Saint Martin (French: Saint-Martin; Dutch: Sint Maarten) is situated at the northern end of the Leeward Island chain in the northeast Caribbean.
Fact: With an area of only 87 square kilometers (34 square miles), it has the distinction of being the smallest inhabited island that is divided between two nations.
The northern portion, Saint-Martin, which occupies about 60% of the island, is an overseas collectivity (collectivité d’outre-mer or COM) of France, and the European Community
The Southern portion, Sint Maarten, which occupies the remaining 40% of the island, is one of four countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. While Sint Maarten has its own parliament and enjoys a certain degree of autonomy from the central government in the Netherlands it remains dependent on the Netherlands for matters like foreign policy and defense. Prior to 2010 Sint Maarten had been part of the Netherlands Antilles.