Two countries, 87 km², one island — Maho Beach planes, French crêpes in Marigot, lolos barbecue, and no passport control at the border
Saint Martin / Sint Maarten is the smallest inhabited landmass in the world divided between two sovereign states: the northern two-thirds (Saint-Martin) is a French collectivity; the southern third (Sint Maarten) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The island (87 km² total) is famous for Maho Beach at the end of Princess Juliana International Airport's runway — aircraft land so low over the beach that the jet wash knocks spectators over on peak days, creating the Caribbean's most dramatic planespotting situation. The French side (capital Marigot) has a relaxed Gallic c…
Saint Martin was divided between France and the Netherlands by the Treaty of Concordia in 1648 — local legend says a French soldier and a Dutch sailor walked away from the central obelisk in opposite directions, with the French side ending up larger because the French soldier walked faster after drinking wine. The island had no permanent European settlement before 1631. Both sides operated sugar plantation economies with enslaved African labour; emancipation came on the French side in 1848 and the Dutch side in 1863. Hurricane Irma (September 2017, Category 5) devastated both sides, destroyin…