Saint Barthélemy
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| Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy
Collectivity of Saint Barthélemy
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| Anthem: La Marseillaise |
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| Capital (and largest city) |
Gustavia | |||||
| Official languages | French | |||||
| Government | ||||||
| - | President of France | Nicolas Sarkozy | ||||
| - | Prefect | Dominique Lacroix | ||||
| - | President of the Territorial Council | Bruno Magras | ||||
| Overseas Collectivity | of France | |||||
| - | French colony | 1648 | ||||
| - | Sold to Sweden | 1 July 1784 | ||||
| - | Sold to France | 16 March 1878 | ||||
| - | as separate Overseas Collectivity | 22 February 2007 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 21 km² (not ranked) 8.1 sq mi |
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| - | Water (%) | negligible | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | Jan. 2007 census | 8,450[1] | ||||
| - | Density | 402/km² (not ranked) 1,042/sq mi |
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| HDI (2003) | n/a (unranked) (n/a) | |||||
| Currency | Euro (€) (EUR) |
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| Time zone | AST (UTC-4) | |||||
| Internet TLD | .bl assigned but not in use, .fr and .gp in use | |||||
.svg/125px-Flag_of_Saint_Barthelemy_(local).svg.png)
Saint Barthélemy (French: Saint-Barthélemy), officially the Collectivity of Saint Barthélemy (French: Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy), is an overseas collectivity of France. Also known as Saint Barth in French, or St. Barts in English, the collectivity is one of the four territories among the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean that comprise the French West Indies, and is the only one to have historically been a Swedish colony.
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[edit] History
Saint Barthélemy was first claimed by France in 1648. It was sold to Sweden in 1784, which sold it back to France in 1878. The Swedish period left its mark in the names of many of the streets and the town (in honor of King Gustav III) and leaving its national arms, the Three Crowns along with the Maltese cross, the Fleur-de-lis, the mural crown, as well as two pelican birds and the island's supposed amerindian name "OUANALAO", in the island's coat of arms.
[edit] Geography
Located approximately 250 km east of Puerto Rico, Saint-Barthélemy lies near the islands of Saint Martin, Saba and Anguilla.
Gustavia, which is the main town of the island, was named after King Gustav III of Sweden, and remains as a reflection of the Swedish period.
The oldest settlement still remaining is the village of Lorient (or L'Orient), although scattered in every cemetery on the island can be found Swedish grave markers. Lorient's sister village on the French mainland is the city of Lorient on the southern coast of Brittany.
[edit] Beaches
Of the 20 beaches on the small island, several are considered especially inviting. On the southern side of the island, Grand Saline is a pristine beach with no development. On the western edge of the island is Colombier beach, which is only reachable by boat or a hike. St. Jean, Flamands and Grand-Cul-de-Sac beaches are also popular and attractive beaches which have hotels and other establishments on them. Shell Beach is popular for families with kids as it has little surf.
St. Barths has a tidal difference of only 8–15 cm. The beaches vary according to ocean currents — the weather travels onto the island following the sun from the East. One of the main surfing beaches (Toiny) is known for its riptide, while Grand Fond is one of the island's only non-swimming beaches. Although tourism doesn't allude to it, there are a small variety of warm water sharks in the Caribbean. So, swimming at dusk and dawn or in murky waters is not recommended. Otherwise, scuba and snorkling are a great way to see the nurse sharks, lobsters, conch and green sea turtles that abound in the waters surrounding St. Barth.
The beach of Grand Cul-de-Sac is the easiest beach in the Caribbean for learning sailing, windsurfing and kitesurfing as it has a reef which closes off the entire bay. The current that passes outside the reef here also carries the migrating whales and dolphins.
[edit] Demographics
According to the January 2007 census, the population of Saint Barthélemy is 8,450 inhabitants,[1] with a population density of 402 inh. per km² in 2007. Whites in a large majority.
Many of the full time residents are French citizens who work at the various establishments on the island. Creole language and French are the primary languages spoken, but many residents also speak English, particularly at hotels and restaurants.
The native language is Creole.
| 1766 | 1785 | 1812 | 1885 | 1961 | 1967 | 1974 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 327 | 950 | 5,482 | 2,600 | 2,176 | 2,351 | 2,491 | 3,059 | 5,038 | 6,852 | 8,450 |
| Official figures from French and Swedish censuses. | ||||||||||
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[edit] Politics and Government
| Saint Barthélemy |
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Other countries · Atlas Politics Portal |
Administratively, the whole island of Saint-Barthélemy was a French commune (commune de Saint-Barthélemy) part of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas région and overseas département of France, and therefore part of the European Union. In 2003, the population voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe in order to form a separate overseas collectivity (COM) of France.[2] On 7 February 2007[3], the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both Saint Barthélemy and neighbouring Saint Martin. The new status took effect on 22 February 2007, when the law was published in the Official Journal.[4] Saint Barthélemy remains part of the European Union.[5]
| Parties | Votes | % | Seats | ||||
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| Saint Barth First!/UMP (Saint-Barth d’abord!, Bruno Magras) | 2,399 | 72.23 | 16 | ||||
| All United for Saint Barthélemy (Tous unis pour St-Barthélemy, Karine Miot-Richard) | 330 | 9.94 | 1 | ||||
| Action Balance and Transparence (Action Equilibre et Transparence, Maxime Desouches) | 330 | 9.94 | 1 | ||||
| Together for Saint Barthélemy (Ensemble pour St-Barthélemy, Benoît Chauvin) | 262 | 7.89 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 3,321 | 100.0 | 19 | ||||
| Source: RFO | |||||||
[edit] Transportation
Saint Barth has a small airport known as Gustaf III Airport (IATA: SBH, ICAO: TFFJ) that is served by small regional commercial aircraft and charters. Most visiting aircraft carry fewer than twenty passengers, such as the Twin Otter, a common sight around Saint Barth and throughout the northern West Indies. The short airstrip is at the base of a gentle slope ending directly on the beach at St Jean. The arrival descent is over the hilltop traffic circle and departing planes fly right over the heads of sunbathers on St. Jean Beach (although small signs advise sunbathers not to lie directly at the end of the runway). Due to the close proximity of arriving and departing planes, either location is ideal for viewing by aircraft enthusiasts.
