Sint Maarten

• Caribbean, located in the Leeward Islands (northern) group;
• Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin in the Caribbean Sea;
• Sint Maarten lies east of the US Virgin Islands

• tropical marine climate, ameliorated by northeast trade winds, results in moderate temperatures;
• average rainfall of 1500 mm/year;
• July-November is the hurricane season

• the northern border is shared with the French overseas collectivity of Saint Martin;
• together, these two entities make up the smallest landmass in the world shared by two self-governing states

at birth:

0.98 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

0.96 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.92 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.81 male(s)/female

total population:

0.92 male(s)/female (2010)

total population:

NA

male:

73.1 years

female:

78.2 years (2009)

Dutch long form:

Land Sint Maarten

Dutch short form:

Sint Maarten

English long form:

Country of Sint Maarten

English short form:

Sint Maarten

former:

Netherlands Antilles; Curacao and Dependencies

• constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands;
• full autonomy in internal affairs granted in 2010;
• Dutch Government responsible for defense and foreign affairs

name:

Philipsburg

geographic coordinates:

18 1 N, 63 2 W

time difference:

UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

chief of state:

Queen BEATRIX of the Netherlands (since 30 April 1980); represented by Governor General Eugene HOLIDAY (since 10 October 2010)

head of government:

Sarah WESCOTT-WILLIAMS (since 10 October 2010)

cabinet:

Cabinet; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

• the monarch is hereditary;
• governor general appointed by the monarch for a six-year term;
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is usually elected prime minister by the legislature

• Democratic Party or DP [Sarah WESCOTT-WILLIAMS];
• National Alliance or NA [William MARLIN];
• United People's Party or UPP [Theodore HEYLIGER];
• Concordia Political Alliance or CPA [Jeffery RICHARDSON]

• two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and blue with a white isosceles triangle based on the hoist side;
• the center of the triangle displays the Sint Maarten coat of arms;
• the arms consist of an orange-bordered blue shield prominently displaying the white court house in Philipsburg, as well as a bouquet of yellow sage (the national flower) in the upper left, and the silhouette of a Dutch-French friendship monument in the upper right;
• the shield is surmounted by a yellow rising sun in front of which is a Brown Pelican in flight;
• a yellow scroll below the shield bears the motto: SEMPER PROGREDIENS (Always Progressing);
• the three main colors are identical to those on the Dutch flag

note: the flag somewhat resembles that of the Philippines, but with the main red and blue bands reversed; the banner more closely evokes the wartime Philippine flag

agriculture:

1.1%

industry:

15.2%

services:

83.7% (2008 est.)

general assessment:

generally adequate facilities

domestic:

extensive interisland microwave radio relay links

international:

• country code - 599 (country code changes to 1-721 effective 30 September 2011);
• the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) and the Americas-2 submarine cable systems provide connectivity to Central America, parts of South America and the Caribbean, and the US;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

• the Royal Netherlands Navy maintains a permanent and active presence in the region from its main operating base on Curacao and through a detachment on Sint Maarten;
• other local security forces include a coast guard, paramilitary National Guard (Vrijwilligers Korps Sint Maarten), and Police Force (KPSM) (2010)