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Article title
I don't see why the Saint Martin article should be moved here. Sint Maarten Saint Martin is a rather obscure title. I vote for moving this back to Saint Martin - Cordyph 16:23, 5 Aug 2003 (UTC)
The reason is that the island itself is not named Saint Martin. That name belongs to the French side. (If you disagree, please cite any official source that describes the island as being named "Saint Martin", and not the combination of the Dutch and French spellings.) The official line is that the island is referred to by Sint Maarten / Saint Martin or Saint Martin / Saint Maarten . What's wrong with using the correct name for the island, combining the pages, and redirecting the French and Dutch pages to the one combined page? After all, it is one island.
Britannica, Columbia and the CIA World Factbook have this article under "Saint Martin":
- http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=66600
- http://www.bartleby.com/65/st/StMartin.html
- https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/nt.html
You are claiming, that Saint Martin is not the name of the island, but just of one part of the island. Does that mean, that the island has no name? It is obvious, that both names are just literal translations of one and the same name. So it is unnecessary to have both names in the title. I would suggest to add a sentence explaining why the form "Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin" is often used - but it should not be in the title. -- Cordyph 20:23, 5 Aug 2003 (UTC)
Who wrote the part about the island belonging to the Swedish king? Doesn't it belong both to France and Holland? I cannot find any sources anywhere supporting the statement that the island is the private property of the Swedish king, and have never ever before heard about it, and I am Swedish!Shouldn't it be taken away? --Konstantin 15:03, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)
Changed the article
Since it seemed upon closer inspection that the article had been "trashed" on July 30th 2004 by 66.185.84.208, I restored it to the form it had on June the 27th 2004.
I wonder if the person who wrote it thought he was right or just wanted to "trash"....
--Konstantin 15:17, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)
Status aparte (?)
According to my research, the population Sint Maarten voted for a status aparte in the Kingdom of the Netherlands in a referendum in 2000, which was to be granted and implemented in 2002 - but I haven't found anything stating that this status had been granted, and I assume it hasn't, since the flag of the Netherlands Antilles still features five stars, but I haven't found any information on why this status aparte wasn't granted yet, either. Anyone with more in-depth knowledge willing to elaborate? Nightstallion 11:45, 31 Dec 2004 (UTC)
Border check
The border between the two is marked on maps. Is there any border check for crossing the border? — Instantnood 18:18, Feb 2 2005 (UTC)
Independence?
Are you SURE that in 2003 the French side, i.e., St Martin, voted for independence? I can find no references to this. This certainly happened to the Dutch side, and to St Barthelemy, but I can find no mention anywhere of it happening to St Martin. If it did happen, was it part of the same referendum that affected St Barthelemy, or what?
Columbus legend
There's debate as to whether Columbus sighted St. Martin (as opposed to Nevis) on November 11, and it seems to be more of a legend than a fact. See, for example, http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/caribbean/saint_martin/history.htm and http://www.stmartin.com/island.htm. It's possible that Columbus sighted St. Martin but did not name the island or that he sighted it on a later date.
Also, to add to the name confusion, I've added the Spanish name of San Martin.
November 11 or March 23 1648?
The current text read "France and the Netherlands agreed to divide the island on November 11 , 1648 ", but according to the Dutch Wikemedia, this is not November 11 but March 23 , 1648. - Emvee 28 June 2005 20:38 (UTC)
This article needs to be spilt
I have a feeling that this article will need to be spilt sooner. Both sides of St. Martin are heading down different roads - Sint Maarten wants status aparte ; St.-Martin is becoming a COM. This means each side will have their own unique government, different leaders, etc. This will also require country t/plates and I don't two templates would look nice. - Thanks, Hos hie | ] 02:10, 23 December 2005 (UTC)
I don't get it, why would minor political changes cause a double split of the article ? The island is one as far as history and geography are concerned, subjects such as economy or tourism are going to be awfully similar, even political status is similar, and well, pretty much anything that can be said about Saint Martin as a whole is relevant for both french and dutch parts. If split, there would be a lot of redundant information between Saint Martin (island), Saint-Martin (french), and Sint Maarten (dutch), which is bad, or failing that, short articles that would force the reader to juggle the three entries to extract relevant information, which, in my opinion is equally bad.
Though I think the article could use some reformating, new sections (geography, history, political status and demographics, transportation, culture, tourism, economy, for instance, not necessarily in that order), possibly sub sections where relevant (ie, Political Status and Demographics could have a short introduction, a paragraph or two on information relevant for the island as a whole, then two sub sections for the french and dutch specifics), and it could use a section regarding cooperation between France and Netherland on issues such as border control, police, transportation, defense, etc.
My two euros/guilders Equendil 05:36, 25 May 2006 (UTC)
Recommended car rental
I rent a car (on St Martin/Sint Maarten) every couple of weeks and do so without reservations every time. Telling people to book cars before coming is an some car rentail agency editing wikipedia? Anyway, my experience is car rental agencies try to get my business when I show up and cars are available. Maybe article should be changed? tell me what you think. bye.
Opalpa 03:10, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
Only Non-European European land border?
Would it be correct to say that this island presents the only European land border NOT in Europe? Is the Schengen Agreement in force on Saint Martin? What other possibly interesting consequences are there to this situation? Do French citizens arriving from mainland France even need a passport at the airport (separate "domestic" terminal)? Is the airport shared, with both governments having an immigration authority there? How does this work? - Eric 09:44, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Yes, it is the ONLY land border between two European countries outise Euope, but no it is NOT the ONLY European land border with a non-European country not in Europe (e.g. see France-Brazil, France-Surinam, Spain Morocco). Yes Schengen Agreement is in force on Saint Martin, but only on the French side, not the Dutch side. Yes, French citizen arriving at Dutch Sint Maarten have to show passport. If they arrive directly at the French side (e.g. by plane from Guadeloupe or Martinique or St.Barths) they do not need a passport. Same as arriving from Paris to Guadeloupe, passports are not needed, ID card is enough.
What?
From the article:it is the smallest inhabited land mass in the world that is divided between two nations (with the possible exception of a small island in Boundary Lake, between the U.S. and Canada and about twenty other islands around the world) Thats like saying France has the worl;ds largest population except for the twenty other countries ahead of it.Maxflight 15:23, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
Tourist information
I'm removing the following that was added recently :
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