between Marigot, Philipsburg and the airport are common.
Because the island is located along the intertropical convergence zone,
it is occasionally menaced by tropical storm activity in the late summer
and early fall.
The island is widely known for its hundreds of gourmet
(and more moderately priced) restaurants on both sides of the island.
Neighbouring islands include Saint Barthélemy (French), Anguilla
(British), Saba (Netherlands Antilles), Sint Eustatius "Statia"
(Netherlands Antilles), Saint Kitts and Nevis (Independent, formerly
British). With the exception of Nevis, all of these islands are easily
visible on a clear day from St. Martin.
Shopping
Shopping on St Maarten and Saint Martin offers duty-free goods in
numerous boutiques. Popular goods include local crafts & arts, exotic
foods, jewelry, liquor, tobacco, leather goods, as well as most designer
goods. Most often the designer goods are offered at significant
discounts, often up to 40% lower than US retail prices.
Saint Martin uses the euro as its currency, while Sint Maarten is
currently outside the Eurozone and uses the Netherlands Antillean
guilder, pegged at 1.79 per United States dollar. It is unknown if Sint
Maarten will shift to the euro some time after the Netherlands Antilles
dissolves. Almost every store on the island also accepts the United
States dollar, although sometimes a more expensive exchange rate is used
(even 1 to 1 is no exception).
Transportation
Air France Airbus A340Border checks
Neither side of the island is part of the Schengen Area; full border
checks are performed when travelling between the island and Europe.
There are rarely checks at the border between the two sides of the
island. The Franco-Dutch treaty on Saint Martin border controls is being
implemented to harmonize external checks at the two main airports.
Airports
Sign warning people that standing too close to the airport fence on Maho
Beach can be dangerous.The island is served by many major airlines that
bring in large jet aircrafts, including Boeing 747s, Airbus A340s, and
McDonnell Douglas MD-11s carrying tourists from across the world on a
daily basis. The short length of the main runway at Princess Juliana
International Airport, and its position between a large hill and a beach
causes some spectacular approaches. Aviation photographers flock to the
airport to capture pictures of large jets just a few metres above
sunbathers (who are often blown away by the jet blast if they are
standing in its path) on Maho Beach. There is a small airport on the
French side of the island at Grand Case, L'Espérance Airport for small
jet and propeller planes serving neighbouring Caribbean islands. Due to
its location, Grand Case-Esperance Airport frequently suffers from heavy
fog during the hurricane season.
Get your own Bank account with ATM card
(Maestro/Mastercard debit card) for withdrawals with a Bank in the Caribe
|
