West Indies

Island region of the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean

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2025 French Navy plans to deliver an Engins de Débarquement Amphibie – Standards (EDA-S) landing craft to naval forces based in Martinique to improve regional operational support capabilities.
2024 Estimated population decreased to 349,925, reflecting ongoing population decline.
January 1 2024 Guadeloupe's population was estimated at 378,561, predominantly Afro-Caribbean with various minority groups including Europeans, Indians, Lebanese, Syrians, and Chinese.
2023 Second phase of the tramway project scheduled for completion, extending the line to serve the university.
2023 Guadeloupe EPP plans to develop 66 MW of additional biomass capacity, including 43 MW to replace coal, with the Albioma Caraïbes plant set to be converted to biomass to increase renewable energy share from 20.5% to 35%.
February 2 2023 Martinique adopted its independent activist flag, symbolizing its three colors of Pan-Africanism.
2021 Additional police officers were deployed to the island in response to rioting related to COVID-19 restrictions.
2021 Census recorded a population of 360,749, showing continued demographic changes.
2021 Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos becomes the European champion on the balance beam.
July 26 2021 Martinique began experiencing excess mortality at all ages and from all causes, indicating the severe health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
July 2 2021 Serge Letchimy became President of the Executive Council of Martinique.
July 1 2021 Guy Losbar was elected as the president of the Departmental Council of Guadeloupe, taking responsibility for managing social welfare, junior high school infrastructure, local roads, and school transportation.
May 20 2021 Justin Daniel becomes the president of the Economic, Social, Environmental, Cultural and Educational Council of Martinique.
April 2021 Zouk TV ceased broadcasting, with plans to be replaced by Zitata TV, though the replacement was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 26 2021 Pierre Marie-Joseph begins representing Martinique in the Economic, Social and Environmental Council.
March 27 2021 Large-scale protest in Fort-de-France with 5,000 to 15,000 residents demonstrating against the potential statute of limitations on the chlordecone-related civil complaint, denouncing the government's historical authorization of the chemical and lack of public information about its dangers.
2020 According to the Water Office, 61% of drinking water production is wasted, amounting to nearly 50 million cubic metres of water per year due to poor pipe conditions.
2020 The Energy Transition Law (TECV) aims to achieve 50% renewable energy in the territory.
2020 Jocelyne Béroard is made Officer of l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
2020 Fourth chlordecone action plan scheduled, with recommendations from MP Justine Benin focusing on prevention and cleanup research.
2020 Stacy is nominated for Best New International Act at the BET Awards.
2020 Free mobile network planned to enter the Martinique market through a partnership with Digicel.
May 20 2020 Nicolas Onimus appointed as sub-prefect for La Trinité and Saint-Pierre regions.
March 2020 Martinique confirmed its first cases of coronavirus (COVID-19), marking the beginning of the pandemic's impact on the island's health services.
February 5 2020 Stanislas Cazelles appointed as prefect of Martinique, representing the French State in the region.
2019 First phase of the Pointe-à-Pitre tramway project scheduled for completion, connecting northern Abymes to downtown Pointe-à-Pitre.
2019 Guadeloupe Water Office reports a generalized degradation of water bodies, highlighting ongoing environmental challenges.
2019 Population census conducted, revealing population counts for different arrondissements: Fort-de-France (152,102), La Trinité (75,238), Le Marin (114,824), and Saint-Pierre (22,344).
2019 French parliamentary commission reveals over 90% of Martinicans have been exposed to chlordecone, and judges previous state action plans as inadequate.
2019 Martinique's road network was documented to consist of 2,123 km, including 7 km of highway (A1 between Fort-de-France and Le Lamentin), 919 km of departmental and national roads, and 1,197 km of communal roads.
2019 Académie de la Martinique launched 'Parcours Creole +', a project trialing bilingual education in French and Martinican Creole.
2019 Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos wins the European Artistic Gymnastics all-around championship and repeats as European champion on floor exercise.
2019 19,137 new vehicles were registered in Martinique, averaging 42 new vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants, representing a 14-vehicle increase over five years.
January 2019 Orange telecommunications company launched the 'Kanawa' submarine cable, establishing a new communication link between Martinique and French Guiana.
2018 The Albioma Caraïbes (AC) coal-fired power plant produces 260 GWh/year of electricity, accounting for 15% of the island's energy needs.
2018 Guadeloupe Academy had an operating budget of €714.3 million for the 2018-2019 school year, employing 9,618 people across its educational institutions.
2018 Biomass and coal energy and petroleum hydrocarbons remain the most used energy sources in Guadeloupe, despite the island's potential for solar, wind, and marine energy.
2018 Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos becomes the European champion on floor exercise.
August 13 2018 The first exclusive right-of-way public transport line (TCSP) was inaugurated, connecting Fort-de-France and Le Lamentin airport with high-service level buses.
June 2018 Arcep reports that Martinique has achieved 99% 4G network coverage by mid-2018.
March 2018 The ChlEauTerre study is unveiled, revealing extensive environmental contamination with 37 different anthropogenic molecules in watershed areas.
2017 Gross domestic product (GDP) of Guadeloupe reached €9.079 billion, with 3.4% economic growth. Banana exports were significantly impacted by damages from Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.
2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck Guadeloupe, continuing the archipelago's challenging history with powerful tropical storms.
2017 Population density assessment showed a very high concentration, with one-third of land devoted to agriculture and mountain areas being uninhabitable.
2017 International passenger traffic at the airport declined to 192,244 passengers.
September 24 2017 Martinique is represented in the Senate by two senators: Maurice Antiste and Catherine Conconne.
June 17 2017 Martinique is represented in the National Assembly by four deputies: Serge Letchimy, Jean-Philippe Nilor, Josette Manin, and Manuéla Kéclard-Mondésir.
2016 Guadeloupe was identified as the most violent overseas French department, with a murder rate of 8.2 per 100,000 inhabitants.
2015 Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport recorded 1,696,071 passengers, ranking thirteenth among French airports.
2015 Martinique's exports of goods and services reached €1,102 million, with over 20% coming from refined petroleum products produced by the SARA refinery in Le Lamentin. Agricultural, forestry, fish, and aquaculture products contributed €95.9 million to the exports.

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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Guadeloupe & Martinique, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.