It can be divided into three natural zones: a mountainous region in the north, with its two highest points at Mount Pelée (an active volcano, 4,428 ft.) and the Pitons du Carbet (3,960 ft.); the Lamentin Plain in the center; and a hilly region in the south, composed of eroded remnants of old volcanoes and dominated by the Montagne du Vauclin (1,656 ft.) and the Morne du Diamant (1,567 ft.).

Natural hazards: hurricanes, flooding, and volcanic activity (an average of one major natural disaster every five years) The mountainous, sparsely populated north, covered with dense rainsforests, contains 4 main active or extinct volcanic ranges towering around 1000 metres above sea level — Pitons du Carbet, Morne Jacob, Mount Pelée and Piton Conil.

The more populated, field-covered Southern part of Martinique is occupied by lower ridges and hills, towering around 400–500 metres above sea level, with a rugged coastline including numerous white sand corallian coves.

The deeply populated central part of the island, home of the vast majority of the population, and formed by the lower slopes of the Pitons du Carbet massif and the Lamentin and Rivière Salée plains, covered with sugarcane and mangroves, is a transition zone between the mountainous north and the hilly south.

The rivers in the south—the Salée and Pilote—are short and often dry, while in the north they are just torrents cut by numerous waterfalls.

[2] Martinique's tropical climate is tempered by the trade winds, and the temperature averages 26 °C (79 °F) the year round.