Saint-Pierre and Miquelon

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Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
Flag of Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Coat of arms of Saint Pierre and Miquelon
flag coat of arms
Official language French
Capital Saint-Pierre
Form of government French overseas territory
Head of state President Emmanuel Macron
Head of government General Councilor Stéphane Artano
surface 242 km²
population 5997 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 24.8 inhabitants per km²
currency Euro (EUR)
Time zone UTC − 3
Internet TLD .pm
Telephone code +508
Saint Pierre and Miquelon in its region.svg
Map of St Pierre and Miquelon.png

Saint-Pierre and Miquelon is a French overseas territory (Collectivité d'outre-mer, COM) . The small archipelago east of the Canadian coast, about 25 kilometers south of Newfoundland , is the last remnant of the French colony of New France . Saint-Pierre and Miquelon has 5997 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017). The main industries of the French-speaking population are fishing and tourism. The capital is called Saint-Pierre .

geography

The archipelago consists of the islands of Saint-Pierre (26 km²), Miquelon-Langlade (205 km²) and other smaller islands and has a total area of ​​242 km². The islands of Miquelon and Langlade used to be separate, today they are connected by a narrow isthmus .

The climate is rough and windy. The annual average temperature is around 5 ° C and the humidity is over 80%. As a result, there is heavy fog, especially in spring and early summer. Compared to neighboring Canada, the winters are mild, but there are at least 120 days of frost a year. The average summer temperatures are usually between 10 and 20 ° C.

population

5997 inhabitants live on the islands (as of January 1, 2017), the majority of them on Saint-Pierre with 5406 inhabitants, only 591 live on Miquelon together with Langlade. In 1967 Saint-Pierre had 4565 inhabitants, Miquelon-Langlade 621, so in total 5,186.

Organizationally, the Catholics on the islands belong to the Vicariate Apostolic Saint-Pierre and Miquelon .

languages

French is spoken in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon . Until the 20th century, part of the population spoke Basque .

history

Early history

Excavations on Saint-Pierre suggest that Paleo-Eskimos and Beothuk were there as early as 6000 BC. Set up camp.

European and Indian fishermen

In 1497, the Italian navigator Giovanni Caboto , under the name of John Cabot in English service, explored the sea area around Newfoundland and took possession of the islands. Around this time, Norman , Breton and Portuguese fishermen came to the sea area to exploit the rich fishing grounds. Basques can only be identified from 1579, they appeared there until the 19th century.

From June 11 to 16, 1536, Jacques Cartier stayed at "sainct Pierre" and reported on Breton and Basque fishermen, Alonso de Santa Cruz reported on Irish and Bretons in 1541, otherwise the islands were uninhabited. Three years later, Jean Alfonse called Miquelon-Langlade the “terre des Dunes”.

Miquelon Island

The Venetian Gian Battista Ramusio reported in 1556 that the "savages" lived in the region in summer to fish. He couldn't say where they were going in the fall, though. They dried the fish, extracted oil from the fat and traveled in wooden canoes. According to him, the islands were discovered in 1521 by men from Normandy and Brittany . He also reports on a "maître Thomas Aubert" from Dieppe , who is said to have stayed there in 1508.

The islands changed their names several times. The Portuguese João Álvares Fagundes gave them the name Ilhas das Onze Mil Virgens (Islands of the Eleven Thousand Virgins) in 1521 according to the legend of St. Ursula . In France they were called Les Îles de Saint-Pierre after the apostle Peter .

French settlers

In 1670 a small settlement of French fishermen on Saint-Pierre is mentioned for the first time, which probably existed since the early 17th century. Merchants from Saint-Malo were also present. In 1690 Antoine Parat reports 12 to 15 ships that went fishing there, as well as a small town with perhaps 15 inhabitants.

Jacques Simon Belleorme was the island's first in command from 1694. In 1705 he employed 80 men alone to catch cod . His sister Françoise Simon was the liaison for his extensive trade in Saint-Malo. In 1702 he was succeeded by Sébastien Le Gonard de Sourdeval as commander.

