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Martinique -
(North America) Information about Martinique
The island of Martinique was first inhabited by Arawaks. It was discovered by Christopher Columbus on Saint Martin’s day in 1493. French, including Huguenot families, began to settle on the island in 1635; in 1674 Martinique was annexed by France. No Prot church came into existence until the 20th century. The Prot community remained small in number, having, unlike the RCath Church, no governmental support. Martinique was declared a French “department” (district) in 1946, and so French law prevails. This island has had several natural catastrophes, such as the eruption of Mount Pelée in 1902, which wiped out all but two of the 30,000 inhabitants of the city of St. Pierre and also meant the end of the Arawaks. Churches
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