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Petit Martinique


Petite Martinique is one of the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, which is a dependency of Grenada.

It is 2½ miles away from Carriacou. With its 586 acres (2.37 km2) and population of 900, it is smaller than Carriacou. Petite Martinique is much smaller, comprising about 9.8% of the total area and 30% of the entire population which is estimated at 10,000. The residents of this island live by boat-building, fishing and seafaring.

The first European founder of the island of Petite Martinique was a French fisherman called Mr. Pierre from Martinique. In the early 1700s, Mr. Pierre, left his home island of Martinique in search for new fertile lands to plant his crops. The island was owned by him and his wife ('Madame Pierre'), their children and their slaves. Hence, the largest village was named Madame Pierre after the wife of the French owner. It is thought that he figured that the isle was shaped roughly like Martinique so he named it Petite (little) Martinique.

On 27th Sep 1650, Jacques du Parquet bought Grenada from the Compagnie des Iles de l'Amerique, which was dissolved, for the equivalent of £1160. In 1657, Jacques du Parquet sold Grenada to the Comte de Cerrillac for the equivalent of £1890. In 1664, King Louis XIV bought out the independent island owners and established the French West India Company. In 1674 the French West India Company was dissolved. Proprietary rule ended in Grenada, which became a French crown colony.

Petite Martinique was part of the French colony in 1762. It was part of the British Grenada colony from 1763-1779 and 1783-1974. It was part of French Grenada colony from 1779-1783. It has been a dependency of Grenada since 1974.

The majority of the inhabitants today are of Indian, Scottish, Portuguese, French and African descent. There still is a British influence on the island as it was colonised by the British Empire and it is part of Grenada, a Commonwealth state. There is still a French influence which is demonstrated in village names, such as L'Esterre, La Resource, Beausejour, and others. However, the local French creole is only spoken by older islanders.


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