Sint Maarten

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Sint Maarten (disambiguation) .

Sint Maarten
flag coat of arms
Motto : Semper progrediens (Always forward)
Official language	Dutch , English
Capital	Philipsburg
Form of government	Constitutional monarchy Parliamentary democracy autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Head of state	King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands represented by Governor Eugene Holiday
Head of government	Silveria Jacobs
surface	34 km²
population	37,132 (January 2014)
Population density	1092 inhabitants per km²
currency	Antilles guilder (ANG)
National anthem	O sweet Saint-Martin's land
Time zone	UTC − 4
ISO 3166	SX , SXM, 534, NL-SX
Internet TLD	.sx
Telephone code	+1 721

Sint Maarten is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands .

Sint Maarten consists of the southern part of the Caribbean island of St. Martin and a few small uninhabited side islands and rocks (Guana Key, Cow & Calf, Hen & Chickens, Molly Beday and Pelikan Key). The northern part of the island is occupied by the French overseas territory of Saint-Martin .

Cities and settlements

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

Geozone (district)	Area km²	Population 2011	Coordinates	Sub-districts
Philipsburg	...	01,327	18 ° 1 ′ 28 "  N , 63 ° 2 ′ 37"  W.	Great Bay
Lower Prince's Quarter	...	08,143	18 ° 3 '10 "  N , 63 ° 2' 33"  W.	Belvedere, Dutch Quarter, Garden of Eden, Madame's Estate, Middle Region, Mount William Hill, Over the Pond, West Suckergarden
Cul de sac	...	07,593	18 ° 2 '55 "  N , 63 ° 3' 53"  W.	East Cul-de-Sac, West Cul-de-Sac
Cole Bay	...	05,594	18 ° 2 ′ 25 ″  N , 63 ° 4 ′ 55 ″  W.	Colebay
Upper Prince's Quarter	...	03.139	18 ° 2 '12 "  N , 63 ° 1' 48"  W.	Dawn Beach, Defiance, East Suckergarden, Guana Bay, Hope Estate, Oysterpond, Pointe Blanche
Little Bay (Fort Amsterdam)	...	03,093	18 ° 1 '45 "  N , 63 ° 3' 54"  W.	Little Bay
Simpson Bay	...	00.596	18 ° 2 ′ 9 ″  N , 63 ° 5 ′ 47 ″  W.	Simpson Bay
Lowlands	...	0.348	18 ° 2 ′ 53 "  N , 63 ° 7 ′ 32"  W.	Low Lands, Maho Reef
not assigned	...	03,776	...
Sint Maarten	34	33,609	18 ° 1 ′ 55 ″  N , 63 ° 4 ′ 4 ″  W.	22 sub-districts

Climate table

Sint Maarten
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     62   28 22nd     44   28 22nd     44   29 22nd     67   29 23     96   30th 24     63   30th 25th     76   31 25th     99   31 25th     131   31 25th     109   30th 25th     130   30th 24     86   29 23 Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: wetterkontor.de

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Sint Maarten Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 28.1 28.4 28.8 29.2 30.1 30.3 31.3 31.1 30.9 30.4 29.5 28.5 O 29.7 Min. Temperature (° C) 22.1 22.0 22.4 23.1 23.8 24.7 24.6 25.0 24.8 24.6 23.7 22.9 O 23.6 Precipitation ( mm ) 62 44 44 67 96 63 76 99 131 109 130 86 Σ 1.007 Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 8.4 8.3 8.6 8.8 8.1 8.0 8.3 8.5 7.7 7.6 7.7 7.9 O 8.2 Rainy days ( d ) 11 9 8th 8th 11 10 12 14th 13 14th 14th 13 Σ 137 Water temperature (° C) 25th 25th 25th 25th 26th 27 27 28 28 28 27 26th O 26.4 Humidity ( % ) 74 73 72 73 74 73 73 75 75 75 76 74 O 73.9 Source: wetterkontor.de

population

The native population consists largely of descendants of Dutch settlers and slaves abducted from Africa . Approximately 65% ​​of the population have Dutch citizenship. Among the members of other nations, the citizens of Haiti , the Dominican Republic and Jamaica form the largest population groups, each with more than 5% of the population. Most of the locals are Protestants , especially Pentecostals , Methodists, and Adventists . About a third of the population belongs to the Roman Catholic Church . Smaller population groups profess Hinduism and the Jewish faith.

languages

Most of the population speaks English as their mother tongue. But Spanish, Dutch and Papiamentu are also common.

Constitution and Administration

Until its dissolution, Sint Maarten belonged to the Netherlands Antilles . Since October 10, 2010 it has been one of the Caribbean “lands” (countries) of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Since then, the Sint Maarten government has consisted of the king represented by a governor , the cabinet made up of the country's ministers and led by the prime minister, and the parliament, which consists of a single chamber , the Staten van Sint Maarten, with 15 members elected for four years. The first states were elected in 2010, the second in 2014.

In the last (early) elections on September 26, 2016, four parties moved into the states :

• United People's Party: 5 seats
• National Alliance: 5 seats
• United St. Maarten Party: 3 seats
• Democratic Party: 2 seats

economy

Sint Maarten is an offshore zone . The companies that are registered on Sint Maarten and do not do business in the Dutch part of the island are tax exempt. Furthermore, there are no property or capital gains taxes . The value added tax is five percent.

The gross domestic product of Sint Maarten in 2013 was 1825 million Antillean guilders (approximately one billion US dollars). Important industries are the real estate sector, trade, transport, tourism and financial services.

currency

The official currency is the Antillean guilder ; due to the fixed exchange rate, payments can usually also be made in the US dollar . With the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010 , the end of the Antilles guilder was decided. For the special communities of Bonaire , Saba and Sint Eustatius , the national currency was replaced by the US dollar on January 1, 2011.

At the end of August 2009, at a conference in Willemstad with experts, dollarization was also discussed for Curaçao and Sint Maarten . In 2012 it was decided to replace the Antilles guilder with the Caribbean guilder , but not yet implemented. Instead of the 25 and 250 Antilles guilder banknotes, there will then be banknotes of 20 and 200 Caribbean guilders. The euro is also often accepted in the tourism industry.

Tourism and infrastructure

With Port St. Maarten in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten has a port where cruise ships can dock. In the season this is up to six ships per day. A special feature that makes the island particularly attractive to tourists is the status of the free port, which means that neither taxes nor customs are levied. As a result, a real tobacco and spirits tourism developed. However, as soon as the last ships cast off around 6 p.m., Philipsburg, for example, looks like deserted.

The southwest part of the island is quite narrow. There is the Princess Juliana International Airport , which divides the southern of the two land bridges, directly on the coast . It was renewed in 2006 and, among other things, received a new terminal. The special thing is that the landing aircraft (including wide- bodied aircraft such as the Airbus A340 or the Boeing 747 ) fly just a few meters above the heads of the vacationers due to the proximity of the runway to the beach. The beach is open to tourists and has warning notices. Tourists can stand right under the planes and take photos of them. To inform the onlookers, a sign with landing times, airlines, machines and departure locations is updated daily at the restaurant on the beach next to the runway. In July 2017, a tourist was killed in impact with a concrete block; it had been torn from the fence by the thrust of the engine of a plane taking off.

Current information from the region is distributed worldwide via two internet radio stations. These are the channels The Voice of St. Maarten and Pearl of the Caribbean .

Attractions

Border marking between the Dutch and the French part

• the border monument commemorating the Treaty of Concordia in 1648 and the partition of the island,
• the history museum in Philipsburg,
• the beach Maho Beach on the runway threshold at Princess Juliana Airport,
• Fort Amsterdam and Fort Williams near Philipsburg,
• the Loterie Farm Flyzone.

