Saint Martin (1983: Doomsday)

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Republic of Saint Martin
Timeline: 1983: Doomsday
OTL equivalent: Saint martin, Sint maarten

Flag Coat of Arms Location of St Martin Motto Semper progrediens (Latin) ("Always progressing")
Anthem	"O Sweet Saint Martin's Land"
Capital (and largest city)	Philipsburg
Language   official	English
others	Mauritian Creole, French, Bhojpuri
Demonym	Saint Martiner
Government	Presidential republic
President
Prime Minister	Navin Ramgoolam
Area	546,040 km²
Population	35.000
Independence	from Dutch Antiles, France
declared	23 March 1985
Currency	Saint Martinese Dollar

Saint Martin , officially known as the Republic of Saint Martin is a parliamentary republic claiming to be the successor to the Franco-Dutch governship. With the advent of Doomsday, each region first consolidated their hold, then built up a united government, which in many ways acts as the renewal of Saint Martin.

History

It is commonly believed that Christopher Columbus named the island in honour of Saint Martin of Tours when he encountered it on his second voyage of discovery. However, he actually applied the name to the island now called Nevis when he anchored offshore on 11 November 1493, the feast day of Saint Martin. The confusion of numerous poorly charted small islands in the Leeward Islands meant that this name was accidentally transferred to the island now known as Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten.

After jointly reclaiming the island, on 23 March 1648, the Kingdom of France and the Dutch Republic agreed to divide the island between their two territories, and created a formal border with the signing of the Treaty of Concordia. Later conflicts resulted in 16 border changes over the years, but it has been stable since 1816. The French side had 21 square miles (54 km2) and the Dutch side, 16 square miles (41 km2).

After abolition of slavery, plantation culture declined and the island's economy suffered. In 1939, St. Martin received a major boost when it was declared a duty-free port. The Dutch began focusing on tourism in the 1950s. It took the French another twenty years to start developing their tourism industry. Currently, tourism provides the backbone of the economy for both sides of the island.