Culture of Saint Martin

The culture of St. Martin is a blend of its African, French, British, and Dutch heritage. Although St. Martin is a single island, it contains two separate nations: Saint-Martin, a French overseas collectivity; and Sint Maarten, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Although each side's culture is influenced by their respective administering countries, they share enough similar heritage and traditions that it can be difficult to tell where Saint-Martin ends and Sint Maarten begins.

The native Creole population can trace most of their roots to Africa, France, the Netherlands and the British Isles. Only some stones remain from the ruins of the two forts built by the Spanish occupation in its early take over. But during the colonial period, the British settlers and several military dominations left their idiom as the main language spoken on the island, and have made a large impact on St. Martin's culture.

Nowadays, due to a major influx of immigrants searching for better employment and living conditions, over the past twenty years the number of Creoles has been surpassed by the number of immigrants. Today, the island's population of 69,000 is truly a melting pot of people from 70 or more different countries.

With so many different nationalities present, quite a few languages are spoken. An English-based creole is the main local vernacular. However, the official languages are French for Saint-Martin, with Dutch and English being official for Sint Maarten. Other common languages include various French creoles (spoken by French Caribbean immigrants), Spanish (spoken by immigrants from the Dominican Republic), and Papiamento (spoken by immigrants from Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao).

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