section_path: History/20th century
section_name: 20th century
paragraph_text: 20th century
  
  After the abolition of slavery, plantation culture declined and the island's economy suffered. In 1939, Sint Maarten received a major boost when it was declared a duty-free port. In 1941, the island was shelled by a German U-boat as part of the Battle of the Atlantic.
  
  Tourism began growing from the 1950s onward, and Princess Juliana International Airport became one of the busiest in the Eastern Caribbean. For much of this period, Sint Maarten was governed by business tycoon Claude Wathey of the Democratic Party. The island's demographics changed dramatically during this period as well, with the population increasing from a mere 5,000 people to around 60,000 people by the mid-1990s. Immigration from the neighbouring Lesser Antilles, Curaçao, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the United States, Europe, and Asia turned the native population into a minority.
  
  Sint Maarten became an "island territory" (eilandgebied in Dutch) of the Netherlands Antilles in 1983. Before that date, Sint Maarten was part of the island territory of the Windward Islands, together with Saba and Sint Eustatius. The status of an island territory entails considerable autonomy summed up in the Island Regulation of the Netherlands Antilles. During this period Sint Maarten was ruled by an island council, an executive council, and a lieutenant governor (Dutch: gezaghebber) appointed by the Dutch Crown.
  
  Hurricane Luis in late August and early September 1995 hit the island, causing immense destruction and resulting in 12 deaths.