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Saint Barthélemy

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Saint Barthélemy
Saint-Barthélemy (French)
Territorial Collectivity of Saint Barthélemy
Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy
Anthem: La Marseillaise
("The Marseillaise")
Territorial song: "L'Hymne à Saint-Barthélemy"
Location of Saint Barthelemy
Location of Saint Barthélemy (circled in red)

in the Western Hemisphere

Sovereign state France
Colony established1648
Swedish purchase1 July 1784
Returned to France16 March 1878
Collectivity status22 February 2007
Capital
and largest city
Gustavia
Official languagesFrench
Recognised regional languages
Demonym(s)
  • Barthélemois
  • Saint-Barth
GovernmentDevolved parliamentary dependency
Emmanuel Macron
• Prefect
Sylvie Feucher[1]
Bruno Magras
LegislatureTerritorial Council
French Parliament
• Senate
1 senator (of 348)
1 seat shared with Saint Martin (of 577)
Area
• Total
25[note 1][2] km2 (9.7 sq mi)
• Water (%)
negligible
Population
• 2017[note 2][3] census
9,961 (not ranked)
• Density
398/km2 (1,030.8/sq mi) (not ranked)
GDP (nominal)2014 estimate
• Total
US$487 million (€367 million)[4]
• Per capita
US$51,735 (€38,994)[4]
CurrencyEuro (€) (EUR)
Time zoneUTC-4:00 (AST)
Driving sideright
Calling code+590
ISO 3166 code
Internet TLD

Coordinates: 17°54′N 62°50′W / 17.900°N 62.833°W / 17.900; -62.833

Saint Barthélemy (French: Saint-Barthélemy, [sɛ̃ baʁtelemi]), officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy,[5] also known as St. Barts (English)[6] or St. Barth (French), is an overseas collectivity of France[7] in the Caribbean. The island lies about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southeast of the island of Saint Martin;[8] it is northeast of the Dutch islands of Saba and Sint Eustatius, as well as north of the independent country of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Saint Barthélemy was for many years a French commune forming part of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas region and department of France. In 2003 the island voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe to form a separate overseas collectivity (collectivité d'outre-mer, abbreviated to COM) of France. The collectivity is one of four territories among the Leeward Islands in the northeastern Caribbean that make up the French West Indies, along with Saint Martin, Guadeloupe (200 kilometres (120 mi) southeast), and Martinique.

Saint Barthélemy, a volcanic island fully encircled by shallow reefs, has an area of 25 square kilometres (9.7 sq mi)[note 3][2] and a population of 9,961 at the Jan. 2017 census.[3] Its capital is Gustavia,[9] which also contains the main harbour. It is the only Caribbean island that was a Swedish colony for any significant length of time (before the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Guadeloupe came under Swedish rule for a year before the Treaty of Paris). It remained so for nearly a century before it returned to French rule after a referendum. Symbolism from the Swedish national arms, the Three Crowns, still appears in the island's coat of arms. The language, cuisine, and culture, however, are distinctly French. The island is a popular tourist destination during the winter holiday season, geared towards the high-end, luxury tourist market.

Discover more about Saint Barthélemy related topics

Geographic coordinate system

Geographic coordinate system

The geographic coordinate system (GCS) is a spherical or ellipsoidal coordinate system for measuring and communicating positions directly on the Earth as latitude and longitude. It is the simplest, oldest and most widely used of the various spatial reference systems that are in use, and forms the basis for most others. Although latitude and longitude form a coordinate tuple like a cartesian coordinate system, the geographic coordinate system is not cartesian because the measurements are angles and are not on a planar surface.

French language

French language

French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French (Francien) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the (Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to France's past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French.

France

France

France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. It also includes overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Its eighteen integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi) and had a total population of over 68 million as of January 2023. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre; other major urban areas include Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux, and Nice.

Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a subregion of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea and its islands, the nearby coastal areas on the mainland may also be included. The region is southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central America, and north of South America.

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of four inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the two inhabited Îles des Saintes—as well as many uninhabited islands and outcroppings. It is south of Antigua and Barbuda and Montserrat, north of the Commonwealth of Dominica. The region's capital city is Basse-Terre, located on the southern west coast of Basse-Terre Island; however, the most populous city is Les Abymes and the main centre of business is neighbouring Pointe-à-Pitre, both located on Grande-Terre Island. It had a population of 384,239 in 2019.

Leeward Islands

Leeward Islands

The Leeward Islands are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In English, the term Leeward Islands refers to the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. The more southerly part of this chain, starting with Dominica, is called the Windward Islands. Dominica was originally considered a part of the Leeward Islands, but was transferred from the British Leeward Islands to the British Windward Islands in 1940.

French West Indies

French West Indies

The French West Indies or French Antilles are the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean:The two overseas departments of: Guadeloupe, including the islands of Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Les Saintes, Marie-Galante, and La Désirade. Martinique The two overseas collectivities of: Saint Martin, the northern half of the island with the same name, the southern half is Sint Maarten, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Saint Barthélemy

Collectivity of Saint Martin

Collectivity of Saint Martin

The Collectivity of Saint Martin, commonly known as simply Saint Martin, is an overseas collectivity of France in the West Indies in the Caribbean, on – but not identical with – the island of Saint Martin. Saint Martin is separated from the island of Anguilla by the Anguilla Channel. Its capital is Marigot.

Capital city

Capital city

A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the government's offices and meeting places; the status as capital is often designated by its law or constitution. In some jurisdictions, including several countries, different branches of government are in different settlements. In some cases, a distinction is made between the official (constitutional) capital and the seat of government, which is in another place.

Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy

Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy

Gustavia is the main town and capital of the island of Saint Barthélemy. Originally called Le Carénage, it was renamed in honor of King Gustav III of Sweden.

1877 Saint Barthélemy status referendum

1877 Saint Barthélemy status referendum

A referendum on re-integration into France was held in the Swedish colony of Saint Barthélemy in late October 1877. The island had been a colonial possession of Sweden for nearly a century, but following the referendum in which only one person voted against the proposal, it was returned to France the following year.

Coat of arms of Sweden

Coat of arms of Sweden

The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden has a greater and a lesser version.

Etymology

The island was named by Christopher Columbus for his younger brother Bartholomew Columbus in 1493.[7]

History

Early period

Before European contact the island was possibly frequented by Eastern Caribbean Taíno and Arawak people, who called the island 'Ouanalao',[10] though it is believed that the island was not inhabited permanently due to its poor water sources and soil.[note 4] Christopher Columbus was the first European to encounter the island in 1493.[10] Sporadic visits continued for the next hundred years until formal colonisation began taking shape.[9]

17th century

By 1648 the island was settled by the French, encouraged by Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy, the lieutenant-governor of the French West India Company, and initially comprised about 50 to 60 settlers, later augmented by smaller numbers coming from St Kitts.[12][13] Led by Jacques Gentes, the new arrivals began cultivating cacao. However, the settlement was attacked by Caribs in 1656 and briefly abandoned.[10][12][14]

De Poincy was the dominant administrator in this period and a member of the Order of Saint John. He facilitated the transfer of ownership from the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique to the Order. He continued to rule the island until he died in 1660. Five years later, it was bought by the French West India Company along with the Order's other possessions in the Caribbean.[10][12] By 1674, the company was dissolved and the islands became part of the French Kingdom and added to the colony of Guadeloupe.[14][12]

18th century

Seal of the governor of the Swedish colony, 1784–1877
Seal of the governor of the Swedish colony, 1784–1877
Historical quartiers (1801)
Historical quartiers (1801)

The island proved economically unsuccessful, and was subject to the activities of pirates (most notably Daniel Montbars aka 'Montbars the Exterminator'), as well as the British, who attacked the island in 1744.[10][12] Thus deeming it to be of little worth, King Louis XVI traded the island to Sweden in 1784 in return for trading privileges in Gothenburg.[15][12] This change of control saw progress and prosperity as the Swedes declared Gustavia (named after the Swedish king Gustav III who ruled at that time) a free port, convenient for trading by the Europeans for goods, including contraband material.[16][12][10]

19th century

Slavery was practised in St. Barthélemy under the Ordinance concerning the Police of Slaves and free Coloured People[17] of 1787. The last legally owned slaves in the Swedish colony of St. Barthélemy were granted their freedom by the state on 9 October 1847.[18][12] Since the island was not a plantation area, the freed slaves suffered economic hardships due to lack of opportunities for employment.[19]

In 1852, a devastating hurricane hit the island and this was followed by a fire.[12] The economy suffered, and thus Sweden sought to relieve themselves of the island. In 1867, a volcano “nearly destroyed the island” as recorded in the Illustrated London News. [12] Following a referendum in 1877, Sweden sold the island back to France in 1878,[20] after which it was administered as part of Guadeloupe.[15][12]

View of St. Barthélemy
View of St. Barthélemy

20th century

On 19 March 1946, the people of the island became French citizens with full rights.[10] With few economic prospects on the islands, many men from St. Barthélemy took jobs on Saint Thomas to support their families.[12] Organised tourism and hotels began in earnest in the 1960s and developed in the 1970s onwards, particularly after the building of the island's landing strip that can accommodate mid-sized aircraft.[12] The island soon became renowned as a high-class luxury destination, being frequented by numerous celebrities such as Greta Garbo, Howard Hughes, Benjamin de Rothschild, David Rockefeller, Lorne Michaels, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Jimmy Buffett and Johnny Hallyday.[10] The boost in tourist numbers has led to a rise in living standards and rapid modernisation.[12]

The island was not electrified until the 1980s.[21]

21st century

Saint Barthélemy was for many years a French commune forming part of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas region and department of France. Through a referendum in 2003, island residents sought separation from the administrative jurisdiction of Guadeloupe, and it was finally accomplished in 2007.[12] The island of Saint Barthélemy became an Overseas Collectivity (COM). A governing territorial council was elected for its administration, which has provided the island with a certain degree of autonomy. A senator represents the island in Paris. St. Barthélemy has retained its free port status.[22][23] Saint Barthélemy ceased being an outermost region and left the EU, to become an OCT, (Overseas Country or Territory) on 1 January 2012.

