The border starts in the west at Cupecoy Bay and then proceeds eastward, cutting across Rue de Terre-Basses/Rhine Road. It then runs through the Simpson Bay Lagoon between the island of Little Key (Dutch) and Grand Islet (French). Back on land it crosses Rue de Hollande/Union Road and then turns north-eastwards, running across Sint Peter Hill, Mont des Accords, Concordia Hill, Marigot Hill, Mount Reward and Mount Flagstaff. It then turns south-eastwards and then eastwards, terminating in the east at Oysters Pond bay.
Historically the home of native Arawak and Carib people, the island of Saint Martin was first discovered by Europeans in 1493 when Christopher Columbus sailed by on his second voyage to the Americas.[5][6] Initially disputed between the Netherlands and Spain, the Spanish withdrew their claim in the 1640s, only for the French to begin settling on the north of the island. In order to avoid fighting over the matter, France and the Netherlands signed the Treaty of Concordia on 23 March 1648 which formally split the island into two jurisdictions.[7] The final border was confirmed in 1817.[8] Various local legends relate how the border was supposedly decided by a French and Dutch official walking round the island, the Dutch gaining less land due to their representative being drunk on genever.[9][10]
Today there is a movement in both Sint Maarten and Saint Martin promoting the unification of the island, which would make the border between them disappear.[12]
