ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: (May 31, 2005) Passports are required of U.S. citizens entering the French West Indies. Visitors who arrive on a commercial air carrier with a round-trip ticket may enter for up to 90 days without a visa. (*) (Top)

HEALTH INFORMATION:  Good medical care is available throughout the French West Indies. Not all doctors speak or understand English.

SECURITY ISSUES: Petty street crime, including purse snatching, occurs throughout the French West Indies. Visitors should take care whenever traveling to safeguard valuables and always lock hotel rooms and car doors. (*) (Top)

PEOPLE (May 2005 )
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Martiniquais
Population: 432,900 (July 2005 est.)
Annual growth rate: 0.76% (2005 est.)
Ethnic groups: African and African-white-Indian mixture 90%, white 5%, East Indian, Chinese less than 5%
Religion: Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant 10.5%, Muslim 0.5%, Hindu 0.5%, other 3.5% (1997)
Language: French, Creole patois.
Literacy: total population: 97.7% - (2003 est.)
Health: Infant mortality rate total: 7.09 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) Life expectancy—total population: 79.04 years(2005) Age structure: 0-14 years: 22.4% -- 15-64 years: 67.2% -- 65 years and over: 10.5% (2005 est.)
Work force: agriculture 10%, industry 17%, services 73% (1997) Unemployment rate: 27.2% (1998) (Top)

GOVERNMENT
Name: Department of Martinique - As an overseas department of France, the island is dependent on the French legal system. Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

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GEOGRAPHY
Location: Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobag -- Total Area is 1,100 sq km, slightly more than six times the size of Washington, DC.
Capital: Fort-de-France
Terrain: mountainous with indented coastline; dormant volcano
Climate: tropical; moderated by trade winds; rainy season (June to October); vulnerable to devastating cyclones (hurricanes) every eight years on average; average temperature 17.3 degrees C; humid. (Top)

ECONOMY (2003)
The economy is based on sugarcane, bananas, tourism, and light industry. Agriculture accounts for about 6% of GDP and the small industrial sector for 11%. Sugar production has declined, with most of the sugarcane now used for the production of rum. Banana exports are increasing, going mostly to France. The bulk of meat, vegetable, and grain requirements must be imported, contributing to a chronic trade deficit that requires large annual transfers of aid from France. Tourism, which employs more than 11,000 people, has become more important than agricultural exports as a source of foreign exchange. (*) (Top)