The Bay of Fort-de-France is also called "Baie des Flamands". This name may be a bit confusing but do you know why it was named "Baie des Flamands"? (Bay of the Flemings in English)
If you think that it has this name because it is the land of pink flamingos, you are very wrong. Flamants is the French word for flamingos and as the same pronunciation as Flamands.
It has this name because of the former occupants of the place.
Indeed, Martinique was colonized by the French on September 1st 1635. They settled in the region of Saint-Pierre and Carbet, leaving the southern part of the island to the local inhabitants, the Caribs.
The goal of the colonists was to produce high value-added crops and to import them so that they could be sold at a high price on the European markets.
Among them of course sugar, which made the European bourgeoisie lick their lips.
The introduction of sugar in Martinique was a bitter failure. The first French settlers were totally ignorant of the techniques of sugar crystallization and the only thing that came out of their tests was a blackish liquid.
At that time, Brazil already had more than 300 sugar factories and a population that perfectly mastered the manufacture of the diamond of the time. The Portuguese, who wanted to take over the entire territory of Brazil, chased away the Dutch who were living there. The latter took refuge in the Caribbean islands with their knowledge of sugar cane cultivation and sugar manufacturing, as well as the tools that enabled them to produce sugar.
Thus, the Dutch arrived near the island in 1654 and asked the Governor of the time, Du Parquet, for permission to settle on the island. The latter was torn between wanting to welcome inhabitants who knew the techniques of sugar cultivation and who had helped the French who were facing a combined attack from the Caribs and the Maroons (slaves who had escaped from the plantations) who were surrounding Saint-Pierre, and on the other hand the Jesuits who saw in them Protestants and Jews a threat to the propagation of Catholicism in the island.
Finally, the decision to welcome them was made. Their contribution to the production of sugar had been a success in Guadeloupe and it was necessary that Martinique also start producing the famous sesame.
Du Parquet decides to welcome 300 Dutchmen and places them in the Cul-de-Sac Royal which is the bay of Fort-de-France. This is how the bay came to be known as the Baie des Flamands.
The new inhabitants of the place will not stay there for a long time, they will quickly turn to other lands but the main thing was there, the sugar had settled in Martinique thanks to these new arrivals, the Flemings.
Bibliography:
Histoire de la Martinique, Tome 1, Armand Nicolas
