11th November: Sint Maarten

It was this date in 1493 when Columbus first sighted the island where Sint Maarten is situated. Here are some facts about Sint Maarten.

1. Sint Maarten is an island country in the Caribbean, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 33,609 on an area of 34 km2 (13 sq mi).
2. The country is situated on the island of Saint Martin, and encompasses 40% of it. The other 60% of the island belongs to France, making it the smallest island in the world to be divided between two countries.
3. The first European to spot it was Christopher Columbus on 11 November 1493. 11 November is Saint Martin's Day, hence this is the name Columbus gave to the island. He claimed it for Spain, but never landed there, and for a long time the Spanish had no interest in colonising it.
4. France and the Netherlands, however, were very interested indeed and so, to an extent were the British - so Dutch, French and British colonies sprang up there, at which point Spain decided they wanted it after all and captured it, driving all the other colonies away. The Netherlands made several attempts to win it back but failed, and it was only when Spain could no longer make a profit from St Martin and left in 1648 that the Dutch and the French were able to return. France and the Netherlands fought over the island at first, but eventually agreed to share and signed a treaty. On Oct. 10, 2010, the Dutch side became an independent country within the Dutch Kingdom.
5. Although two different countries control the island, there is no real “border crossing.” Instead, monuments and signs delineate the border. More than 350 years ago the two countries decided that residents of either country should be able to easily travel from one side of the island to the other.
6. The capital is Philipsburg.
7. Sint Maarten is a popular tourist destination and is known for its beaches. Its most famous and most photographed beach is Maho Beach, which is so close to Princess Juliana International Airport that planes pass within 35 metres of it as they come in to land. Those pictures of planes flying so low over a beach that swimwear clad people look as if they could reach up and touch a huge, low flying plane - this is here. A great place for plane spotting but not so good for train spotters, as there are no railways.
8. Around 200 nationalities live peacefully together on the island, and on a clear day you can see 5 islands belonging to 4 different nations. These are France’s Saint Barthélemy, the Netherlands’ Sint Eustatius (Statia) and Saba, Britain’s Anguilla, and independent islands St Kitts and Nevis.
9. The word "cannibal" originated here. Originally, two native tribes lived here, the Arawaks and Caribs, and they were constantly at war. The Caribs would take the Arawak women and eat the men. The word “cannibal” comes from an original Arawak term for the Carib tribe.
10. In 2014, St. Maarten had more gaming machines per resident than any other country in the world.