Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon ( ), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean near the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Saint Pierre and Miquelon is the remaining vestige of the once vast territory of New France. Its residents are French citizens; the collectivity elects its own deputy to the National Assembly and participates in senatorial and presidential elections. It covers of land and shores and had a population of 6,008 . The islands are in the Gulf of St. Lawrence near the  entrance of Fortune Bay, which extends into the southwestern coast of Newfoundland, near the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. St. Pierre is from Point May on the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland and from Brest, the nearest city in Metropolitan France. The tiny Canadian Green Island lies east of St. Pierre, roughly halfway to Point May. Etymology. is French for Saint Peter, the patron saint of fishermen. The present name of was first noted in the form of "Micquetô", "Miqueton" or "Micquellon" in the French Basque sailor Martin de Hoyarçabal's 1579 navigational pilot for Newfoundland, "Les voyages aventureux du Capitaine Martin  de Hoyarsabal, habitant du çubiburu": "Giſant le cap de Breton & le pertuis de Miqueton est oest, y a 42 l. [leagues]" ... "Gisant la Colombe de S. Pierre le pertuis de Micquellon nord noroest & sud suest: y a 7 l. It has been claimed that the name "Miquelon" is a Basque form of Michael; "Mikel" and "Mikels" are usually named "Mikelon" in the Basque Country. Therefore, from "Mikelon" it may have been written in the French way with a "q" instead of a "k". The Basque Country is divided between Spain and France, and most Basques live south of the border , so Miquelon may have been influenced by the Spanish name , an augmentative form of Miguel meaning "big Michael". The adjoined island's name of "Langlade" is said to be an adaptation of (Englishman's Island). History. Archaeological evidence indicates that native peoples, such as the Beothuk, visited St Pierre and Miquelon, but it is not thought that they settled on the islands permanently. On 21 October 1520 the Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes landed on the islands and named the St. Pierre island group the 'Eleven Thousand Virgins', as the day marked the feast day of St. Ursula and her  virgin companions. In 1536 Jacques Cartier claimed the islands as a French possession on behalf of the King of France (Francis I). Though already frequented by Mi'kmaq people and by Basque and Breton fishermen, the islands were not permanently settled until the end of the 17th century: four permanent inhabitants were counted in 1670, and 22 in 1691. In 1670, during Jean Talon's second tenure as Intendant of New France, a French officer annexed the islands when he found a dozen French fishermen camped there. The British Royal Navy soon began to harass the French settlers, pillaging their camps  and ships. By the early 1700s the islands were again uninhabited, and France ceded them to the British by the Treaty of Utrecht which ended the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713. The British renamed St Pierre to 'St Peter', and small numbers of British and North American settlers began arriving. Under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1763), which put an end to the Seven Years' War, France ceded all its North American possessions, but Britain granted fishing rights to France along the Newfoundland coast, and as part of that arrangement returned Saint-Pierre and Miquelon to  France. With France supporting the US during the US Revolutionary War, Great Britain invaded and razed the colony in 1778, sending the entire population of 2,000 back to France. In 1793 the British landed in Saint-Pierre and, the following year, again expelled the French population, and tried to install British settlers. The British colony was in turn sacked by French troops in 1796. The Treaty of Amiens of 1802 returned the islands to France, but Britain reoccupied them when hostilities recommenced the next year. The Treaty of Paris (1814) gave the islands back to France, though the UK occupied  them yet again during the Hundred Days War in 1815. France then reclaimed the now uninhabited islands, in which all structures and buildings had been destroyed or fallen into disrepair. The islands were resettled in 1816. The settlers, mostly Basques, Bretons and Normans, were joined by various other peoples, particularly from the nearby island of Newfoundland. Only around the middle of the century did increased fishing bring a certain prosperity to the little colony. 20th century. In 1903 the colony toyed with the idea of joining the United States, but in the end nothing came of the idea. During the  early 1910s the colony suffered severely as a result of unprofitable fisheries, and large numbers of its people emigrated to Nova Scotia and Quebec. The draft imposed on all male inhabitants of conscript age after the 1914 beginning of World War I crippled the fisheries, as their catch could not be processed by the older men or the women and children. About 400 men from the colony served in the French military during World War I (1914–1918), 25% of whom died. The increase in the adoption of steam trawlers in the fisheries also contributed to the reduction in employment opportunities . Smuggling had always been an important economic activity in the islands, but it became especially prominent in the 1920s with the institution of Prohibition in the United States from January 1920. In 1931 the archipelago was reported by the "New York Times" to have imported of whisky from Canada in 12 months, most of it to be smuggled into the United States. The end of Prohibition in 1933 plunged the islands once more into economic depression. During World War II, despite opposition from Canada, Britain, and the United States, Charles de Gaulle's forces seized the archipelago from Vichy France , to which the local government had pledged its allegiance. In a referendum on 26 December 1941, the population endorsed the takeover by Free France by a vote of 63 for Free France (98.2% of ballots cast) with three ballots voided. The colony became a French Overseas Territory in 1946. After the 1958 French constitutional referendum, the territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon was asked to choose one of three options: becoming fully integrated with France, becoming a self-governing state within the French Community, or preserving the status of an overseas territory; it decided to remain a territory. Politics. Since  March 2003, Saint Pierre and Miquelon has been an overseas collectivity with a special status. The archipelago became an overseas territory in 1946, then an overseas department on 19 July 1976, before acquiring the status of territorial collectivity on 11 June 1985. The archipelago has two communes: Saint-Pierre and Miquelon-Langlade. A third commune, Isle-aux-Marins, existed until 1945, when it was absorbed by the municipality of Saint-Pierre. The inhabitants possess French citizenship and suffrage. Saint Pierre and Miquelon sends a senator and a deputy to the National Assembly of France in Paris and enjoys a degree  of autonomy concerning taxes, customs, and excise. France appoints the Prefect of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, who represents the national government in the territory. The Prefect is in charge of national interests, law enforcement, public order, and, under the conditions set by the statute of 1985, administrative control. Since January 2021, the current prefect is Christian Pouget. The local legislative body, the Territorial Council (), has 19 members: four councillors from Miquelon-Langlade and 15 from Saint-Pierre. The President of the Territorial Council is the head of a delegation of "France in the name of Saint Pierre and Miquelon" for  international events such as the annual meetings of NAFO and ICCAT. France is responsible for the defence of the islands. The has maintained a patrol boat, the , on the islands since 1997. Law enforcement in Saint Pierre and Miquelon is the responsibility of a branch of the French Gendarmerie Nationale; there are two police stations in the archipelago. On Monday 10 January 2022 Saint Pierre and Miquelon made international news when MP Stéphane Claireaux, a member of the governing La République en Marche (LREM) was pelted with seaweed and stones in response to the government's new Covid-19 rules. The  rule was announced by the state representative, the prefect, on 2 January for the island and angered residents.<ref name="Guardian">