Martinique is an island in the Lesser Antilles, and is part of the French West Indies, being an an overseas
department and region and a single
territorial collectivity of the French Republic. Martinique has a land area of 1,128 km2 and a population of 364,508 inhabitants (2019). One of the Windward Islands, it lies directly north of Saint Lucia. Virtually the entire population speaks both French (the sole official language) and Martinican Creole.

It is thought that Martinique is a corruption of the Taíno name for the island (Madiana meaning ‘island of flowers’), as relayed to Christopher Columbus when he visited the island in 1502. Or its thought the island was called Jouanacaëra or Wanakaera by the Caribs, which means ‘the island of iguanas’