The island sustained damage from Hurricane Irma in September 2017 but recovered quickly, and by early 2018 transport and electricity were largely operational.[10]

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French West Indies

French West Indies

The French West Indies or French Antilles are the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean:The two overseas departments of: Guadeloupe, including the islands of Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Les Saintes, Marie-Galante, and La Désirade. Martinique The two overseas collectivities of: Saint Martin, the northern half of the island with the same name, the southern half is Sint Maarten, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Saint Barthélemy

Arawak

Arawak

The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. All these groups spoke related Arawakan languages.

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and European colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Knights Hospitaller

Knights Hospitaller

The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller, was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was founded in the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and was headquartered there until 1291, thereafter being based in Kolossi Castle in Cyprus (1302-1310), the island of Rhodes (1310-1522), Malta (1530-1798), and Saint Petersburg (1799-1801).

French West India Company

French West India Company

The French West India Company was a French trading company founded on 28 May 1664, some three months before the foundation of the corresponding eastern company, by Jean-Baptiste Colbert and dissolved on 2 January 1674. The company received the French possessions of the Atlantic coasts of Africa and America, and was granted a monopoly on trade with America, which was to last for forty years. It was supposed to populate Canada, using the profits of the sugar economy that began in Guadeloupe. Its capital was six million pounds and its headquarters was in Le Havre.

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of four inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the two inhabited Îles des Saintes—as well as many uninhabited islands and outcroppings. It is south of Antigua and Barbuda and Montserrat, north of the Commonwealth of Dominica. The region's capital city is Basse-Terre, located on the southern west coast of Basse-Terre Island; however, the most populous city is Les Abymes and the main centre of business is neighbouring Pointe-à-Pitre, both located on Grande-Terre Island. It had a population of 384,239 in 2019.

Daniel Montbars

Daniel Montbars

Daniel Montbars (1645–1707?), better known as Montbars the Exterminator, was a 17th-century French buccaneer. For several years, he was known as one of the most violent buccaneers active against the Spanish during the mid-17th century. His reputation as a fierce enemy of the Spanish Empire was matched only by François l'Olonnais and Roche Braziliano.

Kingdom of Great Britain

Kingdom of Great Britain

The Kingdom of Great Britain, officially known as Great Britain, was a sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the kingdoms of England and Scotland to form a single kingdom encompassing the whole island of Great Britain and its outlying islands, with the exception of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The unitary state was governed by a single parliament at the Palace of Westminster, but distinct legal systems—English law and Scots law—remained in use.

Gothenburg

Gothenburg

Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a population of approximately 590,000 in the city proper and about 1.1 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area.

Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy

Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy

Gustavia is the main town and capital of the island of Saint Barthélemy. Originally called Le Carénage, it was renamed in honor of King Gustav III of Sweden.

Gustav III

Gustav III

Gustav III, also called Gustavus III, was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia.

Contraband

Contraband

Contraband refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes of the legislator—termed contraband in se—and forbidden.

Geography

Map showing the location of St. Barts relative to Sint Maarten/Saint Martin and St Kitts
Map showing the location of St. Barts relative to Sint Maarten/Saint Martin and St Kitts
Map of Saint-Barthélemy
Map of Saint-Barthélemy

Approximately 250 kilometres (160 mi) east of Puerto Rico and the nearer Virgin Islands, St. Barthélemy lies immediately southeast of the islands of Saint Martin and Anguilla. St. Barthélemy is separated from Saint Martin by the Saint-Barthélemy Channel. It lies northeast of Saba and St Eustatius, and north of St Kitts. Several smaller uninhabited islands lie offshore, the largest of which are Île Fourchue, Île Coco, Île Chevreau (Île Bonhomme), Île Frégate, Île Toc Vers, Île Tortue, Roche Plate (Table à Diable) and Mancel ou la Poule et les Poussins. There are numerous smaller islets, such as La Petite Islette, L'Îlet au Vent, Île Pelé, Île le Boulanger, Roche le Bœuf, Île Petit Jean, L'Âne Rouge, Les Gros Islets, La Baleine des Gros Islets, Pain de Sucre, Les Baleines du Pain de Sucre, Fourmis, Les Petit Saints, Roches Roubes, Les Baleines de Grand Fond and Les Grenadins.[24]

Marine areas

St. Barthélemy forms, with St. Martin, Anguilla, and Dog Island, a distinct group that lies upon the western edge of a flat bank of soundings composed chiefly of shells, sand, and coral. From St. Barthélemy, the bank extends east-southeast, ending in a small tongue or spit. It is separated from the main bank by a narrow length of deep water. East of the island, the edge of the bank lies 22 kilometres (14 miles) away.[24]

Grande Saline Bay provides temporary anchorage for small vessels while Colombier Bay, to the northwest, has a 4 fathoms patch near mid-entrance. In the bight of St. Jean Bay, there is a narrow cut through the reef.[24] The north and east sides of the island are fringed, to a short distance from the shore, by a visible coral reef. Reefs are mostly in shallow waters and are clearly visible. The coastal areas abound with beaches and many of these have offshore reefs, some of which are part of a marine reserve.[22]

The marine reserve, founded in 1999, covers more than 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of protected and vulnerable habitats, bays, and islands, and includes a zone that is restricted to scientific observations only.[25] As the sea surrounding the St. Barthélemy is rich in coral reefs and other precious marine life, the area has been declared a protected area since 1996. Environmental awareness is quite pronounced in St. Barthélemy and is promoted by the Environmental Commission.[26]

View of Gustavia
View of Gustavia
Shell Beach (Anse De Grand Galet)
Shell Beach (Anse De Grand Galet)

There are as many as 22 public beaches (most beaches on St. Barthélémy are known as "Anse de...") of which 15 are considered suitable for swimming. They are categorized and divided into two groups, the leeward side (calm waters protected by the island itself) and the windward side (some of which are protected by hills and reefs). Windward beaches are popular for windsurfing. The beach of St Jean is suitable for water sports and facilities have been created for that purpose. The long beach at Lorient has shade and is a quiet beach as compared to St. Jean.[27]

Grand-cul-de-sac is a long beach with facilities for water sports. Anse de Flamands is a very wide sandy beach and Le petit Anse (The little beach), just to the north of Anse de Flamands is very safe and popular with the locals for their children. Anse Toiny beach is in a remote location and is considered suitable for experienced surfers as the water current is very strong.[27]

On the leeward side, the notable beaches are Anse du Gouverneur, Anse du Colombier which is only accessible by foot or by boat, Anse de Grand Galet (Shell Beach), and Anse de Grande Saline which is popular with nudists. The area around the salt ponds near the Anse de Grande Saline beach is marshy and is a habitat for tropical birds. Ile islet, an offshoot of the leeward side, has a white sandy beach.[27]

Shell Beach, also called Anse de Grand Galet (in French, 'Anse' means "cove" and Galet means "pebble"), is a beach in the southwestern part of Gustavia. A large number of sea shells are scattered on this beach. This beach was subject to the strong waves of hurricane Lenny in 1999, which resulted in the erosion of the sand. This necessitated supplementing the beach with new sand in 2000.[28]

On the north coast, on the far eastern side of the island, there are two lagoons called the Anse de Marigot and Anse du Grand Cul-de-Sac.[28]

Beach at the Anse de Grande Saline
Beach at the Anse de Grande Saline

Interior areas

Morne de Vitet, 286 metres (938 feet) in height, is the highest peak on the island.[7] Hills and valleys of varying topography cover the rest of the island.[22] Notable are Morne Rouge, Morne Criquet, Morne de Grand Fond, Morne de Dépoudré and Morne Lurin. The largest bodies of water on the island are Étang de Saint-Jean, Grande Saline, Grand Étang, and Petit Étang.

