Politics of the Collectivity of Saint Martin Politics of the Collectivity of Saint Martin Saint Martin was a French commune for many years and formed part of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas "région" and "département" of France and is therefore in the European Union. In 2003, the population of the French part of the island voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe in order to form a separate overseas collectivity (COM) of France. On 9 February 2007, the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both the French part of Saint Martin and neighbouring Saint Barthélemy. The new status took effect once the local assembly
Bahá'í Faith in New Caledonia New Caledonia in several letters: 3 June 1952, 30 April 1953, 7 May 1953, 31 December 1954, 24 January 1956, 3 May 1956 and 15 February 1957, before he died in November 1957. Overall there was poor growth of the Bahá'í community in the French Overseas Territories in the period following World War II including New Caledonia which contrasted strongly with other areas of the Pacific ("see, for example, Bahá'í Faith in Vietnam"). In this atmosphere of restricted visits, the first pioneer to reach New Caledonia was Australia's Margaret Rowling in early 1952 followed closely by Mariette Bolton in February