Abolition Day is a public holiday in Martinique, observed on May 22 each year. The holiday commemorates the anniversary of when slavery was abolished in Martinique in 1848.
Martinique is an overseas department of France located in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Indigenous people inhabited the island hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1493. However, the Spaniards ignored the island because of the greater interests of the other newly founded lands.
The French first landed on the island in 1635. In the following years, the Dutch, British, Portuguese, and French fought for control over the island until 1815, when France gained full control at the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
In the early years, European settlers introduced sugar plantations and brought many slaves to the island for the labor forces. At its peak, over 60,000 slaves worked on the island. The harsh working conditions led to slave rebellions, and the French government ended slavery in Martinique in 1848. Abolition Day has been a public holiday since 1981, celebrating emancipation.
The following is the list of Abolition Day in Martinique from 2022 to 2026.
| Holiday | Date | Weekday |
|---|---|---|
| Abolition Day | May 22, 2022 | Sunday |
| Abolition Day | May 22, 2023 | Monday |
| Abolition Day | May 22, 2024 | Wednesday |
| Abolition Day | May 22, 2025 | Thursday |
| Abolition Day | May 22, 2026 | Friday |
Please check more public holidays in Martinique:
