SAINT MARTIN (The French - North) and SINT MAARTEN (The Netherlands - South

18°4.23'N - 63°4.56'W (Marigot Bay)

18°2.19'N - 63°6.59'W (Simpson Bay)

Wonderful Island.

Saint Martin (French: Saint-Martin; Dutch: Sint Maarten) is an island in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately 300 km (190 mi) east of Puerto Rico. The 87 square kilometres (34 sq mi) island is divided roughly 60:40 between the French Republic (53 square kilometres (20 sq mi))[1] and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (34 square kilometres (13 sq mi)),[2] but the Dutch part is more populated than the French part. The division dates to 1648. The northern French part comprises the Collectivity of Saint Martin and is an overseas collectivity of the French Republic. As part of France, the French part of the island is also part of the European Union.[6] The southern Dutch part comprises Sint Maarten and is one of four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

This island is situation at the top end of the Leaward Islands in the Caribbean. It has been occupied by the French and by the Netherlands over many years and, in the year , it was decided that they should not fight over the island but instead, they should split into two separate parts one area for the French and the other for the Netherlands. Whether it is true or not, I cannot say, but it is rumoured that in order to determine what land each of the countries should own and occupy, one of the senior officials from each country should set off from a given point to walk in oposite directions around the island. The point being that where they met again (on the other side of the island), they would take a line directly back to the starting point and that would divide the island into two. True or not it is a great story.

Images of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten