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 150 cm/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

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:

William MARLIN (since 19 November 2015)

cabinet:

Cabinet

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

description:

unicameral parliament or Staten (15 seats; members directly elected by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held 17 September 2010 (next to be held in 2014)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - National Alliance 45.9%, UPP 36.1%, Democratic Party 17.1%, other .9%;
• seats by party - National Alliance 7, UPP 6, Democratic Party 2

highest court(s):

• Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, and of Bonaire, Sint Eustatitus, and Saba or "Joint Court of Justice" (consists of the presiding judge, other members, and their substitutes);
• final appeals heard by the Supreme Court, in The Hague, Netherlands;
• note - prior to 2010, the Joint Court of Justice was the Common Court of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba

judge selection and term of office:

Joint Court judges appointed by the monarch for life

subordinate courts:

Courts in First Instance

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

• 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