While the French wanted to colonize the islands between Trinidad and Bermuda, the Dutch found San Martín a convenient halfway point between their colonies in New Amsterdam (present day New York) and New Holland. Nominally Spanish territory, the island became the focus of the competing interest of the European powers, notably France, Britain and the Netherlands. 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.
However, he actually applied the name to the island now called Nevis when he anchored offshore on November 11, 1493, the feast day of Saint Martin. It is commonly believed that Christopher Columbus named the island in honor of Saint Martin of Tours when he encountered it on his second voyage of discovery. The 1633 Spanish capture of Saint Martin, as painted by Juan de la Corte The island was named by Christopher Columbus in honour of St Martin of Tours, as he first sighted it on the saint's feast day on 11 November 1493. On 6 and 7 September 2017, the island was hit by Category 5+ Hurricane Irma, which caused widespread and significant damage to buildings and infrastructure. Sint Maarten has the status of an overseas country and territory (OCT) and is not part of the European Union. Collectively, Sint Maarten and the other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean.īefore 10 October 2010, Sint Maarten was known as the Island Territory of Sint Maarten ( Dutch: Eilandgebied Sint Maarten), and was one of six island territories ( eilandgebieden) that constituted the Netherlands Antilles. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of 41.44 km 2 (16.00 sq mi), it encompasses the southern 40% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the northern 60% of the island constitutes the French overseas collectivity of Saint Martin. Sint Maarten ( Dutch: Sint Maarten, pronounced ( listen)) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean.