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Le Lamentin
Le Lamentin
Commune
	Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport in Le Lamentin
	Coat of arms
	Location of the commune (in red) within Martinique
	Location of Le Lamentin
	Coordinates: 14°36′N 61°00′W / 14.60°N 61.00°W
Country	France
Overseas region and department	Martinique
Arrondissement	Fort-de-France
Intercommunality	CA Centre de la Martinique
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	David Zobda
Area 1	62.32 km2 (24.06 sq mi)
Population (2022)	39,346
• Density	630/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Demonym	Lamentinois.e
Time zone	UTC−04:00 (AST)
INSEE/Postal code	97213 /97232
Elevation	−10–363 m (−33–1,191 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Le Lamentin (French pronunciation: [lə lamɑ̃tɛ̃]; Martinican Creole: Lanmanten; lit. 'The Manatee') is a city and town, located in the French overseas department and region of Martinique. With its area of 62.32 km², it is the town with the largest area in Martinique. Le Lamentin, with close to 40,000 inhabitants, is the second most populated town of Martinique, after Fort-de-France. It is also the first industrial town and the heart of the island's economy.

Geography

The town, incorporated in the region of Fort-de-France, is located in the center of the island of Martinique. Originally a giant swamp land and mangrove region, it is now a riparian town, located by the sea in the Bay of Fort-de-France and crossed by the island's longest river (36 km): the Lézarde.

Climate

Le Lamentin has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification Am). The average annual temperature in Le Lamentin is 27.0 °C (80.6 °F). The average annual rainfall is 2,056.6 mm (80.97 in) with November as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 28.1 °C (82.6 °F), and lowest in February, at around 25.6 °C (78.1 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Le Lamentin was 35.4 °C (95.7 °F) on 7 October 2012; the coldest temperature ever recorded was 14.1 °C (57.4 °F) on 25 December 1964.

Comparison of local Meteorological data with other cities in France^[3]
Town	Sunshine (hours/yr)	Rain (mm/yr)	Snow (days/yr)	Storm (days/yr)	Fog (days/yr)
National average	1,973	770	14	22	40
Le Lamentin	2,317.9	1,915.6	0	26.7	0.9^[4]
Paris	1,661	637	12	18	10
Nice	2,724	767	1	29	1
Strasbourg	1,693	665	29	29	56
Brest	1,605	1,211	7	12	75

Climate data for Le Lamentin (1991–2020 averages, extremes 1953–present)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	32.1 (89.8)	32.9 (91.2)	34.4 (93.9)	34.1 (93.4)	33.7 (92.7)	33.7 (92.7)	32.8 (91.0)	34.2 (93.6)	35.2 (95.4)	35.4 (95.7)	34.1 (93.4)	32.1 (89.8)	35.4 (95.7)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	29.0 (84.2)	29.1 (84.4)	29.6 (85.3)	30.3 (86.5)	30.9 (87.6)	30.9 (87.6)	30.9 (87.6)	31.4 (88.5)	31.7 (89.1)	31.4 (88.5)	30.5 (86.9)	29.6 (85.3)	30.4 (86.7)
Daily mean °C (°F)	25.7 (78.3)	25.6 (78.1)	26.0 (78.8)	26.7 (80.1)	27.6 (81.7)	28.0 (82.4)	27.9 (82.2)	28.1 (82.6)	27.9 (82.2)	27.6 (81.7)	27.0 (80.6)	26.2 (79.2)	27.0 (80.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	22.3 (72.1)	22.1 (71.8)	22.4 (72.3)	23.1 (73.6)	24.3 (75.7)	25.0 (77.0)	25.0 (77.0)	24.7 (76.5)	24.1 (75.4)	23.8 (74.8)	23.5 (74.3)	22.8 (73.0)	23.6 (74.5)
Record low °C (°F)	14.2 (57.6)	14.6 (58.3)	16.1 (61.0)	16.6 (61.9)	18.7 (65.7)	20.2 (68.4)	20.1 (68.2)	19.9 (67.8)	19.0 (66.2)	19.1 (66.4)	17.2 (63.0)	14.1 (57.4)	14.1 (57.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	115.2 (4.54)	81.6 (3.21)	82.3 (3.24)	123.0 (4.84)	137.6 (5.42)	166.6 (6.56)	198.1 (7.80)	257.3 (10.13)	219.3 (8.63)	256.7 (10.11)	260.8 (10.27)	158.1 (6.22)	2,056.6 (80.97)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm)	18.6	14.9	13.2	13.4	13.5	17.6	20.5	20.3	17.9	19.3	19.9	19.0	208.1
Mean monthly sunshine hours	202.0	201.5	229.1	217.5	216.8	195.1	215.7	223.4	207.1	204.9	182.8	193.3	2,489.2
Source: Meteo France^[5]^[6]^[7]

History

This low region of Martinique, with its mangroves and flooded lands, keeps in its name the memory of the pacific manatees, hunted for their meat by the island's first inhabitants. The river La Lézarde was frequently visited by Manatees, now extinct in the Lesser Antilles. The legend says that, once upon a time, a manatee was found dead on the river banks and since then, the town has adopted the name Le Lamentin. Nowadays, a symbolic statue of a manatee rests in front of city hall.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1961	16,211	—
1967	18,553	+2.27%
1974	23,145	+3.21%
1982	26,367	+1.64%
1990	30,028	+1.64%
1999	35,460	+1.86%
2007	39,442	+1.34%
2012	39,700	+0.13%
2017	39,809	+0.05%
Source: SPLAF^[8] and INSEE (1967–2017)^[9]

Economy

Le Lamentin is Martinique's economical and industrial center. Specialized mainly in tertiary industries, it is home to five industrial zones and two joint development zones (La Lézarde, La Jambette, Les Mangles Acajou, Les hauts de Californie, Place d'Armes, Lareinty and Manhity), an oil refinery named La Sara and the two largest shopping centers of the island (La Galleria and Place d'Armes). On the administrative aspect, Le Lamentin is home to large groups such as the Caisse Générale de Sécurité Sociale, the Caisse d'Allocations Familiales and the Chambers of Agriculture. It also houses the headquarters of various groups such as Société Martiniquaise des Eaux (the island's water company) and banks such as Crédit Agricole. The town of Le Lamentin is also home to the island's only international airport, Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport, named after local author and politician Aimé Césaire. The airport had, in 2019, a total passenger traffic of 2,050,030 people^[10] and represents the 12th busiest airport in the Caribbean, just behind Guadeloupe and Curaçao.