Populated areas

The population is spread among 40 quartiers, roughly corresponding to settlements. They are grouped into two paroisses (parishes):

Territorial subdivisions into two paroisses (parishes) with 40 quartiers
Territorial subdivisions into two paroisses (parishes) with 40 quartiers
Satellite picture of the island
Satellite picture of the island
Sous le Vent
(Leeward)
Au Vent
(Windward)
Nr Quartier Nr Quartier
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Colombier
Flamands
Terre Neuve
Grande Vigie
Corossol
Merlette
La Grande Montagne
Anse des Lézards
Anse des Cayes
Le Palidor
Public
Col de la Tourmente
Quartier du Roi
Le Château
Aéroport
Saint-Jean
Gustavia
La Pointe
Lurin
Carénage
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
Morne Criquet
Morne de Dépoudré
Gouverneur
Anse du Gouverneur
Morne Rouge
Grande Saline
Petite Saline
Lorient
Barrière des Quatres Vents
Camaruche
Grand Fond
Toiny
Devet
Vitet
Grand Cul-de-Sac
Pointe Milou
Mont Jean
Marigot
Anse du Grand Cul-de-Sac
Petit Cul-de-Sac

Climate

The island covers an area of 25 square kilometres (10 sq mi). The eastern side is wetter than the western. Although the climate is essentially arid, the rainfall does average 1,000 millimetres (40 inches) annually, but with considerable variation over the terrain. Summer is from May to November, which is also the rainy season. Winter from December to April is the dry season. Sunshine is very prominent for nearly the entire year and even during the rainy season. Humidity, however, is not very high due to the winds. The average temperature is around 25 °C (77 °F) with day temperatures rising to 32 °C (90 °F). The average high and low temperatures in January are 28 °C (82 °F) and 22 °C (72 °F), respectively, while in July they are 30 °C (86 °F) and 24 °C (75 °F). The lowest night temperature recorded is 13 °C (55 °F). The Caribbean sea waters in the vicinity generally maintain a temperature of about 27 °C (81 °F).[29]

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Saint Martin (island)

Saint Martin (island)

Saint Martin is an island in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately 300 km (190 mi) east of Puerto Rico. The 87 square kilometres (34 sq mi) island is divided roughly 60:40 between the French Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but the Dutch part is more populated than the French part. The division dates to 1648. The northern French part comprises the Collectivity of Saint Martin and is an overseas collectivity of the French Republic. As part of France, the French part of the island is also part of the European Union. The southern Dutch part comprises Sint Maarten and is one of four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Caribbean island and unincorporated territory of the United States with official Commonwealth status. It is located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida, between the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and includes the eponymous main island and several smaller islands, such as Mona, Culebra, and Vieques. It has roughly 3.2 million residents, and its capital and most populous city is San Juan. Spanish and English are the official languages of the executive branch of government, though Spanish predominates.

Virgin Islands

Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Croix being a displaced part of the same geologic structure. Politically, the British Virgin Islands have been governed as the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, and form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The archipelago is separated from the true Lesser Antilles by the Anegada Passage and from the main island of Puerto Rico by the Virgin Passage.

Anguilla

Anguilla

Anguilla is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territory consists of the main island of Anguilla, approximately 16 miles long by 3 miles (5 km) wide at its widest point, together with a number of much smaller islands and cays with no permanent population. The territory's capital is The Valley. The total land area of the territory is 35 square miles (91 km2), with a population of approximately 15,753 (2021).

Saint-Barthélemy Channel

Saint-Barthélemy Channel

Saint-Barthélemy Channel is a strait in the Caribbean Sea that separates the French overseas collectivity of Saint Barthélemy and the island of Saint Martin, which is divided between a separate French overseas collectivity and Sint Maarten, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The maritime boundary between Saint Bathélemy and Sint Maarten runs through Saint-Barthélemy Channel.

Saba (island)

Saba (island)

Saba is a Caribbean island and the smallest special municipality of the Netherlands. It consists largely of the active volcano Mount Scenery, which at 887 metres (2,910 ft) is the highest point of the entire Kingdom of the Netherlands. The island lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, southeast of the Virgin Islands. Together with Bonaire and Sint Eustatius it forms the BES islands.

Île Chevreau

Île Chevreau

Île Chevreau also known as Île Bonhomme is an island off the north coast of Saint Barthélemy in the Caribbean. It is the westernmost most of a series of islands. It is mainly rocky, with some sparse areas of vegetation towards the centre and western side. With an area of 62 hectares, it is the second largest satellite island of Saint Barthélemy after Île Fourchue.

Dog Island, Anguilla

Dog Island, Anguilla

Dog Island is an uninhabitated small island of 207 ha located approximately 13 km (8.1 mi) to the north-west of Anguilla. It is low and rocky, with three small cays off the west and north coasts. The coastline is characterised by low cliffs alternating with sandy beaches. Large ponds lie inside two of the beaches. Dog Island lies west of the Prickley Pear Cays.

Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy

Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy

Gustavia is the main town and capital of the island of Saint Barthélemy. Originally called Le Carénage, it was renamed in honor of King Gustav III of Sweden.

Hurricane Lenny

Hurricane Lenny

Hurricane Lenny was the strongest November Atlantic hurricane since the 1932 Cuba hurricane. It was the twelfth tropical storm, eighth hurricane, and record-breaking fifth Category 4 hurricane in the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season. Lenny formed on November 13 in the western Caribbean Sea at around 18:00 UTC and went on to form and maintain an unusual and unprecedented easterly track for its entire duration, which gave it the common nickname, "Wrong Way Lenny." It attained hurricane status south of Jamaica on November 15 and passed south of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico over the next few days. Lenny rapidly intensified over the northeastern Caribbean on November 17, attaining peak winds of 155 mph (249 km/h) about 21 mi (34 km) south of Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. It gradually weakened while moving through the Leeward Islands, eventually dissipating on November 23 over the open Atlantic Ocean.

Morne de Vitet

Morne de Vitet

Morne de Vitet is the highest point of Saint Barthélemy, an overseas collectivity of France located in the Caribbean, with an elevation of 286 metres (938 ft). The mountain is located in the eastern part of the island.

Sous le Vent Parish

Sous le Vent Parish

Sous le Vent is a parish of Saint Barthélemy in the Caribbean.

Demographics

As of 2017, Saint-Barthélemy had a population of 9,961.[note 5][3] Residents, known as Saint-Barthélemois, are French citizens. Most of them are descendants of the first settlers, of Breton, Norman, Poitevin, Saintongeais and Angevin lineage. There is also a big community of Portuguese emigrants mainly from the North of Portugal, around 3000 people.[30] French is the native tongue of the population, though English is understood in most hotels and restaurants; a small population of Anglophones has been resident in Gustavia for many years. The St. Barthélemy French patois is spoken by some 500–700 people in the leeward portion of the island and is superficially related to Quebec French,[31][32][33] whereas Créole French is limited to the windward side. Unlike other populations in the Caribbean, language preference between the Créole and Patois is geographically, and not racially, determined.[34]

Historical population

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1671 336—    
1686 448+1.94%
1700 90−10.83%
1732 365+4.47%
1766 523+1.06%
1775 754+4.15%
1785 749−0.07%
1790 1,556+15.75%
1794 2,212+9.19%
1815 5,763+4.67%
1821 5,003−2.33%
1826 4,016−4.30%
1836 3,223−2.18%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1846 2,590−2.16%
1857 2,901+1.04%
1866 2,898−0.01%
1875 2,374−2.32%
1884 2,555+0.82%
1889 2,654+0.76%
1901 2,772+0.36%
1906 2,616−1.15%
1911 2,545−0.55%
1921 2,519−0.10%
1926 2,538+0.15%
1931 2,354−1.49%
1936 2,479+1.04%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1946 2,231−0.95%
1954 2,079−0.94%
1961 2,176+0.63%
1967 2,351+1.29%
1974 2,491+0.83%
1982 3,059+2.82%
1990 5,038+6.42%
1999 6,852+3.48%
2007 8,450+2.72%
2012 9,131+1.56%
2017 9,961+1.76%
Official figures from French and Swedish censuses.[35][36][37][3] Census date for censuses after 1999 is January 1.

Religion

Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Gustavia (Église Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Gustavia)
Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Gustavia (Église Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Gustavia)
Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Lorient (Église Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Lorient)
Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Lorient (Église Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Lorient)

The majority of the population of Saint Barthélemy is Christian; Saint Barthélemy is considered the most religiously homogeneous[38] territory in the French West Indies, with particular importance given to the Catholic Church.[38]

The territory of Saint-Barthélemy forms the parish of Our Lady of the Assumption (Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption), which in turn depends on the diocese of Basse-Terre and Pointe-à-Pitre ( diocèse de Basse-Terre et Pointe-à-Pitre) whose see is located in the cathedral of Our Lady of Guadeloupe (Notre-Dame-de-Guadeloupe).

