Have you ever wondered.....

About the island of St Maarten?? This is my blog dedicated to some interesting facts about St Maarten! St Maarten (on the Dutch side) and St Martin (on the French side) is the smallest land mass to be owned by two countries. The border from one to the other is hardly recognizable. It's almost like passing from one state to the next, everything looks the same and the only reason you know your in the other place is by the sign that says "Welcome." We are surrounded by the Caribbean Sea to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The land area of the island is 36 square miles (9 miles across at the widest point.)

Here are a few facts about the Dutch side:

Official Language: Dutch

Other languages: English (mostly spoken),Spanish, Creole and Papiamento

Population:50,000

Capital: Philispburg

Official currency: Netherlands Antilles Guilder (Nafl)

Other currency accepted: US dollar (widely used), credit cards and Travelers Checks

Electricity: 120 volt 60 cycles (North American standard)

And a few facts about the French side:

Official Language: French

Other Languages: English,Spanish, Creole and Papiamento

Population:36,000

Capital: Marigot

Official currency: Euro

Other currency accepted: US dollar (widely used), credit cards and Travelers Checks.

Electricity: 220 volt 60 cycles (European standard)

Tomorrow is St Maarten/St Martin Day. Its the day they celebrate the way they decided to divide up the island between the two countries. The historical truth is that a Dutchman and a Frenchman stood back to back and walked in opposite directions around the shoreline, drawing the boundary from the spot where they met. This all took place after Spain no longer needed a base in the Caribbean after the war with Spain and the Netherlands. Soon after Spain left the island the Dutch and the French claimed it.

The question is why is the French side so much bigger than the Dutch side? Was the Frenchman just that much faster?? Legend has it that as they continued their journey, the Frenchman quenched his thirst with water, but the Dutchman added a rightful portion of gin to his. Overcome by the heat, he stopped to take a nap in the shade of a tree and fell sound asleep. His opponent in the meantime advanced several miles in his own direction, which proved detrimental to the Dutch. This is the reason why the northern French part of the island is larger.
So the weather...have you wondered what that's like?? The average temps range between 80-87 degrees. At night temps usually range between 70-78 degrees. The average temperature of the crystal clear waters surrounding St Maarten ranges from 78-80F in the winter, and 82-84F in the summer.
What about beaches?? There are over 30 beautiful white sandy beaches on St. Maarten. The French beaches reflect a more liberal attitude with some being topless or nude beaches. The Dutch side has some topless beaches, and one nude beach at Cupecoy. Now you wish you would have come to visit...don't you! The kids and I have been to every beach on the island!

So there are some facts about St Maarten...I can't believe I have had the incredible experience of living here for the past 23 months! So many things are beautiful here and I will miss the weather and the gorgeous color of the ocean. I know I'll look back years from now and be so thankful for the chance I got to live in the Caribbean. I'll be one of those annoying people that always says "when I lived in the Caribbean..." What a great once in a lifetime experience!