The island of Martinique, one of the Small Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, had been inhabited by the indigenous Caribs until the arrival of European settlers -Spaniards and French- whose activities in the island led to the extinction of the aboriginals. French colonization dates back to 1635. Historical accounts determine 1660 as the year when the last Carib dwellers were annihilated or forced to flee to other lands.

Just as in the rest of Antilles, colonization brought about slave trading from African countries, which went on for 2 centuries. The black inhabitants were mainly used in tobacco, coffee and sugar plantations.

The British Empire challenged France for the control of the island from 1794 to 1815 and hence Martinique saw its status altered in a number of occasions. There were also several slave uprisings, which were harshly put out by Napoleon. Slavery was not abolished in Martinique until 1848 as black people became French citizens.

The end of the slavery was followed by the arrival of immigrants from different parts of the globe -India, China, and Africans- in order to replace the labour force slaves had left vacant. Most of these economic migrants ended up settling in the island for good.

Administrative situation

In 1946, Martinique ceased to be a French colony and became an overseas department, a French territory without autonomy. In 1983 it was granted the status of region and established a regional council with some powers over the island affairs.

Just as Guadeloupe, Guiana and Reunion, Martinique is currently one of the 26 French regions and also an overseas department. It sends 2 deputies to the French Assembly and 2 senators to the French senate. On January 24 Martinicans approved by referendum to merge the General and the Regional councils into one administration and therefore become a single collectivity.

Political life

National Martinican political parties gained momentum particularly after the establishment of the new status in 1946. One of the most significant political and cultural personalities of the island in the second half of the XX century was Aimé Césaire. Politician, poet and essayist, he was the mayor of the capital, Fort-de-France, and president of the Regional Council. Most importantly, Césaire was a champion of the emancipation of colonized peoples and a dazzling voice against the prevailing white racism in French colonies. In 1958 Césaire founded the Martinican Progressive Party (PPM), which would become the country's main pro-autonomy political platform. The first groups in favour of full independence, such as the Organisation of the Martinican Anti-colonial Youth (OJAM) and the National Movement for the Liberation of Martinique were set up soon after.

Today, Martinican pro-sovereignty parties are preponderant in the island, as the results of the last French regional elections show. The main pro-autonomy list, Serge Letchimy's Together for a New Martinique, got 40% of the vote, while the pro-independence party currently in power, Alfred Marie-Jeanne's Patriotes Martiniquais et Sympathisants obtained 32% of the share. Rassemblement Démocratique pour la Martinique, another pro-autonomy party led by Madeleine de Grandmaison, came last with a 6.8% of the vote. Sarkozy's metropolitan UMP only attained a10%.