This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(June 2009) |
Fort-de-France(/ˌfɔːrdəˈfrɒ̃s/,USalso/ˌfɔːrtdəˈfræns/,French:[fɔʁdəfʁɑ̃s]ⓘ;Martinican Creole:Fodfwans) is acommuneand the capital city ofMartinique,anoverseas department and regionof France located in the Caribbean.
Fort-de-France | |
|---|---|
     Top: Fort-de-France skyline; Middle:Fort-de-France Cathedral,Fort Saint Louis; Bottom: Fort-de-France Town Hall, Regional Museum of History and Ethnography of Martinique | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of the commune (in red) within Martinique | |
Location of Fort-de-France  | |
| Coordinates:14°36′00″N61°04′00″W/ 14.60000°N 61.06667°W | |
| Country | France |
| Overseas region and department | Martinique |
| Arrondissement | Fort-de-France |
| Intercommunality | CA Centre de la Martinique |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Didier Laguerre[1](PPM) |
Area 1 | 44.21 km2(17.07 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 75,165 |
| • Density | 1,700/km2(4,400/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC−04:00(AST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 97209/97200 and 97234 (Quartier de Balata) |
| Elevation | 0–1,070 m (0–3,510 ft) |
| 1French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2(0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
History
editIn 1638,Jacques Dyel du Parquet(1606–1658), nephew ofPierre Belain d'Esnambucand first governor of Martinique, decided to have Fort Saint Louis built to protect the city against enemy attacks. The fort was soon destroyed, and rebuilt in 1669, whenLouis XIVappointed the Marquis of Baas as governor general. Under his orders and those of his successors, particularly theCount of Blénac,the fort was built with aVaubandesign.
Originally namedFort-Royal,the administrative capital of Martinique was over-shadowed bySaint-Pierre,the oldest city in the island, which was renowned for its commercial and cultural vibrancy as "The Paris of the Caribbean".
The name of Fort-Royal was changed to a short-lived "Fort-La-Republique" during theFrench Revolution,and finally settled as Fort-de-France sometime in the 19th century. The old name of Fort-Royal is still used today familiarly in its Creole language form of "Foyal", with the inhabitants of the city being "Foyalais".
The city was captured by aBritish expeditionwhich captured Martinique in 1762, but the island was returned to French control in theTreaty of Paris.[3]In 1839, the city was struck by a minorearthquake,and in 1890 saw an outbreak of fire which razed part of the city. By the turn of the 20th century, however, Fort-de-France became economically important after thevolcaniceruption ofMount Peléedestroyed the town ofSaint-Pierrein 1902.
Until 1918, when its commercial growth began, Fort-de-France had an inadequate water supply, was partly surrounded by swamps, and was notorious foryellow fever.Now the swamps are drained to make room for extensive suburbs.
On 3 August 1945, Fort-de-France's hydrobase became the site of Martinique's first fatal airliner crash. ASikorsky S-43(NC15066) on Pan Am Flight 216 arriving fromPort of Spainat 10:11 was landed in poor weather conditions due to safety concerns by the crew and subsequently sank within 10 minutes, killing 4 of the 14 occupants.[4]
Geography
editFort-de-France, also known as the Fort of France, lies on Martinique's west coast at the northern entrance to the largeFort-de-France Bay,at the mouth of the Madame River. The city occupies a narrow plain between the hills and the sea but is accessible by road from all parts of the island.
Climate
editFort-de-France has atropical rainforest climate(KöppenAf), characterised by very warm to hot and humid weather year-round. The wettest months are from July to November when hurricanes are a frequent threat, although substantial rainfall occurs in all months. The hottest month on average is September, and the coldest month on average is February.