The nearest commercial jet airport is on the neighboring island of Sint Maarten. The current mayor's airline, called St Barth Commuter, offers non-prohibitive cost one-way/round trip travel between St. Barth and both of St. Martin's airports: Princess Juliana International Airport (IATA: SXM, ICAO: TNCM) and the smaller L'Espérance Airport (IATA: SFG, ICAO: TFFG). WinAir also services SBH, usually originating in St. Martin (SXM). There are also charters to St. Barth from San Juan, Puerto Rico, available through Tradewind Aviation.
Ferries to and from Sint Maarten are the only other real option (although the passage from St. Martin to St. Barth is often rough), unless one is arriving by private charter boats/yachts.
[edit] Economy
The official currency of Saint Barthélemy is the euro.
INSEE estimated that the total GDP of Saint Barthélemy amounted to 179 million euros in 1999 (US$191 million at 1999 exchanges rates; US$255 million at Oct. 2007 exchange rates).[6] In that same year the GDP per capita of Saint Barthélemy was 26,000 euros (US$27,700 at 1999 exchanges rates; US$37,000 at Oct. 2007 exchange rates), which was 10% higher than the average GDP per capita of metropolitan France in 1999.[6] Tourism explains in a large measure the very high standard of living on the island.
[edit] Tourism
St. Barth has long been considered a playground of the rich and famous and is known for its beautiful pristine beaches, gourmet dining in chic bistros and high-end designer shopping.
St. Barth has about 25 hotels, most of them with 15 rooms or fewer, and the largest, the Guanahani has just 70 rooms. Hotels are classified in the traditional French manner 3 Star, 4 Star and 4 Star Luxe.
Villa vacations are extremely popular and there are hundreds of villas terraced into the hillsides throughout the island as well has many beachfront locations. Villas here by definition can range from one-bedroom bunglalows to large luxurious homes.
This island is also home to the rare scorpion Centruroides barbudensis, characterized by an overly large tail.
[edit] Sports
The junior national French surf champion from Lorient, was named recently in the winter of 2006. St. Barths is home to the St. Barths Bucket, an annual sailing race around the island. The St Barths Music festival an eclectic mix from Classic to Jazz performed by top international artists held every January. August, another month of music and local events with the Caribbean Music Festival and St Barths Day a month of festivities. Annually, the St. Barths Film Festival (in its thirteenth year as of 2007) features Caribbean-themed and produced films.
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b (French) INSEE. Résultats de l'enquête de recensement pour les communes de moins de 10 000 habitants enquêtées en 2004, en 2005, en 2006 ou en 2007. Retrieved on 2008-01-16.
- ^ Staff reporter. "French Caribbean voters reject change" (HTML), Caribbean Net News, 2003-12-09. Retrieved on 2007-02-09. (english) "However voters on the two tiny French dependencies of Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin, which have been administratively attached to Guadeloupe, approved the referendum and are set to acquire the new status of "overseas collectivity"."
- ^ Magras, Bruno. "Letter of Information from the Mayor to the residents and non-residents, to the French and to the foreigners, of Saint Barthélemy" (PDF), St. Barth Weekly, 2007-02-16, p. 2. Retrieved on 2007-02-18. (english) "On February 7 of this year, the French Parliament adopted the law granting Saint-Barthélemy the Statute of an Overseas Collectivity."
- ^ Détail d'un texte
- ^ Treaty of Lisbon, Article 2, points 287 and 293. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ a b (French) INSEE, CEROM. Estimation du PIB de Saint-Barthélemy et de Saint-Martin (PDF).
[edit] External links
- Collectivity of Saint Barthélemy official government website (French)
- Le Journal de St-Barth (French)
- St-Barth Weekly
- Radio St Barth (French)
- L'aménagement linguistique à Saint-Barthélemy (French)
- Sen Bart on Potomitan (French)
- St Barts Talk Forum
- Saint Barths Online
- Saint Barth Fauna & Flora (French)
- Saint Barthelemy entry at The World Factbook
- St Barthélemysällskapet (Swedish)
- Photosite St. Barths
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