Saint Martin

Saint Martin (French: Saint-Martin; Dutch: Sint Maarten) is an island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately 300 km (190 mi) east of Puerto Rico. The 87-square-kilometre (34 sq mi) island is divided roughly 60/40 between France (53 km², 20 sq mi) and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (34 km², 13 sq mi); the two parts are roughly equal in population though, with slightly more people living on the Dutch side. It is the smallest inhabited island divided between two nations. The division dates to 1648. The southern Dutch part comprises Sint Maarten and is one of four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The northern French part comprises the Collectivité de Saint-Martin (Collectivity of St. Martin) and is an overseas collectivity of France.

On January 1, 2009, the population of the entire island was 77,741 inhabitants, with 40,917 living on the Dutch side, and 36,824 on the French side.

Collectively, the two territories are known as "St-Martin / St Maarten". Sometimes SXM, the IATA identifier for Princess Juliana International Airport (the island's main airport), is used to refer to the island.

Collectivity of Saint Martin

Saint Martin (French: Saint-Martin), officially the Collectivity of Saint Martin (French: Collectivité de Saint-Martin) is an overseas collectivity of France located in the Caribbean. It came into being on 15 July 2007, encompassing the northern 60% of Saint Martin island and neighbouring islets, the largest of which is Île Tintamarre. The southern 40% of the island, Sint Maarten, is one of the four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Its capital is Marigot. It has a population of 36,286 (as of Jan. 2011) on 53.2 square kilometres (20.5 sq mi).

It is separated from the island of Anguilla by the Anguilla Channel.

Politics and government

Saint Martin was for many years a French commune, forming part of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas région and département of France. In 2003 the population of the French part of the island voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe in order to form a separate overseas collectivity (COM) of France. On 9 February 2007, the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both the French part of Saint Martin and (separately) the neighbouring Saint Barthélemy. The new status took effect once the local assembly was elected on 15 February 2007. Saint Martin remains part of the European Union.

St. Martin, Graubünden

St. Martin (German: Sankt Martin, Romansh: Sogn Martin) is a municipality in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2015 the former municipality of St. Martin merged into the municipality of Vals.

History

The village was settled around the 14th Century by Walser immigrants. Initially it was a held in fief for the Bishop of Chur by the von Tersnaus and von Mont families. In 1457 the German-speaking population was forbidden from purchasing land or marrying in the neighboring village of Tersnaus. The village church (consecrated 1345) was initially under the parish church of St. Vinzenz in Pleif (in Vella municipality), but in 1528 came under the authority of Tersnaus. After 1776, St. Martin's village church had a German-speaking Prebend though in 1868 it fell back under the authority of Tersnaus.

By 1671 the farm houses of St. Martin's were a neighborhood in Tersnaus, and in 1878 the municipality separated from Tersnaus to become politically independent. The municipality remained firmly rural, and in 1972-73 became the last municipality in Switzerland to be connected to the electric grid.