Picture gallery

• 

  View over the Koolbai

• 

  Surfboard with
  arrival times

• 

  Country Ender Airbus A340 of Air France

See also

• Dutch Caribbean

Web links

Commons : Sint Maarten  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: Sint Maarten  - Travel Guide

• Sintmaartengov.org. Official website of the government of Sint Maarten.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Makini K. Hickinson (Ed.): Statistical Yearbook 2014 . Department of Statistics Sint Maarten, Philipsburg 2014, 2nd population, p. 17 , 2.1 Population of Sint Maarten, January 1st (English, accessible online on the website of the Department of Statistics Sint Maarten [PDF; 2,3 MB ; accessed on November 10, 2017]).
2. ↑ PL 429 Sint Maarten. (PDF; 26 kB) In: nationalnanpa.com. North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA), November 1, 2011, accessed November 10, 2017 . 
3. ↑ Population by geographic region by local- and foreign-born. In: Census 2011 Demography tables. Department of Statistics Sint Maarten, accessed November 10, 2017 . 
4. ↑ Humdata: Sint Maarten
5. ↑ Population by nationality, age and sex. In: Census 2011 Demography tables. Department of Statistics Sint Maarten, accessed November 10, 2017 . 
6. ↑ Population by religion, age and sex. In: Census 2011 Demography tables. Department of Statistics Sint Maarten, accessed November 10, 2017 . 
7. ↑ Waaruit confirms the Koninkrijk der Nederlanden? In: Caribisch deel van het Koninkrijk. Rijksoverheid voor Nederland, accessed November 10, 2017 (Dutch). 
8. ^ State regulation of Sint Maarten . Constitution of the country of Sint Maarten. In: Afkondigingsblad van Sint Maarten . Born 2010, December 20, 2010, Hoofdstuk 3: De Regering en de Gevolmachtigde Minister - Hoofdstuk 4: De Staten , p. 8–16 (Dutch, online on the website of the Parliament of Sint Maarten [PDF; 257 kB ; Retrieved November 10, 2017] Articles of the Constitution on the government and parliament of the area).
9. ↑ Parliament Elections September 26, 2016 - Sint Maarten - Final. (PDF; 67 kB) Official election result. Government of Sint Maarten, October 5, 2016, accessed November 10, 2017 . 
10. ↑ Makini K. Hickinson (Ed.): Statistical Yearbook 2014 . Department of Statistics Sint Maarten, Philipsburg 2014, 12. National Accounts, p. 60 , 12.1 Gross Domestic Product by Sector and Industry (English, accessible online on the website of the Department of Statistics Sint Maarten [PDF; 2,3 MB ; accessed on November 10, 2017]).
11. ↑ How does the conversion to the US dollar work? In: Frequently asked questions. De Nederlandsche Bank - Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba, archived from the original on July 20, 2011 ; accessed on November 10, 2017 (English). 
12. ↑ What has changed, are the national herindeling van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden? Verandering munteenheid Caribisch Nederland. In: Documents en publicaties - Questions en answers. Rijksoverheid voor Nederland, archived from the original on March 20, 2012 ; Retrieved November 10, 2017 (Dutch). 
13. ↑ Esther Schalkwijk: Biljetten van 25 verdwijnen. In: Versgeperst.com. September 30, 2010, archived from the original on January 5, 2013 ; Retrieved November 10, 2017 (Dutch). 
14. ^ Port St. Maarten: Home. In: Port St. Maarten. Port St. Maarten - Group of Companies, accessed November 10, 2017 . 
15. ↑ Stefan Eiselin: Accident at Maho Beach: How much to blame is St. Maarten Airport? In: aerotelegraph.com. aeroTELEGRAPH GmbH, July 17, 2017, accessed on November 10, 2017 . 
16. ↑ Homepage PJD2Radio.com , accessed on October 20, 2015
17. ↑ Homepage 98.1 Pearl FM Radio , accessed on October 20, 2015

Coordinates: 18 ° 2 ′  N , 63 ° 4 ′  W