Black Martinique Island Women !

Jardin de Balata, Martinique

Martinique was originally inhabited by Arawaks fromSouth America, and the majority of those early inhabitants were killed by an eruption of Mount Pelee in 295 AD. 

Near 400 AD, the long-vanquished Arawaks returned to the island. Around 600 AD, the cannibalistic Caribs arrived, exterminated the Arawaks and permanently settled on the island. 

Children of Martinique   

Identification. Early in his exploration of the New World, the Amerindian inhabitants of Cuba and Hispanola told Christopher Columbus about a smaller island which they called Martinino. Coming to the island in 1502, Columbus gave it the name Martinique. Indigenous Carib islanders called it Madiana or Madinina ("Island of Flowers"), designations still used informally in song and poetry. The Carib Indians of Martinique, however, were eradicated by the French in the seventeenth century and ensuing Martinican history and culture has been the result of creolization between French colonial and African slave societies. Martinicans are French citizens.

Location and Geography. Situated in the Lesser Antilles of the Windward Islands in the Caribbean, with the islands of Dominica to the north and Saint Lucia to the south, Martinique measures 431 square miles (1,120 square kilometers). It is a mountainous, tropical island of volcanic origin. The 1902 explosion of Mount Pelée totally destroyed the major town of Saint Pierre resulting in the capital being relocated to Fort-de-France.

Demography. As of July 1998 the population of Martinique was estimated at 407,284. Another 30 percent of Martinicans currently reside in France. Almost half as many people are born in France of Martinican parents as there are residents of Martinique itself. About 5 percent of the population residing in Martinique hail from France. Only about 2,500 Martinicans on the island are direct descendants of the original French settlers ( békés ). Most of the fewer than five thousand resident foreigners are agricultural laborers from other Caribbean islands.