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The tiny archipelago of
SAINT PIERRE et
Miquelon
, 25km off the coast of the Burin Peninsula,
became a fully fledged département of
mainland France
in 1976 and a collectivité territoriale
in 1985, giving a legalistic legitimacy
to the billing of the islands as "a little bit
of France at your doorstep" -
a phrase that attracts several thousand visitors
each year and manages
to gloss over the lack of
actual attractions and the wetness of the
climate.
Yet the islands are still worth a day or two for
the francophone atmosphere
of the main settlement,
SAINT PIERRE , whose
fine restaurants and
simple guesthouses have a
genuinely European flavour. All but 700 of
the
6500 islanders live in the town of St-Pierre,
with the remainder -
mainly of Acadian and Basque descent -
marooned on
Miquelon to the north. The
third and middle island, Langlade, has just a scattering of houses
and is inhabited only in summer
The tiny archipelago
of
SAINT PIERRE et The three islands
of
St-Pierre et Miquelon were first discovered
by the Portuguese in 1520
and claimed for the French king by Jacques
Cartier in 1536.
Subsequently settled by fishermen from the
Basque provinces, Normandy and Brittany, they were alternately occupied
by Britain and France until the French finally
lost their
North American colonies in 1763,
whereupon they were allowed to
keep the islands as a commercial sop. St-Pierre
et Miquelon
soon became a vital supply base and safe harbour
for the French fishing fleet, and provided
France with a yearly harvest of salted cod.
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History
Main article: History of Saint-Pierre and
Miquelon
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon has been under French
control since 1763. Paleoeskimo or Dorset
culture artifacts have been uncovered in
Saint-Pierre (Anse à Henry). Some of these date
back to 3000 BC.
Named the 'Eleven Thousand Virgins' by
Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes in
1521, the islands were also named the 'Islands
of Saint-Pierre' by the French.
During the 16th century, the islands were used
as a base for the seasonal cod fishery by the
French of La Rochelle, Granville, Saint-Malo and
the Basque Country. When French explorer Jacques
Cartier was in Saint-Pierre in 1536 he made note
of the French and Breton fishery.
The name Miquelon is of Basque origin as this
island was used by fishermen from Saint-Jean de
Luz.
Saint-Pierre was settled by the French in the
early 17th century, abandoned under the Treaty
of Utrecht, and returned to France in 1763 at
the end of the Seven Years War.
Between 1763 and 1778, the islands became a
place of refuge for Acadian deportees from Nova
Scotia.
In 1778 the islands were attacked and the
population deported by the British as
retaliation for French support of the American
Revolutionary War.
Although France regained the islands in 1783, by
1793, British hostility to the French Revolution
and the fact that France had declared war with
Britain led to another British attack on the
islands and the deportation of the entire
population.
The Island of MiquelonThe islands were finally
returned to France after the second abdication
of Napoleon in 1816. They represent the sole
remaining vestige of France's once vast North
American possessions. They have always been most
important as a fishing centre, being in easy
travelling distance of the Grand Banks of
Newfoundland, some of the world's richest
fishing grounds.
The islands were used during American
Prohibition as a base for smuggling liquor into
the United States by many gangsters including Al
Capone and Bill McCoy.
After Germany invaded most of Europe during
World War II, the islands were controlled by
Vichy France. On Christmas Day 1941, Free French
forces led by Rear-Admiral Émile Muselier
liberated the islands on behalf of Charles de
Gaulle. Saint-Pierre and Miquelon became the
focus of a serious rift between Free French
forces and the United States Department of
State, which was courting Vichy France and sent
ships to take the islands back.
The islands became a full département d'outre
mer of France in 1976. This status was modified
in 1985 and the islands became a territory with
special status (collectivité territoriale à
statut particulier).
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Canada
Calgary
Edmonton
London
Montreal
North Bay
Ottawa
Quebec
Regina
Sherbrooke
Surrey
Toronto
Vancouver
Victoria
Winnipeg
Alberta
British
Columbia
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Newfoundland
Northwest
Territory
Nova Scotia
Nunavut
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Quebec
Saint Pierre
and Miquelon
Saskatchewan
Yukon
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Background:
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First
settled by the French in the early 17th century, the
islands represent the sole remaining vestige of
France's once vast North American possessions. |
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Location:
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Northern North America, islands in the North
Atlantic Ocean, south of Newfoundland (Canada)
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Geographic coordinates:
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46 50
N, 56 20 W
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Map references:
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North
America
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Area:
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total: 242 sq km
note: includes eight small islands in the
Saint Pierre and the Miquelon groups
water: 0 sq km
land: 242 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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1.5
times the size of Washington, DC |
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Nationality:
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noun: Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women)
adjective: French |
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Ethnic groups:
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Basques and Bretons (French fishermen) |
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Religions:
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Roman
Catholic 99%
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Languages:
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French (official) |
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Country name:
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conventional long form: Territorial Collectivity
of Saint Pierre and Miquelon
conventional short form: Saint Pierre and
Miquelon
local short form: Saint-Pierre et Miquelon
local long form: Departement de Saint-Pierre
et Miquelon |
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Dependency status:
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self-governing territorial collectivity of France
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Government type:
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NA
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Capital:
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Saint-Pierre
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Administrative divisions:
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none
(territorial collectivity of France); note - there
are no first-order administrative divisions as
defined by the US Government, but there are two
communes - Saint Pierre, Miquelon at the second
order |
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Independence:
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none
(territorial collectivity of France; has been under
French control since 1763) |
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Currency:
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euro
(EUR); French franc (FRF) |
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Currency code:
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EUR;
FRF |
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Exchange rates:
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euros
per US dollar - 1.06594 (January 2001), 1.08540
(2000), 0.93863 (1999); French francs per US dollar
- 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997) |
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Internet country code:
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.pm
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