Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten is a small nation located on an island in the eastern Caribbean that is a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Until 2010, it was part of the Netherland Antilles, a conglomeration that was dissolved in October of that year. The country then became self-determinate, with the Netherlands providing for its defense, foreign policy, and financial stability. Sint Maarten occupies the southern portion of Saint Martin island in the Caribbean Sea, the northern portion belonging to France. While precise numbers are unavailable, Methodism is the most popular religious faith in Sint Maarten; Roman Catholicism comes next and is more popular in the French northern part of the island. Other faiths represented include Anglican; Seventh-Day Adventist, which is rising in popularity; Baptist; Hindu; and significant numbers of Vodou practitioners and Rastafarians. Some faiths are syncretized with African Caribbean religions, and the celebration of the dead also plays a large role in Sint Maarteners’ lives.

Originally inhabited by Arawak Indians who were later conquered by the Carib tribe from which the sea takes its name, Sint Maarten's religious history began with its settlement by the Spanish after the island was spotted by Christopher Columbus in 1493. The island takes its name from St. Martin, on whose feast day it was sighted. It was not highly regarded by the Spanish, and in their absence, the Dutch founded a colony in 1631; the island was prized by them for its geographic location between Dutch settlements in New Amsterdam and Brazil. The Dutch East India company began salt mining operations soon after, and the island would violently change possession between Dutch and Spanish hands during subsequent years. The Treaty of Concordia was signed in 1648, dividing the island between the two colonizing powers—in effect, the Catholic north and Methodist south. Slaves were later imported to the island to cultivate the cotton, tobacco, and sugar plantations, and repeated slave rebellions ended only when the Dutch outlawed slavery on Sint Maarten in 1863. In the 1950s, the country became a popular tourist destination, at which time immigrants from the Lesser Antilles as well as Haitians, Dominican Republicans, and others arrived with their varied religious practices, drawn by the opportunities made available by the tourist economy.

Sint Maarten's populace is diverse, with many different faiths coexisting peacefully. The number [Page 1184]of faithful cannot be precisely specified, but churches of various faiths are listed as popular tourist destinations, for both their function and their beauty. Interfaith conflict is rare; the island's inhabitants place the peace of the country above any religious disagreements.