| Climate data for Fort-de-France (1991–2020 averages, extremes 1932–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 31.5 (88.7) |
32.1 (89.8) |
33.6 (92.5) |
33.0 (91.4) |
33.9 (93.0) |
33.6 (92.5) |
33.6 (92.5) |
33.0 (91.4) |
33.8 (92.8) |
33.0 (91.4) |
32.1 (89.8) |
31.3 (88.3) |
33.9 (93.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 27.7 (81.9) |
27.9 (82.2) |
28.5 (83.3) |
29.3 (84.7) |
29.8 (85.6) |
29.6 (85.3) |
29.7 (85.5) |
30.2 (86.4) |
30.5 (86.9) |
30.2 (86.4) |
29.2 (84.6) |
28.2 (82.8) |
29.2 (84.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 25.0 (77.0) |
24.9 (76.8) |
25.4 (77.7) |
26.2 (79.2) |
26.8 (80.2) |
27.0 (80.6) |
26.9 (80.4) |
27.3 (81.1) |
27.5 (81.5) |
27.2 (81.0) |
26.4 (79.5) |
25.6 (78.1) |
26.4 (79.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 22.2 (72.0) |
22.0 (71.6) |
22.3 (72.1) |
23.1 (73.6) |
23.6 (74.5) |
24.3 (75.7) |
24.2 (75.6) |
24.4 (75.9) |
24.5 (76.1) |
24.2 (75.6) |
23.7 (74.7) |
23.0 (73.4) |
23.5 (74.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 17.8 (64.0) |
17.3 (63.1) |
18.6 (65.5) |
18.9 (66.0) |
19.9 (67.8) |
20.0 (68.0) |
18.4 (65.1) |
19.5 (67.1) |
17.9 (64.2) |
20.2 (68.4) |
19.7 (67.5) |
17.4 (63.3) |
17.3 (63.1) |
| Averageprecipitationmm (inches) | 113.9 (4.48) |
76.5 (3.01) |
70.5 (2.78) |
108.8 (4.28) |
133.0 (5.24) |
154.1 (6.07) |
205.6 (8.09) |
246.7 (9.71) |
213.9 (8.42) |
243.0 (9.57) |
236.7 (9.32) |
147.8 (5.82) |
1,950.5 (76.79) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 18.6 | 14.1 | 12.2 | 12.6 | 13.2 | 17.0 | 20.6 | 19.2 | 17.2 | 18.0 | 19.2 | 18.1 | 200.0 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 204.2 | 197.6 | 222.1 | 209.5 | 207.5 | 190.3 | 201.5 | 224.6 | 205.3 | 187.4 | 183.2 | 204.0 | 2,437 |
| Source 1: Météo France[5][6][7] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Meteociel.fr (sunshine 1981-2010)[8] | |||||||||||||
Population
editGraphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found onPhabricatorand onMediaWiki.org. |
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 84,811 | — |
| 1967 | 96,943 | +2.25% |
| 1974 | 98,807 | +0.27% |
| 1982 | 99,844 | +0.13% |
| 1990 | 100,080 | +0.03% |
| 1999 | 94,049 | −0.69% |
| 2007 | 89,794 | −0.58% |
| 2012 | 85,667 | −0.94% |
| 2017 | 80,041 | −1.35% |
| Source: SPLAF[9]and INSEE (1967-2017)[10] | ||
Naval port
editFort Saint Louisin Fort-de-France is a French naval base.
Government
editAs of 27 June 2021, the Mayor of Fort de France isSerge Letchimyreplacing Alfred Marie-Jeanne as the new mayor of the capitol. With a participation rate of little over 44% the Letchimy PartyAlians Matinikreceived 37,72% of the votes, whereas Marie Jeanna who came in a close second withGran Sanblé Pou Matinikacquired 35,27% of the votes. The commune of Fort-de-France makes upMartinique's 3rd constituencyfor theNational Assembly.[11]
Main sights
edit- Fort Desaix
- Place de la Savane
- Jardin de Balata,abotanical garden
- Fort-de-France Cathedral
- A statue ofEmpressJoséphine,the wife ofNapoleonin the gardens of La Savane was destroyed by anti-racist protestors in 2020.[12]
Transport
editMartinique Aimé Césaire International Airportis located in a suburb outside Fort-de-France.
People
edit- Manon Tardon(1913–1989), Resistance fighter
- Frantz Fanon(1925–1961), psychiatrist, political philosopher and revolutionary
- Julienne Salvat(1932–2019), teacher, poet,femme de lettres,actress
- Karine Jean-Pierre(born 1974), organizer, activist,White House Press Secretary(since 2022)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^"Répertoire national des élus: les maires".data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises(in French). 2 December 2020.
- ^"Populations de référence 2022"(in French).The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.19 December 2024.
- ^*Robson, Martin (2016).A History of the Royal Navy: The Seven Years War.London: Taurus. pp.171–173.ISBN9781780765457.
- ^"ASN Aircraft accident Sikorsky S-43 NC15066 Fort de France Hydrobase".aviation-safety.net.Retrieved11 August2023.
- ^"Données climatiques de la station de Fort de France"(in French). Météo France. Archived fromthe originalon 27 June 2019.Retrieved31 January2016.
- ^"Climat Martinique".Météo France. Archived fromthe originalon 27 June 2019.Retrieved31 January2016.
- ^"Fort–de–France Desaix (972)"(PDF).Fiche Climatologique: Statistiques 1981–2010 et records(in French). Météo France. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 30 March 2018.Retrieved29 March2018.
- ^"Normales / Moyennes 1981-2010 / Fort-de-France Desaix (972)"(in French).Météo-France.Retrieved29 August2022.
- ^SPLAF (Site sur la Population et les Limites Administratives de la France)."Agglomérations et villes de la Martinique".Retrieved23 February2021.
- ^Population en historique depuis 1968,INSEE
- ^"Élections territoriales 2021 en Martinique: Retrouvez tous les résultats".28 June 2021.
- ^"Anti-racism protesters in Martinique tear down statue of Napoleon's wife".RFI.27 July 2020.Retrieved30 July2021.
External links
edit
- Official website
- Base Mérimée:Search for heritage in the commune,Ministère français de la Culture.(in French)
- .The American Cyclopædia.1879.