The presbytery is located in the district of Lorient and dates from 1822. The building, including the masonry terrace, the staircases, the outbuildings and the gardens have been protected as historic monuments of France since March 28, 2002.[39]

There are two main Catholic churches both dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption or Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption (the one in Lorient[40] and the one in Gustavia)[41] and a chapel of St. Catherine of Siena (Chapelle de Sainte Catherine de Sienne)[42] in Colombier.[43]

Saint Barthélemy is also part of the Diocese of the North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba (diocèse de la Caraïbe du Nord-Est et d'Aruba), which is under the Church of England (Church in the Province of the West Indies) that serves a small minority on the island that is centered in the Anglican Church of Saint Bartholomew (Église anglicane de Saint-Barthélemy) built between 1853 and 1855.[44] The small Pentecostal Christian community does not have a church building of its own and therefore offers religious services at St Barth's Beach Hotel.[45]

The main religious holidays are Christmas, the day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (August 15), All Saints' Day (November 1) and the feast of St. Bartholomew (patron saint of the island) on August 24.

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Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period of Roman occupation. It became an independent kingdom and then a duchy before being united with the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province governed as a separate nation under the crown.

Duchy of Anjou

Duchy of Anjou

The Duchy of Anjou was a French province straddling the lower river Loire. Its capital was Angers and it was roughly coextensive with the diocese of Angers. Anjou was bordered by Brittany to the west, Maine to the north, Touraine to the east and Poitou to the south. The adjectival form is Angevin, and inhabitants of Anjou are known as Angevins. In 1482, the duchy became part of the Kingdom of France, and from then remained a province of the Kingdom under the name of the Duchy of Anjou. Following the decree dividing France into departments in 1790, the province was disestablished and split into six new départements: Deux-Sèvres, Indre-et-Loire, Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Sarthe, and Vienne.

French language

French language

French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French (Francien) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the (Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to France's past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French.

English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the island of Great Britain. Existing on a dialect continuum with Scots and then most closely related to the Low German and Frisian languages, English is genealogically Germanic. However, its vocabulary also shows major influences from French and Latin, plus some grammar and a small amount of core vocabulary influenced by Old Norse. Speakers of English are called Anglophones.

French-based creole languages

French-based creole languages

A French creole, or French-based creole language, is a creole for which French is the lexifier. Most often this lexifier is not modern French but rather a 17th- or 18th-century koiné of French from Paris, the French Atlantic harbors, and the nascent French colonies. This article also contains information on French pidgin languages, contact languages that lack native speakers.

Catholic Church

Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2019. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization. The church consists of 24 sui iuris churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies located around the world. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The bishopric of Rome, known as the Holy See, is the central governing authority of the church. The administrative body of the Holy See, the Roman Curia, has its principal offices in Vatican City, a small enclave of the Italian city of Rome, of which the pope is head of state.

Assumption of Mary

Assumption of Mary

The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by God that the immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever virgin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven.

Basse-Terre Cathedral

Basse-Terre Cathedral

Basse-Terre Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe and a national monument of France, in the town of Basse-Terre in Guadeloupe.

Garden

Garden

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is control. The garden can incorporate both natural and artificial materials.

Chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type of these. Second, a chapel is a place of worship, sometimes non-denominational, that is part of a building, complex, or vessel with some other main purpose, such as a school, college, hospital, palace or large aristocratic house, castle, barracks, prison, funeral home, cemetery, airport, or a military or commercial ship. Third, chapels are small places of worship, built as satellite sites by a church or monastery, for example in remote areas; these are often called a chapel of ease. A feature of all these types is that often no clergy were permanently resident or specifically attached to the chapel.

Catherine of Siena

Catherine of Siena

Catherine of Siena, TOSD was an Italian member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic in the Roman Catholic Church. She was a mystic, activist, and author who had a great influence on Italian literature and on the Catholic Church. Canonized in 1461, she is also a Doctor of the Church.

Aruba

Aruba

Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about 29 kilometres (18 mi) north of the Venezuela peninsula of Paraguaná and 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Curaçao. It measures 32 kilometres (20 mi) long from its northwestern to its southeastern end and 10 kilometres (6 mi) across at its widest point. Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, Aruba forms a group referred to as the ABC islands. Collectively, these and the other three Dutch substantial islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean, of which Aruba has about one-third of the population. In 1986, it became a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and acquired the formal name the Country of Aruba.

Politics and government

Until 2007 the whole island of St. Barthélemy was a French commune (commune de Saint-Barthélemy), forming part of Guadeloupe which is an overseas région and overseas département of France. In 2003, the population voted through a referendum in favour of secession from Guadeloupe to form a separate overseas collectivity (collectivité d'outre-mer, or COM) of France.[46]

On 7 February 2007,[47] the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both St. Barthélemy and (separately) to the neighbouring Saint Martin. The new status took effect on 15 July 2007, when the first territorial council was elected, according to the law.[48] The island has a president (elected every five years), a unicameral Territorial Council of nineteen members who are elected by popular vote and serve for five-year terms, and an executive council of seven members. Elections to these councils were first held on 1 July 2007 with the most recent election in 2017.

One senator represents the island in the Senate, while a deputy jointly elected with Saint Martin represents it in the National Assembly. St. Barthélemy became an overseas territory of the European Union on 1 January 2012,[49] but the island's inhabitants remain French citizens with EU status holding EU passports. France is responsible for the defence of the island and as such has stationed a security force on the island comprising six policemen and thirteen gendarmes (posted on a two-year term).[22]

The French State is represented by a Prefect appointed by the President on the advice of the Minister of the Interior. As a collectivity of France, the island's national anthem is La Marseillaise, though L'Hymne a St. Barthélemy is also used unofficially.[7]

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Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of four inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the two inhabited Îles des Saintes—as well as many uninhabited islands and outcroppings. It is south of Antigua and Barbuda and Montserrat, north of the Commonwealth of Dominica. The region's capital city is Basse-Terre, located on the southern west coast of Basse-Terre Island; however, the most populous city is Les Abymes and the main centre of business is neighbouring Pointe-à-Pitre, both located on Grande-Terre Island. It had a population of 384,239 in 2019.

French Parliament

French Parliament

The French Parliament is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate and the National Assembly. Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at separate locations in Paris: the Senate meets in the Palais du Luxembourg and the National Assembly convenes at Palais Bourbon.

Collectivity of Saint Martin

Collectivity of Saint Martin

The Collectivity of Saint Martin, commonly known as simply Saint Martin, is an overseas collectivity of France in the West Indies in the Caribbean, on – but not identical with – the island of Saint Martin. Saint Martin is separated from the island of Anguilla by the Anguilla Channel. Its capital is Marigot.

Territorial Council of Saint Barthélemy

Territorial Council of Saint Barthélemy

The Territorial Council of Saint Barthélemy is the consultative assembly for Saint Barthélemy. The legislature comprises 19 territorial councillors.

Senate (France)

Senate (France)

The Senate is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators elected by part of the country's local councillors, as well as by representatives of French citizens living abroad. Senators have six-year terms, with half of the seats up for election every three years.

National Assembly (France)

National Assembly (France)

The National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate. The National Assembly's legislators are known as députés, meaning "delegate" or "envoy" in English; etymologically, it is a cognate of the English word deputy, which is the standard term for legislators in many parliamentary systems).

Gendarmerie

Gendarmerie

A gendarmerie is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term gendarme is derived from the medieval French expression gens d'armes, which translates to "rural police" or "men-at-arms". In France and some Francophone nations, the gendarmerie is a branch of the armed forces that is responsible for internal security in parts of the territory, with additional duties as military police for the armed forces. It was introduced to several other Western European countries during the Napoleonic conquests. In the mid-twentieth century, a number of former French mandates and colonial possessions adopted a gendarmerie after independence. A similar concept exists in Eastern Europe in the form of Internal Troops, which are present in many countries of the former Soviet Union and its former allied countries.

Prefect (France)

Prefect (France)

A prefect in France is the state's representative in a department or region. Subprefects are responsible for the subdivisions of departments, known as arrondissements. The office of a prefect is known as a prefecture and that of a subprefect as a subprefecture. Regional prefects are ex officio the departmental prefects of the regional prefecture.

Minister of the Interior (France)

Minister of the Interior (France)

Minister of the Interior is a prominent position in the Government of France. The position is equivalent to the interior minister in other countries, like the Home Secretary in the United Kingdom, the Minister of Public Safety in Canada, or similar to a combination of the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security in the United States.

