Martinique is a territorial collectivity of the French Republic located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea, functioning as both an overseas department and a region of France. As an integral part of the French state, the island is a member of the European Union and uses the Euro as its official currency. Its administrative structure is unique, featuring a single deliberative body known as the Assembly of Martinique, which replaced the separate regional and general councils in 2015. This body, alongside an executive council, manages local affairs under the authority of a Prefect appointed by the French government in Paris.

The island's history is marked by the indigenous legacy of the Arawak and Carib peoples, who inhabited the territory for centuries before European contact. Christopher Columbus sighted the island in 1493, but it was not until 1635 that Pierre Bélain d'Esnambuc established the first permanent French settlement at Saint-Pierre. The subsequent decades were defined by intense conflict between French settlers and the Carib population, which eventually led to the displacement or assimilation of the indigenous groups. By the mid-17th century, the French had established a firm colonial foothold, transitioning the island into a plantation-based economy centered on tobacco and later sugarcane.

The introduction of sugarcane in 1654 by Dutch Jews fleeing Brazil fundamentally altered the demographic and economic landscape of Martinique. The labor-intensive nature of sugar production led to the massive forced importation of enslaved Africans, creating a social hierarchy that persisted for nearly two centuries. Slavery was briefly abolished during the French Revolution in 1794 but was reinstated by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. It was finally and permanently abolished in 1848 through the efforts of Victor Schœlcher. Today, the majority of the population is of mixed African and European descent, a demographic reality that is a direct consequence of this plantation history.