CATEGORIES
◆ COMMUNICATIONS(4 fields)
Airports
total: 2 usable: 2 with permanent-surface runways: 1 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 0
Highways
total: 1,680 km paved: 1,300 km unpaved: gravel, earth 380 km
Ports
Fort-de-France
Telecommunications
domestic facilities are adequate; 68,900 telephones; interisland microwave radio relay links to Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Saint Lucia; broadcast stations - 1 AM, 6 FM, 10 TV; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
◆ DEFENSE FORCES(2 fields)
Branches
French Forces, Gendarmerie
Note
defense is the responsibility of France
◆ ECONOMY(19 fields)
Agriculture
including fishing and forestry, accounts for about 10% of GDP; principal crops - pineapples, avocados, bananas, flowers, vegetables, sugarcane for rum; dependent on imported food, particularly meat and vegetables
Budget
revenues: $268 million expenditures: $268 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989 est.)
Currency
1 French franc (F) = 100 centimes
Economic aid
recipient: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $10.1 billion
Electricity
capacity: 113,100 kW production: 588 million kWh consumption per capita: 1,580 kWh (1992)
Exchange rates
French francs (F) per US$1 - 5.9305 (January 1994), 5.6632 (1993), 5.2938 (1992), 5.6421 (1991), 5.4453 (1990), 6.3801 (1989)
Exports
$201.5 million (f.o.b., 1991) commodities: refined petroleum products, bananas, rum, pineapples partners: France 57.1%, Guadeloupe 31.5%, French Guiana 6.2%
External debt
$NA
Fiscal year
calendar year
Illicit drugs
transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for the US and Europe
Imports
$1.5 billion (c.i.f., 1991) commodities: petroleum products, crude oil, foodstuffs, construction materials, vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods partners: France 62.2%, UK, Italy, Germany, Japan, US
Industrial production
growth rate NA%
Industries
construction, rum, cement, oil refining, sugar, tourism
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
3.9% (1990)
National product
GDP - exchange rate conversion - $3.3 billion (1991)
National product per capita
$9,500 (1991)
National product real growth rate
NA%
Overview
The economy is based on sugarcane, bananas, tourism, and light industry. Agriculture accounts for about 10% of GDP and the small industrial sector for 10%. Sugar production has declined, with most of the sugarcane now used for the production of rum. Banana exports are increasing, going mostly to France. The bulk of meat, vegetable, and grain requirements must be imported, contributing to a chronic trade deficit that requires large annual transfers of aid from France. Tourism has become more important than agricultural exports as a source of foreign exchange. The majority of the work force is employed in the service sector and in administration. Banana workers launched protests late in 1992 because of falling banana prices and fears of greater competition in the European market from other producers.
Unemployment rate
32.1% (1990)
◆ GEOGRAPHY(13 fields)
Area
total area: 1,100 sq km land area: 1,060 sq km comparative area: slightly more than six times the size of Washington, DC
Climate
tropical; moderated by trade winds; rainy season (June to October)
Coastline
290 km
Environment
current issues: NA natural hazards: subject to hurricanes, flooding, and volcanic activity that result in an average of one major natural disaster every five years international agreements: NA
International disputes
none
Irrigated land
60 sq km (1989 est.)
Land boundaries
0 km
Land use
arable land: 10% permanent crops: 8% meadows and pastures: 30% forest and woodland: 26% other: 26%
Location
Caribbean, in the Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Venezuela
Map references
Central America and the Caribbean, South America
Maritime claims
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
Natural resources
coastal scenery and beaches, cultivable land
Terrain
mountainous with indented coastline; dormant volcano
◆ GOVERNMENT(23 fields)
Administrative divisions
none (overseas department of France)
Capital
Fort-de-France
Constitution
28 September 1958 (French Constitution)
Digraph
MB
Diplomatic representation in US
none (overseas department of France)
Executive branch
chief of state: President Francois MITTERRAND (since 21 May 1981) head of government: Prefect Michel MORIN (since NA); President of the General Council Claude LISE (since 22 March 1992); President of the Regional Council Emile CAPGRAS (since 22 March 1992) cabinet: Council of Ministers
Flag
the flag of France is used
French National Assembly
elections last held on NA June 1993 (next to be held June 1998); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (4 total) RPR 3, FSM 1
French Senate
elections last held 24 September 1989 (next to be held NA); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (2 total) UDF 1, PPM 1
General Council
elections last held in 25 September and 8 October 1988 (next to be held by NA); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (44 total) number of seats by party NA; note - a leftist coalition obtained a one-seat margin
Independence
none (overseas department of France)
Judicial branch
Supreme Court
Legal system
French legal system
Legislative branch
unicameral General Council and a unicameral Regional Assembly
Member of
FZ, WCL, WFTU
Names
conventional long form: Department of Martinique conventional short form: Martinique local long form: Departement de la Martinique local short form: Martinique
National holiday
National Day, Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)
Other political or pressure groups
Proletarian Action Group (GAP); Alhed Marie-Jeanne Socialist Revolution Group (GRS); Caribbean Revolutionary Alliance (ARC); Central Union for Martinique Workers (CSTM), Marc PULVAR; Frantz Fanon Circle; League of Workers and Peasants; Parti Martiniquais Socialiste (PMS)
Political parties and leaders
Rally for the Republic (RPR), Stephen BAGOE; Union for a Martinique of Progress (UMP); Martinique Progressive Party (PPM), Aime CESAIRE and Camille DARSIERES; Socialist Federation of Martinique (FSM), Jean CRUSOL; Martinique Communist Party (PCM); Martinique Patriots (PM); Union for French Democracy (UDF), Jean MARAN; Martinique Independence Movement (MIM), Alfred MARIE-JEANNE
Regional Assembly
elections last held on 22 March 1992 (next to be held by March 1998); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (41 total) RPR-UDF 16, MIM 9, PPM 9, PCM 5, independents 2
Suffrage
18 years of age; universal
Type
overseas department of France
US diplomatic representation
the post closed in August 1993 (overseas department of France)
◆ PEOPLE(14 fields)
Birth rate
17.96 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate
5.95 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Ethnic divisions
African and African-Caucasian-Indian mixture 90%, Caucasian 5%, East Indian, Lebanese, Chinese less than 5%
Infant mortality rate
10.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Labor force
100,000 by occupation: service industry 31.7%, construction and public works 29.4%, agriculture 13.1%, industry 7.3%, fisheries 2.2%, other 16.3%
Languages
French, Creole patois
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 78.01 years male: 74.88 years female: 81.2 years (1994 est.)
Literacy
age 15 and over can read and write (1982) total population: 93% male: 92% female: 93%
Nationality
noun: Martiniquais (singular and plural) adjective: Martiniquais
Net migration rate
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Population
392,362 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate
1.2% (1994 est.)
Religions
Roman Catholic 95%, Hindu and pagan African 5%
Total fertility rate
1.92 children born/woman (1994 est.)