Economy

Sailboats and yachts in St. Barts
Sailboats and yachts in St. Barts
A proportional representation of Saint Barthélemy exports, 2019
A proportional representation of Saint Barthélemy exports, 2019

The economy of the island is based on tourism and duty-free retail.[50] The official currency of St. Barthélemy is the euro.[50]

It is estimated that the nominal GDP of Saint Martin amounted to 367 million euros in 2014 (US$487 million at 2014 exchanges rates; US$411 million at Feb. 2022 exchange rates).[4] In that same year the nominal GDP per capita of Saint Barthelemy was 38,994 euros (US$51,735 at 2014 exchanges rates; US$43,626 at Feb. 2022 exchange rates),[4] which was one of the highest GDP per capita in the Caribbean, more than double the GDP per capita of the nearby Collectivity of Saint Martin,[51] as well as 85% higher than Guadeloupe and 19% higher than metropolitan France's GDP per capita in 2014.[52]

Tourism

International investment and the wealth generated by tourists explain the high standard of living on the island.[50] Most of the food is imported from the United States or France.[50] Tourism attracts about 200,000 visitors every year.[50] As a result, there is a boom in house-building activity catering to the tourists and also to the permanent residents of the island.

St. Barthélemy has about 25 hotels, most with 15 rooms or fewer; the largest has 58 rooms. Hotels are classified in the traditional French manner; 3 Star, 4 Star and 4 Star Luxe. Of particular note are Eden Rock and Cheval Blanc. Hotel Le Toiny, the most expensive hotel on the island, has 12 rooms.

Most places of accommodation are in the form of private villas, of which there are some 400 available to rent on the island.[22] The island's tourism industry, though expensive, attracts 70,000 visitors every year to its hotels and villas; another 130,000 people arrive by boat. It also attracts a labour force from Portugal.[50] A team of analysts have analysed Airbnb’s Luxe offerings in 27 of their most popular luxury locations around the world and concluded that St Barths in the Caribbean is the top location for luxury Airbnb accommodation worldwide.[53]

The height of tourism is New Year's Eve, with celebrities and the wealthy converging on the island in yachts up to 170 metres (550 feet) in length for the occasion.[54] Corossol is noted for its handicrafts; weaving hats and bags from palm fronds is a low-income economic activity of the indigenous people.[55]

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Economy of France

Economy of France

The economy of France is a highly developed social market economy with notable state participation in strategic sectors. It is the world's seventh-largest economy by nominal GDP and the tenth-largest economy by PPP, constituting around 4% of world GDP. France has a diversified economy, that is dominated by the service sector, whilst the industrial sector accounted for 19.5% of its GDP and the primary sector accounted for the remaining 1.7%. France was in 2020 the largest Foreign Direct Investment recipient in Europe, and Europe's second largest spender in research and development. It was ranked among the 10 most innovative countries in the world by the 2020 Bloomberg Innovation Index, as well as the 15th most competitive nation globally, according to the 2019 Global Competitiveness Report. It was the fifth-largest trading nation in the world. France is also the most visited destination in the world, as well the European Union's leading agricultural power.

Euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of 20 of the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 344 million citizens as of 2023. The euro is divided into 100 cents.

List of countries by GDP (nominal)

List of countries by GDP (nominal)

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the market value of all final goods and services from a nation in a given year. Countries are sorted by nominal GDP estimates from financial and statistical institutions, which are calculated at market or government official exchange rates. Nominal GDP does not take into account differences in the cost of living in different countries, and the results can vary greatly from one year to another based on fluctuations in the exchange rates of the country's currency. Such fluctuations may change a country's ranking from one year to the next, even though they often make little or no difference in the standard of living of its population.

List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita

List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita

The figures presented here do not take into account differences in the cost of living in different countries, and the results vary greatly from one year to another based on fluctuations in the exchange rates of the country's currency. Such fluctuations change a country's ranking from one year to the next, even though they often make little or no difference to the standard of living of its population.

Collectivity of Saint Martin

Collectivity of Saint Martin

The Collectivity of Saint Martin, commonly known as simply Saint Martin, is an overseas collectivity of France in the West Indies in the Caribbean, on – but not identical with – the island of Saint Martin. Saint Martin is separated from the island of Anguilla by the Anguilla Channel. Its capital is Marigot.

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of four inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the two inhabited Îles des Saintes—as well as many uninhabited islands and outcroppings. It is south of Antigua and Barbuda and Montserrat, north of the Commonwealth of Dominica. The region's capital city is Basse-Terre, located on the southern west coast of Basse-Terre Island; however, the most populous city is Les Abymes and the main centre of business is neighbouring Pointe-à-Pitre, both located on Grande-Terre Island. It had a population of 384,239 in 2019.

Metropolitan France

Metropolitan France

Metropolitan France, also known as European France is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European regions of France is used in everyday life in France but has no administrative meaning. Indeed, the overseas regions have exactly the same administrative status as the metropolitan regions. Metropolitan France comprises mainland France and Corsica, as well as nearby islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel, and the Mediterranean Sea.

Eden Rock, St Barths

Eden Rock, St Barths

Eden Rock, St Barths is a luxury resort in Saint Barthélemy in the Caribbean, jutting out on a craggy quartzite bluff overlooking the Baie de Saint Jean on the central north coast. The resort is very popular with the rich and famous. U.S. News Travel ranks it as the best hotel on the island, and was included in Travel and Leisure's 500 World's Best Hotels for 2015.

Cheval Blanc, St Barths

Cheval Blanc, St Barths

Cheval Blanc is a luxury colonial-style hotel in Saint Barthélemy in the Caribbean, situated on Flamands Beach on the northwestern coast. It was awarded AAA/CAA Four Diamond Lodgings status for 2015. Established in 1991, the hotel contains 40 rooms, suites and villas, which start in size at 645 square feet (59.9 m2). CNN notes that the interior white-washed furnishings are inspired by those of French chateaus, and that salmon pink is a common rendering. The hotel is served by two restaurants, La Case de l'Isle headed by Yann Vinsot by the pool, and La Cabane de l'Isle, and is frequented by wealthy celebrities, including Jay Z and Beyoncé, Ryan Seacrest, P. Diddy, Anthony Kiedis, Russell Simmons and Marc Jacobs.

Hotel Le Toiny

Hotel Le Toiny

Hotel Le Toiny is a luxury hotel in Saint Barthélemy in the Caribbean, situated near Anse Toiny on the southeastern coast. It has 12 rooms. It is served by the French restaurant Le Gaïac, named after the rare gaiac trees found in the vicinity.

Airbnb

Airbnb

Airbnb, Inc. is an American San Francisco-based company operating an online marketplace for short-term homestays and experiences. The company acts as a broker and charges a commission from each booking. The company was founded in 2008 by Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia. Airbnb is a shortened version of its original name, AirBedandBreakfast.com. The company is credited with revolutionizing the tourism industry however it has also been the subject of intense criticism by residents of tourism hotspot cities like Barcelona, Venice, etc. for enabling an unaffordable increase in home rents, and for a lack of regulation.

Corossol

Corossol

Corossol is a quartier of Saint Barthélemy in the Caribbean. It is located in the northwestern part of the island. The quartiers' language is Norman.

Wildlife

Flora

Vegetation at Baie de Saint-Jean
Vegetation at Baie de Saint-Jean

As the terrain is generally arid, the hills have mostly poor soil and support only cacti and succulent plants. During the rainy season, the area turns green with vegetation and grass. The eastern part of the island is greener as it receives more rainfall. A 1994 survey has revealed several hundred indigenous species of plants including the naturalized varieties of flora; some grow in irrigated areas while the dry areas are dominated by the cacti variety. Sea grapes and palm trees are a common sight with mangroves and shrubs surviving in the saline coastal swamps. Coconut palm was brought to the island from the Pacific islands. Important plants noted on the island include flamboyant trees, frangipanis, sabal palms, wild trumpet and Manchineel trees.[56]

Other trees of note include the royal palm, sea grape trees in the form of shrubs on the beaches, and as 5 to 7 metres (16 to 23 feet) trees in the interior areas of the island, aloe or aloe vera (brought from the Mediterranean),[57] the night blooming cereus, mamillaria nivosa, yellow prickly pear or barbary fig which was planted as barbed wire defences against invading British army in 1773, Mexican cactus, stapelia gigantea, golden trumpet or yellow bell which was originally from South America, bougainvillea and others.[22][58][59]

Fauna

Marine mammals are many, such as dolphins, porpoises, and whales, are seen here during the migration period from December until May. Turtles are a common sight along the coastline of the island. They are a protected species and in the endangered list. It is stated that it will take 15–50 years for this species to attain reproductive age. Though they live in the sea, the females come to the shore to lay eggs and are protected by private societies. Three species of turtles are particularly notable. These are: The leatherback sea turtles which have leather skin instead of a shell and are the largest of the type found here, sometimes measuring as much as 3 metres (10 feet) (average is about 1.5 m or 5 ft) and weighing about 450 (jellyfish is their favourite diet); the hawksbill turtles, which have hawk-like beaks and found near reefs, generally about 90 centimetres (35 inches) in diameter and weigh about 60 and their diet consists of crabs and snails; and the green turtles, herbivores which have rounded heads, generally about 90 centimetres (35 inches) in diameter and live amidst tall sea grasses.[22][60]