English conquests, expulsions

During the war between France and England from 1689 to 1697 , the archipelago was attacked several times by the English. From September 11th to October 7th, 1702 the British attacked the island. Attacks with up to 400 men took place the next year. In 1703 the commandant negotiated a peace with them. In 1713 the French, led by Philippe Pastour de Costebelle, had to leave the islands for Isle Royale ( Cape Breton , Nova Scotia). William Taverner carried out the land surveys for the new masters. He got into a dispute with some Englishmen who accused him of doing business with the French on his own account.

After the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, France lost its Canadian possessions but got the islands back. The first governor was François-Gabriel Dangeac (until 1773); he was followed by Charles Gabriel Baron de l'Espérance until 1778. Guns were smuggled into the US from here during the American Revolutionary War .

In 1778 British troops broke the resistance of the 200 residents and 50 soldiers led by the Commander de l'Espérance. They drove the 1200 residents to France. Lord of the islands was now Commodore Evans. After the peace of 1783 the residents and the commanding officer were able to return again. The office of governor et d'Odonnateur aux îles St-Pierre et Miquelon was abolished in 1785, and Antoine-Nicolas Dandasne-Danseville was appointed as the new commander from 1783 to 1793 . He was commander of the foot troops and filled the functions of a governor, where he was subordinate to the leader of the French fleet in America, whose headquarters was in Santo Domingo. The islands still had 60 men. The Teneraire sailed from Brest to St. Pierre with the new governor and settler families on board . Fortresses were not allowed to be built there. In 1784 there were 200 French and 200 British ships in the waters around the islands. 18 British ships sailed with their catch into the Mediterranean Sea, which they were the first to reach, which also brought them the best prices. A total of 12,000 ships and 450,000 men visited the region in the course of the 18th century.

French Revolution and the renewed British rule

On September 25, 1789, Vigneau, a resident of St. Pierre, collided with his sloop with a royal corvette. De Fabry, the commandant, then had him flogged. An indignant crowd then gathered in front of Dumesnil-Ambert's house. When he did not respond, over 300 people entered the house the next day and demanded justice. Dumesnil and Fabry negotiated with 28 of them.

It was then that news of the French Revolution reached the islands, but it was not until October 1790 that the people of de Broves received permission to convene a general assembly. She initially took care of food and provisions, the competition from foreign fishermen and the local Americans.

In the late autumn of 1791 a club of the "Amis de la Constitution" was established, consisting of young men and French fishermen who wanted to spend the winter on the island. In February 1792 a woman was killed in unrest. The elders asked Danseville to chair the Assemblée Générale. Six men and three women were sent back to France. When they arrived in Brest, the nine champions of the revolution were carried through the streets, and commandant Danseville was asked to resign.

Danseville kept the reins in hand, but the Amis de la Constitution continued to work against him. Tensions grew when pro-revolutionary fishermen arrived the next year bringing with them news of the king's death. The 502 remaining inhabitants were again expelled to Nova Scotia by the British under Edgell in the course of the Revolutionary Wars . A woman from the islands, probably on the run, appeared in court in France in 1792 and requested the right of residence for herself and her four children. For the third time the islands were British.

French again

Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Satellite Image

In the Peace Treaty of Paris (1814) the islands were given back to France and handed over in 1816. A group of 645 former residents returned to the islands on June 22, 1816 on board the frigates La Salamandre and La Caravanne . Two French infantry companies were stationed on the islands to provide military protection for the island's population. Jean-Philippe Bourrilhon was in command for the first two years . He was followed by Augustin-Valentin Borius until 1819 , then Philippe-Athanase-Hélène Fayolle , Augustin-Valentin Borius (until 1828), Joseph-Louis-Michel Bruë (until 1832) until 1825 . From 1887 governors were appointed, from 1906 administrateurs .

On November 14, 1846, the New York Courier and Enquirer reported that around 400 French fishing vessels with 12,000 men on board were operating in the largest fishing area in the East, around the French islands. These were dispatched from the French fishing port of St. Malo. The island population, which had to flee several times, had grown to around 2000 inhabitants. Americans also wanted to participate in the fishing business. Their representative was George Hughes from 1850 to 1864 . He was followed by William Mc Laughlin on behalf of Abraham Lincoln .

St. Pierre was considered a smuggler island. The fishing ships had smuggled goods (spirits and tobacco products) on board on their way from France, which initially remained in hiding places on the islands. The contraband was then gradually brought over the sparsely populated coast of Labrador by French Canadians to the province of Canada and the northern states of the USA. Under pressure from the government of Canada, James Haywarth , head of the customs administration of Québec , visited the islands in 1864. Charles Freeman , American consul in 1905, also tried to curb smuggling into the USA, which took place mainly on American ships. In 1903 there were 33 cafes in town, as New England Magazine reported in May.

The Quai La Roncière in Saint-Pierre, 1887
Street in Saint-Pierre, 1887

On November 1, 1902, St. Pierre burned down to a large extent. The Catholic Church, court and government buildings, schools and many residential buildings were destroyed. The city was hit by an earthquake in May. There had also been severe fires in 1865, 1867 and 1879.

World wars

During the First World War , over a quarter of those conscripted for military service were killed. Otherwise the residents benefited from high demand and corresponding prices for fish. The administrator was Ernest Philippe François Lachat (1915 to 1922). From 1923 governors were installed, the first was Jean Henri Émile Bensch (until 1928). During the prohibition period in the USA and Canada from 1919 to 1932, the islanders had excellent income opportunities.

On December 26, 1941, Gaullist soldiers under the leadership of the former admiral Muselier arrested the governor de Bournat. The government in Vichy protested. The government of Canada feared that the German government might plan an invasion. Numerous islanders were committed to free France and its armed forces . The first post-war governor was Pierre Marie Jacques François Garrouste. Prefects were appointed from 1976, the first préfet was Jean Massendès , and since 2018 it has been Thierry Devimeux . In 1947 the islands had around 4,500 inhabitants.

Clashes with Canada

In 1976, France was accused of supporting Québec's independence and establishing a strong military presence on the islands, especially the air force and propaganda stations. Since 1985 the area has been a collectivité territoriale (CT) . According to the amendment to the French Constitution of March 28, 2003, the islands are known as collectivité d'outre-mer (COM) .

Another point of contention with Canada was the question of sovereignty over coastal waters and the mineral resources below. Canada extended this zone unilaterally to 200 nautical miles as early as 1977, with fewer fishing rights than hopes for large oil discoveries that lie south of the archipelago. In 1984 the International Court of Justice ruled in favor of Canada on a similar issue, namely the coast of the US state of Maine . The situation was made even more complicated by the fact that France also claimed a sovereign zone around Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, while Canada was already ordering fishing bans there. Canada wanted to prevent the vastly increased Spanish fishing fleet - in 1969 alone 619 of the 1104 ships were Spanish - from emptying the waters. A French-Canadian commission tried to find a solution from 1994 onwards, but in 1998 the tensions were so sharp that they could not meet. In 1997 it was agreed that the French should be entitled to 15.6% of the catch. However, 70% should be carried on Canadian ships by Canadian crews. 30% should go to the islands. Despite switching to other fish species, the stocks continued to collapse or migrate. On the Canadian mainland, such as the Burin Peninsula , the population fell sharply at the same time, as the declining fishing catch was not countered by an economic concept that could have provided employment in other areas. 16% of the population left the island between 1991 and 2001, their number fell from 2940 to 2470.

politics

The General Council (conseil général) has 19 members. One representative each is sent to the French National Assembly and the Senate . The elections take place every six years.

According to Art. 4 Para. 1 UCC, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon do not belong to the customs territory of the European Community .

All travelers, including citizens of the European Union from the Schengen area, need a valid passport to enter the country. Only Canadian nationals are allowed to enter with valid identification if they will not be staying on the islands for more than three months.

economy

20 franc note
The port of Miquelon

The currency has been the euro since 2002 , before the French franc (sometimes with its own banknotes) and the Canadian dollar . The economy is dominated by fishing and tourism. Since the cod fishing moratorium off the coast of Newfoundland in 1992, the archipelago's economy has lost its previous main basis. Fish and mussel farming could not compensate for the loss of cod. Since the beginning of the economic crisis in 1992, the overseas territory has been increasingly dependent on subsidies from the mother country.

Around 700 hectares are used for agriculture. Vegetables are often grown in greenhouses, as the harsh climate and poor soil hardly allow extensive agricultural use. The number of animals is low, at most chickens and eggs play a role. The archipelago produced 804,540 eggs and 2,725 chickens in 1994.

Since 2009, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon has been part of the European Payments Area (SEPA) , following a decision by the European Payments Committee (EPC ).

The public sector is by far the largest employer. Tourism has declined on the islands.

