Lifestyle
Marigot: the administrative capital of Saint-Martin
Marigot is the chef-lieu, or administrative capital, of the Collectivité de Saint-Martin, a status fixed in French law. Here is what that means and how Saint-Martin went from a commune of Guadeloupe to its own overseas collectivity in 2007.
By SXM Daily ·
Marigot is the administrative capital of Saint-Martin, the French side of the island. In French it is the chef-lieu of the Collectivité d'outre-mer de Saint-Martin, a status set in French law.
Photo: Unknown photographer, Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
What "chef-lieu" means here
A chef-lieu is the official administrative centre of a French territory. For Saint-Martin, article D.6311-1 of the Code général des collectivités territoriales (CGCT), France's code on local and regional authorities, sets Marigot as the chef-lieu of the collectivity. INSEE, the French national statistics institute, cites this article in its reference page on the overseas collectivities.
Encyclopaedia Britannica also gives Marigot as the capital of Saint-Martin.
From a commune of Guadeloupe to a collectivity
Marigot's status belongs to Saint-Martin's recent history. Until 2007, Saint-Martin was a commune of Guadeloupe, with the commune code 97127.
That changed with organic law n° 2007-223 of 21 February 2007, which made Saint-Martin a collectivité d'outre-mer (overseas collectivity) in its own right. Since 23 February 2007, INSEE has identified Saint-Martin with the code 978.
Population figures
You may see population numbers quoted for "Marigot". INSEE publishes population figures for the whole collectivity of Saint-Martin, not for Marigot on its own, so SXM Daily does not give a separate figure for the town.
Fort Louis
Fort Louis stands above Marigot.
Why it matters
For residents, the chef-lieu status is a reminder that Saint-Martin has been its own collectivity since 2007, not a part of Guadeloupe. For anyone working with French official statistics, the codes matter too: Saint-Martin carried the Guadeloupe commune code 97127 before 2007 and has used INSEE code 978 since 23 February 2007.
Sources
- https://www.insee.fr/fr/information/7929495
- https://www.britannica.com/place/Sint-Maarten