Avifauna

Avifauna in the wild, both native and migrating include brown pelican along the shoreline, magnificent frigatebirds with long wingspans of up to 1.8 metres (6'), green herons, snowy egrets, belted kingfishers; bananaquits; broad-winged hawks; two species of hummingbirds, the green-throated carib and Antillean crested hummingbird; and zenaida doves.[22][61]

Aquafauna

The marine life found here consists of anemones, urchins, sea cucumbers, and eels, which all live on the reefs along with turtles, conch and many varieties of marine fishes.[62] The marine aquafauna is rich in conch, which has pearly-pink shells. Its meat is a favourite food supplement item and their shells are a collector's item. Other species of fish that are recorded close to the shoreline in shallow waters are: sergeant majors, the blue chromis, brown chromis, surgeon fish; blue tangs and trumpet fish. On the shore are ghost crabs, which always live on the beach in small burrowed tunnels made of sand, and the hermit crabs, which live on land but lay eggs in water and which also eat garbage and sewerage. They spend some months in the sea during and after the hatching season.[63]

Marine Reserve

Saint-Barthélemy has a marine nature reserve, known as the Reserve Naturelle[64] that covers 1200 ha (4¾ sq.mi.), and is divided into 5 zones all around the island to form a network of protected areas. The Reserve includes the bays of Grand Cul de Sac, Colombier, Marigot, Petit Cul de Sac, and Petite Anse as well as waters around offshore rocks such as Les Gross Islets, Pain de Sucre, Tortue, and Forchue. The Reserve is designed to protect the islands' coral reefs, seagrass, and endangered marine species including sea turtles. The Reserve has two levels of protection, the yellow zones of protection where certain non-extractive activities, like snorkeling and boating, are allowed and the red zones of high protection where most activities including SCUBA are restricted to protect or recover marine life. Anchoring is prohibited in the Reserve and mooring buoys are in place in some of the protected bays like Colombier.

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Coccoloba uvifera

Coccoloba uvifera

Coccoloba uvifera is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae, that is native to coastal beaches throughout tropical America and the Caribbean, including southern Florida, the Bahamas, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, and Bermuda. Common names include seagrape and baygrape.

Mangrove

Mangrove

A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several plant families. They occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics and even some temperate coastal areas, mainly between latitudes 30° N and 30° S, with the greatest mangrove area within 5° of the equator. Mangrove plant families first appeared during the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene epochs, and became widely distributed in part due to the movement of tectonic plates. The oldest known fossils of mangrove palm date to 75 million years ago.

Shrub

Shrub

A shrub is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple stems and shorter height, less than 6–10 m (20–33 ft) tall. Small shrubs, less than 2 m (6.6 ft) tall are sometimes termed as subshrubs. Many botanical groups have species that are shrubs, and others that are trees and herbaceous plants instead.

Delonix regia

Delonix regia

Delonix regia is a species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae native to Madagascar. It is noted for its fern-like leaves and flamboyant display of orange-red flowers over summer. In many tropical parts of the world it is grown as an ornamental tree and in English it is given the name royal poinciana, flamboyant, phoenix flower, flame of the forest, or flame tree.

Plumeria

Plumeria

Plumeria, also known as frangipani, is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Rauvolfioideae, of the family Apocynaceae. Most species are deciduous shrubs or small trees. The species variously are endemic to the Neotropical realm, but are sometimes grown as cosmopolitan ornamentals in warm regions.

Sabal

Sabal

Sabal is a genus of palms endemic to the New World. Currently, there are 17 recognized species of Sabal, including one hybrid species. The species are native to the subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas, from the Gulf Coast/South Atlantic states in the Southeastern United States, south through the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America to Colombia and Venezuela. Members of this genus are typically identified by the leaves which originate from a bare, unarmed petiole in a fan-like structure. All members of this genus have a costa that extends into the leaf blade. This midrib can vary in length; and it is due to this variation that leaf blades of certain species of Sabal are strongly curved or strongly costapalmate or weakly curved, weakly costapalmate,. Like many other palms, the fruit of Sabal are drupe, that typically change from green to black when mature.

Manchineel

Manchineel

The manchineel tree is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Its native range stretches from tropical southern North America to northern South America.

Aloe

Aloe

Aloe is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants. The most widely known species is Aloe vera, or "true aloe". It is called this because it is cultivated as the standard source for assorted pharmaceutical purposes. Other species, such as Aloe ferox, are also cultivated or harvested from the wild for similar applications.

Aloe vera

Aloe vera

Aloe vera is a succulent plant species of the genus Aloe. It is widely distributed, and is considered an invasive species in many world regions.

Mammillaria

Mammillaria

Mammillaria is one of the largest genera in the cactus family (Cactaceae), with currently 200 known species and varieties recognized. Most of the mammillaria are native to Mexico, but some come from the southwest United States, the Caribbean, Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala and Honduras. The common name "pincushion cactus" refers to this and the closely related genus Escobaria.

Landmarks and architecture

As well as Gustavia, the capital of St. Barthélemy, there are many notable places and monuments on the island which testify to the island's colonial history under the Spanish, Swedish, British, and French, and now a French territory.[28]

Gustavia

Gustavia Harbour
Gustavia Harbour

Gustavia is in a U-shaped cove facing the harbour on the west. The coastal arm of this cove is in a peninsula while the dockyard is on the east side.

When the British invaded the harbour town in 1744, the town's architectural buildings were destroyed. Subsequently, new structures were built in the town around the harbour area and the Swedes had also further added to the architectural beauty of the town in 1785 with more buildings, when they had occupied the town. Earlier to their occupation, the port was known as "Carénage". The Swedes renamed it as Gustavia in honour of their king Gustav III. It was then their prime trading center. The port maintained a neutral stance since the Caribbean war was on in the 18th century. They used it as a trading post of contraband and the city of Gustavia prospered but this prosperity was short-lived.[23]

These buildings also underwent further destruction during the hurricanes and also by gutting in 1852. However, some monuments are still intact such as the residence of the then Swedish governor, now the town hall. The oldest colonial structure in the town is stated to be the bell tower (now without a bell) built in 1799, as part of a church (destroyed in the past), in the southeast end of the town on Rue Du Presbytere. Now, a large clock is installed in place of the bell.[28]

The road that runs parallel to the harbour face of the sea is called the Rue de la Republique and two other roads connect to the two arms of the U-shaped bay. The city has a network of roads, inherited from the Swedish period, that are laid in a grid pattern, which are either parallel or perpendicular to the three main roads that encompass the bay.[65]

Église anglicane de Gustavia

Église anglicane de Gustavia, the Saint-Bartholomew Anglican Church, is an important religious building in the town built in 1855 with stones brought from St Eustatius. It is on one of the town's most elegant roads, called the Rue du Centenaire. It has a bell tower. A rock wall encircles the church.[28]

Ancien presbytère de l'église catholique de Gustavia

Ancien presbytère de l'église catholique de Gustavia is the Catholic Church built in 1822 and is a replacement of the oldest church of the same name in Lorient. This church also has a bell tower which is separated from the main church and which rings loud and clear.[28]

Musée Territorial de St.-Barthélemy

Musée Territorial de St.-Barthélemy is a historical museum known as the "St. Barts Municipal Museum" also called the "Wall House" (musée – bibliothèque) in Gustavia, which is located on the far end of La Pointe. The museum is housed in an old stone house, a two-story building that has been refurbished. The island's history relating to the French, Swedish and British periods of occupation is well presented in the museum with photographs, maps, and paintings. Also on display are ancestral costumes, antique tools, models of Creole houses, and ancient fishing boats. It also houses a library.[28][66]

Gustavia Lighthouse

Gustavia Lighthouse
Gustavia Lighthouse

The 9 metres (30 ft) white tower of the Gustavia Lighthouse was built in 1961. Situated on the crest of a hill north of the town, its focal plane is 64 metres (210 ft) above the level of the sea. It flashes every 12 seconds, white, green, or red depending on direction. The round conical tower has a single red band at the top.[67]

Forts

Among the notable structures in the town are the three forts built by the Swedes for defense purposes. One of these forts, known as Fort Oscar (formerly Gustav Adolph), which overlooks the sea is located on the far side of La Pointe. However, the ruins have been replaced by a modern military building which now houses the local gendarmerie. The other fort known as Fort Karl now presents very few ruins. The third fort built by the Swedes is Fort Gustav, which is also seen in ruins strewn around the weather station and the Light House. The fort built in 1787 over a hill slope has ruins of ramparts, a guardhouse, a munitions depot, a wood-burning oven, and so forth.[28][66]

Savaku

A statue, "Savaku", representing the Arawak peoples is present at Saint-Jean.[68]

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Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy

Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy

Gustavia is the main town and capital of the island of Saint Barthélemy. Originally called Le Carénage, it was renamed in honor of King Gustav III of Sweden.

Peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all continents. The size of a peninsula can range from tiny to very large. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Peninsulas form due to a variety of causes.

Gustav III

Gustav III

Gustav III, also called Gustavus III, was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia.

Creole peoples

Creole peoples

Creole peoples are ethnic groups formed during the European colonial era, from the mass displacement of peoples brought into sustained contact with others from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, who converged onto a colonial territory to which they had not previously belonged.

Arawak

Arawak

The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. All these groups spoke related Arawakan languages.

Education

The island's public preschools and primary schools, under the authority of the Académie de la Guadeloupe [fr], are [69]

  • École primaire Gustavia
  • École maternelle Gustavia

Private primary schools:[69]

  • École primaire privée Saint Joseph
  • École primaire privée Sainte Marie

Culture

Festivals and holidays

Some of the festivals held each year in St. Barthélemy are:

  • The St. Barts Music Festival is held every January, usually during the 2nd and 3rd weeks.
  • A French Carnival in February / March held for two weeks before Ash Wednesday and concluding with Ash Wednesday; on Ash Wednesday a black and white parade held at Shell Beach is the occasion of a notional burning of the image of Vaval, the Carnival King.
  • St. Barth Film Festival, held annually at the end of April, was established in 1996, and hosts Caribbean films for five days.[70]
  • Armistice Day on 8 May.
  • Abolition of Slavery Day on 27 May and 9 October.
  • Bastille Day on 14 July.
  • Victor Schoelcher Day on 21 July honouring Schoelcher, a French parliamentarian for his noble humanitarian act of abolishing slavery in French territory on 27 April 1848.
  • Assumption Day on 15 August.
  • Fête de Saint Barthélemy feast day of Saint Barthélemy on 24 August, in honour of the island's patron saint. Church bells are rung, boats are blessed and a regatta is held, followed by fireworks and a public ball.
  • Festival of Gustavia held in August, an occasion of dragnet fishing and partying.
  • All Saints Day on 1 November
  • Remembrance Day (Armistice Day).
  • Christmas Day on 25 December; and New Year's Eve on 31 December.[71]

Some other festivals held are the Festival Gastronomique (April) and Yacht Festival (May).[72] The national holidays observed are the Bastille Day and St. Barthélemy Day (day of adoption of French Constitution).[7] Feast of St Louis is held on 1 November when thousands of candles are lit in the evening hours, which is a public holiday. All Souls Day is observed on 2 November, and it is a public holiday.[73]

Music

The Caribbean, the birthplace of the calypso, méringue, soca, zouk and reggae music influence the culture tremendously.[74] The St. Barthélemy Music Festival[75] is a major international performing arts event held every year.

Cinema

Film director Dylan Verrechia is originally from St. Barthélemy.

Cuisine

French cuisine, West Indian cuisine, Creole cuisine, Italian cuisine and Asian cuisine are common in St. Barthélemy. The island has over 70 restaurants serving many dishes and others are a significant number of gourmet restaurants; many of the finest restaurants are located in the hotels.[76] There are also several snack restaurants which the French call "les snacks" or "les petits creux" which include sandwiches, pizzas, and salads.[77] In West Indian cuisine, steamed vegetables with fresh fish is common; Creole dishes tend to be spicier.[77] The island hosts gastronomic events throughout the year, with dishes such as spring roll of shrimp and bacon, fresh grilled lobster, Chinese noodle salad with coconut milk, and grilled beef fillet, etc.[78]

Restaurants such as Maya's which serves Creole dishes and L'Isola which serves Italian are some of the most popular restaurants on the island. Maya's also has a "to go" store where you can take out food on the beach or just take it home. [79]

In the early 1990s, the island had two cooking schools: the Saint Barts Cooking School which emphasizes classical French cuisine and Cooking in Paradise which emphasizes creole cuisine.[80]

Fashion

The traditional costume which is seen only among older women consists of starched white bonnets called kichnottes.[55]

Legend

A popular legend related to St. Barthélemy is of a seafarer hooligan looking to loot Spanish ships. French pirate Daniel Montbars, who was given the epithet "Montbars the Exterminator", took shelter in St. Barthélemy during his pirate operations and hid the loot in the sandy coves at Anse du Gouverneur.[81]

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Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent, the six weeks of penitence before Easter.

Bastille Day

Bastille Day

Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In French, it is formally called the Fête nationale française ; legally it is known as le 14 juillet.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve

In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to as “New Year’s Eve”. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinking, and watching or lighting fireworks. Some Christians attend a watchnight service. The celebrations generally go on past midnight into New Year's Day, 1 January.

Calypso music

Calypso music

Calypso is a style of Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago during the early to the mid-19th century and spread to the rest of the Caribbean Antilles by the mid-20th century. Its rhythms can be traced back to West African Kaiso and the arrival of French planters and their slaves from the French Antilles in the 18th century.

Méringue

Méringue

Méringue, also called méringue lente or méringue de salon, is a dance music and national symbol in Haiti. It is a string-based style played on the lute, guitar, horn section, piano, and other string instruments unlike the accordion-based merengue, and is generally sung in Haitian Creole and French, as well as in English and Spanish.

Soca music

Soca music

Soca music is a genre of music defined by Lord Shorty, its inventor, as the "Soul of Calypso", which has influences of African and East Indian rhythms. It was originally spelled "sokah" by its inventor but through an error in a local newspaper when reporting on the new music it was erroneously spelled "soca"; Lord Shorty confirmed the error but chose to leave it that way to avoid confusion. It is a genre of music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the early 1970s and developed into a range of styles during the 1980s and after. Soca was initially developed by Lord Shorty in an effort to revive traditional calypso, the popularity of which had been flagging amongst younger generations in Trinidad due to the rise in popularity of reggae from Jamaica and soul and funk from the United States. Soca is an offshoot of Calypso/Kaiso, with influences from East Indian rhythms and hooks.

Reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first popular song to use the word reggae, effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of popular Jamaican dance music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues, and evolved out of the earlier genres ska and rocksteady. Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political commentary. It is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rocksteady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument.

Dylan Verrechia

Dylan Verrechia

Dylan Riis Verrechia is a Barthélemois award-winning film director, auteur, screenwriter, and producer. He grew up in Saint Barthélemy, French West Indies, and was bedridden at age 8 from severe ankylosing spondylitis for ten years. A graduate with honors of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Verrechia's movies have screened at film festivals around the world.

French cuisine

French cuisine

French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices from France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In the 17th century, chefs François Pierre La Varenne and Marie-Antoine Carême spearheaded movements that shifted French cooking away from its foreign influences and developed France's own indigenous style.

Creole cuisine

Creole cuisine

Creole cuisine is a cuisine style born in colonial times, from the fusion between European, African and pre-Columbian American traditions. Creole is a term that refers to those of European origin who were born in the New World and have adapted to it.

Italian cuisine

Italian cuisine

Italian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine consisting of the ingredients, recipes and cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula and later spread around the world together with waves of Italian diaspora. Some of these foods were imported from other cultures. Significant changes occurred with the colonization of the Americas and the introduction of potatoes, tomatoes, capsicums, maize and sugar beet — the latter introduced in quantity in the 18th century. It is one of the best-known and most appreciated gastronomies worldwide.

Asian cuisine

Asian cuisine

Asian food incorporates a few significant provincial cooking styles: Central Asian, East Asian, North Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and West Asian. A food is a trademark way of cooking practices and customs, usually associated with a specific culture. Asia, being the largest and most populous continent, is home to many cultures, many of which have their own characteristic cuisine. Asian cuisine are also famous about their spices, Asian people traditionally use different kind of spices in their regular meals.

Sports

Kitesurfing at Baie de Saint-Jean
Kitesurfing at Baie de Saint-Jean

Rugby is a popular sport on the island. One of the major teams on the island is "Les Barracudas," named after the ferocious fish of the Caribbean. They often play teams from Anguilla and other surrounding islands.[82]

Gustavia is also known as a haven for yachting, with many events being held there each year. These include the St Barths Bucket Regatta, the Saint Barth's Cup and Les Voiles de St. Barth in April, and the International Regatta in May.[83] Deep sea fishing is also undertaken from the waterfront of Lorient, Flamands, and Corossol to fish for tuna, marlin, bonito, barracuda and wahoo.[84] St Barth Open Fishing tournament is held in July.[73]

The Transat AG2R Race, held every alternate year, is an event that originates in Concarneau in Brittany, France, reaching St. Barthélemy. It is a boat race with boats of 10-metre (33-foot) length with a single hull and with essential safety equipment. Each boat is navigated by two sailors. Kitesurfing and other water sports have also become popular on the island in recent years, especially at Grand Cul-de-Sac beach (Baie de Grand Cul de Sac) for windy sports as kitesurfing and Saint Jean Beach ( Baie de Saint Jean), Lorient, Toiny and Anse des Cayes for surfing. Tennis is also popular on the island and it has several tennis clubs, Tennis Clube de Flamboyant in Grand Cul-de-Sac, AJOE Tennis Club in Orient, and ASCO in Colombier.[85]

The Swedish Marathon Race, also called the Gustavialoppet, is held in December. Races of 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) and 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) are conducted when children, women, and men participate in the races.[73]

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Rugby union in Saint Barthélemy

Rugby union in Saint Barthélemy

Rugby union in Saint Barthélemy is a minor, but growing sport.