Saint-Pierre and Miquelon stamp of 1892 made by printing on a 25 centimes French colonies stamp

Since 1885 (with an interruption from 1978 to 1986) Saint-Pierre and Miquelon has formed an independent postal area that issues postage stamps.

environment

Serious pollution of the environment arises from the fact that garbage is not disposed of properly. As a result, uncontrolled landfills have emerged and the garbage is simply burned.

Until 1992, when a Franco-Canadian moratorium banned cod fishing because the fish were scarce, the islands' economy was based on fishing. The trawling, also by Canadian and Spanish trawlers, caused the seemingly inexhaustible stocks to collapse. They have not recovered to this day, and the islands rely on subsidies and public works. The stocks of northern arctic crabs have also collapsed by half, so that the number of jobs has become very low. Aquacultures are supposed to remedy this, but experience in other areas shows that this threatens wildlife even more. Scallops are also raised, the waste of which is fed to the fish in aquaculture. Here, too, the game population had collapsed by almost 90%. The reintroduction into the wild is now being promoted with public funds.

Protective measures are aimed at the boreal coniferous forest. The white-tailed deer , introduced by hunters in 1952 and whose populations are not controlled, contributed to nearly a third of the forest disappearing since 1952. Over 500 hunters prevent the solution to the problem, especially since there are practically no restrictions. The government in Paris is trying, even if there is no nature protection legislation in this part of the French territory, to mark important habitats. This is especially true for the breeding areas of rare bird species, e.g. B. the yellow-footed ringed plover , which is threatened with extinction. However, terns and other swallows are common. The island of Grand Colombier is one of the most important refuges for sea birds such as razorbills , puffins (around 10,000 breeding pairs) and numerous waders.

A seal sanctuary does not exist, so that if the mother animals scared off by vehicles on the beach leave their offspring, the young have no chance of survival.

traffic

Road traffic

The length of the paved roads is a total of 114 km, another 45 kilometers are unpaved. There is no rail traffic on either island.

The format of the license plates is the same as in France. However, one does not follow the French car number system , because the islands are not a department that was numbered in alphabetical order on French license plates until 2009. Until 1952, all vehicles were numbered in ascending order from 1. Then the code letters “SPM” were placed behind this “serial number”. Since 2000, labels have been used that consist of the code letters "SPM", a serial number and an identification letter.

Shipping

In 2005 a cargo ship reached Saint-Pierre with a new ferry from Norway

From St. Pierre to Fortune on Newfoundland there is a catamaran ferry that does not carry any vehicles.

air traffic

The St. Pierre airport has a runway of 1800 meters length. Miquelon has a lane of 1000 meters.

The airline Air Saint-Pierre connects St. Pierre with Miquelon and various places on the Canadian mainland. Travel to and from France required a change of trains until June 2018, usually in Montreal . The flight route from St. Pierre to Miquelon is one of the shortest scheduled flight routes in the world.

Since July 2, 2018, ASL Airlines France has been connecting St. Pierre Airport non-stop with Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle Airport during the summer . The medium- haul aircraft Boeing 737-700 will be used for the flight .

literature

Web links

Commons : Saint-Pierre and Miquelon  - Collection of Images
Wikivoyage: Saint Pierre and Miquelon  - Travel Guide

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ He published his Delle Navigationi et Viaggi , 3 vol., Venice 1550 as early as 1550.
  2. ↑ William Taverner . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
  3. ^ Christian Fleury: Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, îles frontière. In: Norois 190 (2004) 25-40.
  4. ^ A b D. W. Prowse: A History of Newfoundland . McMillan & Co, London 1895, ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON, THE FRENCH COLONY, S. 565-584 .
  5. ^ Sir PT McGrath: The second St. Pierre. In: New England Magazine, May 1903, Volume 28, new series, pp. 285-298.
  6. ^ Morts pour la France
  7. ↑ On the constitution, cf. Guide de Légistique
  8. ↑ Tourism Saint-Pierre et Miquelon. Saint Pierre et Miquelon Collectivité Territorial, accessed June 27, 2020 (entry requirements).
  9. ↑ Stefan Eiselin: Small French island gets connection. aerotelegraph.com from July 18, 2018.

Coordinates: 46 ° 51 ′  N , 56 ° 19 ′  W