1987 Edition

Climate

tropical; moderated by trade winds; rainy season (June to October) Terrain; mountainous with indented coastline

Coastline

290 km

Comparative area

slightly smaller than Rhode Island

Continental shelf

200 meters or to depth of exploitation

Environment

subject to hurricanes, flooding, and volcanic activity that results in an average of one major natural disaster every five years

Extended economic zone

200 nm

Land use

10% arable land; 8% permanent crops; 30% meadows and pastures; 26% forest and woodland; 26% other; includes 5% irrigated

Special notes

northernmost of Windward Islands

Territorial sea

12 nm

Total area

—1Okm Caribbean Sea Caribbaan Sea Le Vauclin

1,100 km?; land area: 1,060 km?

Ethnic divisions

90% African and African-Caucasian-Indian mixture, 5% Caucasian, less than 5% East Indian, Lebanese, Chinese

Infant mortality rate

12.6/1,000 (1981)

Labor force

100,000; 31.7% service industry, 29.4% construction and public works, 13.1% agriculture, 7.3% industry, 2.2% fisheries, 16.3% other; 14% unemployed

Language

French, Creole patois

Life expectancy

68

Literacy

over 70%

Nationality

noun—Martiniquais (sing. and -pl.); adjective—Martiniquais

Organized labor

11% of labor force

Population

344,922 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 1.84%

Religion

95% Roman Catholic, 5% Hindu and pagan African

Administrative divisions

3 arrondissements; 34 communes, each with a locally elected municipal council

Branches

executive—Prefect appointed by Paris; legislative—popularly elected council of 36 members and a Regional Council, including all members of the local general council and the locally elected deputies and senators to the French parliament; judicial—under jurisdiction of French judicial system

Capital

Fort-de-France

Communists

1,000 estimated

Elections

General Council election normally held every five years; last General Council election took place in June 1981; regional assembly elections held February Political parties and leaders: Rally for the Republic (RPR), Emile Maurice; Progressive Party of Martinique (PPM), Aimé Césaire; Communist Party of Martinique (PCM), Armand Nicolas; Command Party of Martinique (PCM), Léon-Laurent Valére

Government leader

Edward LACROIX, Commissioner (since 1985)

Legal system

French legal system; highest court is a court of appeal based in Martinique with jurisdiction over Guadeloupe, French Guiana, and Martinique

Member of

WFTU

Official name

Department of Martinique

Other political or pressure groups

Proletarian Action Group (GAP); Alhed MarieJeanne Socialist Revolution Group (GRS), Martinique Independence Movement (MIM), Caribbean Revolutionary Alliance (ARC), Central Union for Martinique Workers (CSTM), Mare Pulvar; Frantz Fanon Circle; League of Workers and Peasants

Suffrage

universal over age 18

Type

overseas department and region of France; represented by three deputies in the French National Assembly and two senators in the Senate

Voting strength

RPR, | seat in French National Assembly; UDF, 1 seat; Socialist Party, I seat

Agriculture

bananas, pineapples, vegetables, flowers, sugarcane for rum

Aid

bilateral ODA and OOF commitments (1970-81) from Western (non-US) countries, $3.1 billion

Budget

expenditures, $215 million (1981)

Electric power

108,000 kW capacity; 330 million kWh produced, 1,010 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$115 million (1983); refined petroleum products, bananas, rum, pineapples

Fiscal year

calendar year

Imports

$744 million (1983); petroleum products, foodstuffs, construction materials, vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods

Major industries

construction, rum, cement, oil refining, light industry, tourism

Major trade partners

exports—56% France (1978); imports—62% France, 28% EC and franc zone, 4.5% US, 5.5% other (1977)

Monetary conversion rate

6.62 French francs=US$1 (November 1986)

Natural resources

scenery, cultivable land

Airfields

3 total; 3 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m

Civil air

no major transport aircraft

Highways

1,680 km total; 1,300 km paved, 380 km gravel and earth

Ports

1 major (Fort-de-France), 5 minor

Railroads

none

Telecommunications

domestic facilities are adequate; 68,900 telephones (21.5 per 100 popl.); interisland radio-relay links to Guadeloupe, Dominica, and St. Lucia; 2 Atlantic Ocean satellite antennas; 1 AM, 7 FM, 10 TV stations

Military manpower

males 15-49, 92,000