Rugby union in Anguilla

Rugby union in Anguilla

Rugby union in Anguilla is a minor, growing sport. It is not ranked by World Rugby as it is not affiliated in its own right.

St Barths Bucket Regatta

St Barths Bucket Regatta

The St Barths Bucket Regatta is an annual boat race, held over three days in Saint Barthélemy, in the Caribbean. It is usually held in the month of March. The first regatta in St Barths itself was held in 1995 with four yachts; Sariyah, Gleam, Mandalay and Parlay. Ten years later, 26 boats competed in the race. To apply to race, yachtsmen must receive an invitation and enters boats 100 feet and up. In the 2008 regatta, boats including the 125 ft Altair, the 115-ft Tenacious, the 148-ft Helios and the 152-ft Windrose.

Tuna

Tuna

A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna up to the Atlantic bluefin tuna, which averages 2 m (6.6 ft) and is believed to live up to 50 years.

Marlin

Marlin

Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes about 10 species. A marlin has an elongated body, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long, rigid dorsal fin which extends forward to form a crest. Its common name is thought to derive from its resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike. Marlins are among the fastest marine swimmers. However, greatly exaggerated speeds are often claimed in popular literature, based on unreliable or outdated reports.

Bonito

Bonito

Bonitos are a tribe of medium-sized, ray-finned predatory fish in the family Scombridae – a family it shares with the mackerel, tuna, and Spanish mackerel tribes, and also the butterfly kingfish. Also called the tribe Sardini, it consists of eight species across four genera; three of those four genera are monotypic, having a single species each. Bonitos closely resemble the skipjack tuna, which is often called a bonito, especially in Japanese contexts.

Barracuda

Barracuda

A barracuda is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus Sphyraena, the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. It is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide ranging from the eastern border of the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, on its western border the Caribbean Sea, and in tropical areas of the Pacific Ocean. Barracudas reside near the top of the water and near coral reefs and sea grasses. Barracudas are targeted by sport-fishing enthusiasts.

Wahoo

Wahoo

Wahoo is a scombrid fish found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. It is best known to sports fishermen, as its speed and high-quality flesh makes it a prized and valued game fish. In Hawaii, the wahoo is known as ono. The species is sometimes called hoo in the United States.

Transport

Private boat docked in St. Barts
Private boat docked in St. Barts

St. Barthélemy has a small airport Gustaf III Airport with a runway length of 646 meter/2,119 ft. Airport codes: SBH (IATA), TFFJ (ICAO). The airport is served by small regional commercial aircraft and charters of up to 19 passengers, as well as helicopters. Passengers for destination St. Barth arrive on international commercial airlines jet airliners and large private jets mainly via the neighboring island Sint Maarten's Princess Juliana International Airport, which is a hub to connect with the regional carriers. Several international airlines and regional Caribbean airlines operate from this hub.

St. Barth has its own airline, St. Barth Commuter which in addition to the scheduled and charter flight services, provides medical transport services.

Many inter-island ferry services operate regularly between St. Martin and St. Barts.[86] There are three ferry services active at the moment, one is operated by Voyager (which leaves from Marigot) one day-trip ferry by the Edge (Leaving from Simpsons Bay) and one regular ferry service by the Great Bay Ferry from Philipsburg.

The narrow and congested roads, and difficulty in parking, have been an impetus for driving Smart cars.[87]

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Gustaf III Airport

Gustaf III Airport

Gustaf III Airport, also known as Saint Barthélemy Airport, Rémy de Haenen Airport, sometimes as St. Jean Airport, is a public use airport located in the village of St. Jean on the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy.

Jet airliner

Jet airliner

A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines. Airliners usually have two or four jet engines; three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Airliners are commonly classified as either the large wide-body aircraft, medium narrow-body aircraft and smaller regional jet.

Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of 34 km2 (13 sq mi), it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the northern 56% of the island constitutes the French overseas collectivity of Saint Martin. Sint Maarten's capital is Philipsburg. Collectively, Sint Maarten and the other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean.

Princess Juliana International Airport

Princess Juliana International Airport

Princess Juliana International Airport is the main airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. The airport is located on the Dutch side of the island, in the country of Sint Maarten, close to the shore of Simpson Bay Lagoon. In 2015, the airport handled 1,829,543 passengers and around 60,000 aircraft movements. The airport serves as a hub for Winair and is the major gateway for the smaller Leeward Islands, including Anguilla, Saba, Saint Barthélemy and Sint Eustatius. It is named after Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, who landed there while she was heir presumptive in 1944, the year after the airport opened. The airport has very low-altitude flyover landing approaches because one end of its runway is extremely close to the shore and Maho Beach. While Princess Juliana International is the primary aviation gateway to the island, there is also a smaller public-use airport on the French side, in the French Collectivity of Saint Martin, called Grand Case-Espérance Airport.

Marigot, Saint Martin

Marigot, Saint Martin

Marigot is the main town and capital in the French Collectivity of Saint Martin.

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten

Philipsburg is the main town and capital of the country of Sint Maarten. The town is on a narrow stretch of land between Great Bay and the Great Salt Pond. It functions as the commercial center of Saint Martin island, whereof Sint Maarten encompasses the southern half. As of 2017, it has 1,894 inhabitants.

Media

A weekly journal entitled Journal de St. Barth is published in the French language. Its English-language abridged version, St. Barth Weekly, is published only during the winter (for Anglophone tourists). Reflecting the island's popularity with the rich and famous, the high-fashion magazine L'Officiel publishes a seasonal local edition. Other tourist-related information is available at the airport and in the offices of the Tourist Authority.[22]

There are two local TV broadcasters and five FM radio channels (2021). The island has a fully integrated access telephone system with capability for the direct dialing on fixed and wireless systems. There is a 4G/LTE mobile service since 2019.[88]

Health facilities

The island has a small hospital, the Hôpital de Bruyn, in Gustavia with an adjacent diagnostic laboratory. There is also at least one private diagnostic facility.[89] Specialists in cardiology, general medicine, dentists, ENT, OB/GYN, paediatrics and rheumatology are also available. There are many pharmacies dispensing medicines. For more advanced facilities, patients go to Guadeloupe, United States, San Juan or France.[22]

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Rheumatology

Rheumatology

Rheumatology is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatology covers more than 100 different complex diseases, collectively known as rheumatic diseases, which includes many forms of arthritis as well as lupus and Sjögren's syndrome. Doctors who have undergone formal training in rheumatology are called rheumatologists.

United States

United States

The United States of America, commonly known as the United States or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States, with a population of 342,259. San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico.

Notable people

  • Eugénie Blanchard was the world's oldest living person (114 years, 261 days) at the time of her death on 4 November 2010. She was born on St. Barthélemy and spent most of her life on Curaçao and St. Barthélemy as a Catholic nun.[90]
  • Johnny Hallyday chose to be buried on St. Barthélemy in the Église de Lorient parish cemetery.

Source: "Saint Barthélemy", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 4th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Barthélemy.

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See also
Notes
  1. ^ 25 km² including the outlying uninhabited islets. 21 km² without the outlying islets.
  2. ^ Last population census in January 2017. The next population census in Saint Barthélemy will take place in January 2023.
  3. ^ 25 km² including the outlying uninhabited islets. 21 km² without the outlying islets.
  4. ^ There currently is not enough archeological evidence to give a more detailed description about the pre-Columbian presence.[11]
  5. ^ Last population census in January 2017. The next population census in Saint Barthélemy will take place in January 2023.[1]
References
  1. ^ Government of the French Republic (18 June 2018). "Décret du 18 juin 2018 portant nomination de la préfète déléguée auprès du représentant de l'Etat dans les collectivités de Saint-Barthélemy et de Saint-Martin - Mme DANIELO-FEUCHER (Sylvie)". legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b INSEE. "2008, An 1 de la collectivitéde Saint-Barthélemy" (PDF) (in French). p. 7. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d INSEE. "Populations légales 2017 des départements et collectivités d'outre-mer" (in French). Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d "Estimation du Produit Intérieur Brut de Saint-Barthélemy en 2014" (PDF). IEDOM. June 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
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