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Martinique

The département of Martinique is an overseas département (département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of France, located in the Caribbean Sea. The capital is Fort-de-France.

History Colonized by France in 1635, the island has subsequently remained a French possession except for three brief periods of foreign occupation.

On May 8, 1902 Mount Pelée, a volcano on the island, erupted and destroyed the town of St. Pierre[?] killing over 30,000 people. Only a small handful of St. Pierre's residents survived the blast.

Martinique became an overseas département of France on March 19, 1946.

Martinique has become internationally famous for a form of music called zouk[?], which developed in the 1980s.

From the CIA World Factbook 2000. Not Wikified.

See also: Music of Martinique and Guadeloupe



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