Discover the St Maarten History

St Maarten history cannot be compared with any other!

The very first folks to settle on the island around 500 AD were known as the Arawak Indians from South America. They called it 'Sualouiga', meaning Land of Salt, because of the number of salt ponds they discovered right here. However they were soon violently overthrown by another tribe of Indians from northern Amazonia, the Caribs, after whom the entireCaribbean would be named.

Christopher Columbus firstly sailed past the tropical isle on 11th November 1493, St Martin's feast day and gave the tropical isle the name of that day. He of course claimed the isle as Spanish, but they nevergenuinely took very much interest in it right up until the Dutch made a decision to settle on the spot in 1631. The Spanish rapidly got rid of them all seeking to reclaim their dominion in the region.

The Dutch fled to Curacao, but tried numerous attempts to get St Martin back again. Right after 15 long years the Spanish had had too much of getting besieged and they gave up the island.
The French (who had also staked a claim to the isle) and the Dutch fought to own it right up until they realized neither would leave and in 1648 they signed the Treaty of Concordia sharing the tropical isle in between the two countries.

It is mentioned that the two countries put on a contest to choose how to divide the island. A French guy and a Dutch guy placed back to back, and told to walk around the area in opposite directions. The tropical isle would be divided along the line where they started, and in which they met once again.
The French getting somewhat sneaky, made the decision to provide drinks to each of these guys, as they had been bound to get thirsty in the course of their walk. So the Frenchman was provided with his national drink, a bottle of wine, and the Dutchman something a bit stronger - a bottle of gin! So it figures that the Frenchman made greater progress, and claimed considerably much more of the area for his country! A fun legend of the St Maarten history!

St Martin St Maarten is for sure one of the most loved islands in the Caribbean, if not in the world! One can tell this by the fact that it is the tropical isle that people choose to return to again and again.
There are a lot of of things that make them opt to revisit. There are over 90 nationalities residing on island making it very multicultural. There are so many distinct beaches, all with different sand, backdrops and feels to them. The dining places are excellent and provide and wide variety of styles. St Maarten history is like no other.

Lots of details that would take all night to give! You must visit yourself to understand. Whatever you uncover, you will agree that the St Maarten history makes this destination very special!