This page includes lighthouses of two small territories, one of France and one of the Netherlands, located in the Leeward Islands at the northeastern corner of the Caribbean Sea. The island of Saint Martin is located in the northern part of the Leeward Islands about 13 km (8 mi) south of Anguilla and 30 km (19 mi) northwest of St.-Barthélemy. The hilly and irregular island is roughly 10 km (6 mi) in diameter. It is unique among the Lesser Antilles in having been divided between two colonial powers. Since 1648 France has occupied the northern portion of the island (roughly 3/5 of the whole), known as Saint-Martin, while the Netherlands has occupied the southern portion, known as Sint Maarten. Marigot is the capital and largest town of French Saint-Martin, and Philipsburg is the capital and largest town of Sint Maarten. The island's population is about 75,000, with 35,000 in the French territory and 40,000 in the Dutch territory. The two French territories of Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy were formerly governed as dependencies of the larger island of Guadeloupe but since 2007 they have reported separately to Paris as collectivités of France. The Dutch territory of Sint Maarten was attached administratively to the Netherlands Antilles for many years but in October 2010 it became a separate state, a "constituent country" of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Saint Martin was heavily damaged by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. Most of the lighthouses of the Lesser Antilles are very poorly known, so information about them would be welcome and photos are especially welcome. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume J of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 110.
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![]() Marigot Light, St.-Martin, January 2010 photo copyright Rosalie Beasley; used by permission |
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Anguilla | Southeast: St.-Barthélemy | South: Saba and Sint Eustatius
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Posted December 8, 2005. Checked and revised February 8, 2025. Lighthouses: 2. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.