Desiry

Desiry is an island and special municipality of Mariana. It is located east of Guadeloupe, and northeast of Marigalante. Desiry has an area of 21.4 km², and a population of 1565, as of 2015. Prior to 1951, Desiry was administered under Marigalante, and since then has been separate from it.

Geography
Desiry is eleven kilometers in length and two kilometers in width. Great Mount is the tallest point in the island, 275 meters above sea level.

Early history
The island was sighted by Christopher Columbus and his sailors during his second voyage in 1493, 21 days after leaving the Canary Islands.

20th century
On 17 May 1922, a fire broke out in one of the houses, spreading through South Side and burning 15 houses down.

Following World War II, the government under Prime Minister Alexander Bouras passed laws that abolished the colonies and established overseas territories in their stead in 1951. Desirians were given the choice of voting to join Marigalante or be separate as a municipality of Mariana. Due to the small population overseas territory status was never considered. In the vote on 1 August, 88% of the population voted to become a municipality rather than join Marigalante.

Recent history
Hurricane Hugo devastated the island in 1989.

Economy
In 1991 20 wind turbines of 25 kW each were installed on the island. These are foldable, for when hurricanes approach, and produce all the power for the island.

Communications
As Desiry is a part of Mariana proper, it is issued the postal code of 00100 and a +35 telephone code. All numbers in Mariana have a 10 prefix to their telephone numbers.