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;
• hurricane season stretches from July to November

• 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:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.08 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

0.96 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.95 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.94 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.92 male(s)/female

total population:

0.97 male(s)/female (2013 est.)

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)

• Staatsregeling, 10 October 2010;
• revised Kingdom Charter pending previous 1947, 1955;
• latest adopted 21 July 2010, entered into force 10 October 2010 (regulates governance of Sint Maarten but is subordinate to the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands);
• note - in October 2010, with the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, Sint Maarten became a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands (2013)

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 - 1-721;
• 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) (2010)

major seaport(s):

Philipsburg

oil terminals:

Coles Bay oil terminal