Background: Discovered in 1493 by Christopher COLUMBUS who named it for his brother Bartolomeo St. Barthelemy was first settled by the French in 1648. In 1784 the French sold the island to Sweden who renamed the largest town Gustavia after the Swedish King GUSTAV III and made it a free port; the island prospered as a trade and supply center during the colonial wars of the 18th century. France repurchased the island in 1878 and placed it under the administration of Guadeloupe. St. Barthelemy retained its free port status along with various Swedish appellations such as Swedish street and town names and the three-crown symbol on the coat of arms. In 2003 the populace of the island voted to secede from Guadeloupe and in 2007 the island became a French overseas collectivity.

Geographic coordinates: 17 90 N 62 85 W

Map reference: Central America and the Caribbean

Area
Total: 21 km²
Comparative: less than an eighth of the size of Washington DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Climate: tropical with practically no variation in temperature; has two seasons (dry and humid)

Terrain: hilly almost completely surrounded by shallow-water reefs with 20 beaches

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Caribbean Ocean 0 m
Extremes highest point: Morne du Vitet 286 m

Natural resources: has few natural resources its beaches being the most important

Population: 7,448 (July 2009 est.)
Rank: 226

Ethnic groups: white Creole (mulatto) black Guadeloupe Mestizo (French-East Asia)

Languages: French (primary) English

Religions: Roman Catholic Protestant Jehovah's Witness

Age structure
0-14 years: 19.2%
15-64 years: 70.6% (male 2,855/female 2,402)
65 years and over: 10.2% (male 378/female 383) (2009 est.)

Median age
Total: 39.1 years
Male: 39.3 years
Female: 38.9 years (2009 est.)

Environment
Current issues: with no natural rivers or streams fresh water is in short supply especially in summer and provided by desalinization of sea water collection of rain water or imported via water tanker

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.19 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.99 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.14 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: Overseas Collectivity of Saint Barthelemy
Conventional short form: Saint Barthelemy
Local long form: Collectivite d'outre mer de Saint-Barthelemy
Local short form: Saint-Barthelemy

Capital
Name: Gustavia
Geographic coordinates: 17 53 N 62 51 W
Time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time)

Independence: none (overseas collectivity of France)

National holiday: Bastille Day 14 July (1789); note - local holiday is St. Barthelemy Day 24 August

Constitution: 4 October 1958 (French Constitution)

Legal system: the laws of France where applicable apply

Suffrage: 18 years of age universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Nicolas SARKOZY represented by Prefect Dominique LACROIX (since 21 March 2007)
Head of government: President of the Territorial Council Bruno MAGRAS (since 16 July 2007)
Cabinet: Executive Council; note - there is also an advisory economic social and cultural council
Elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; president of the Territorial Council is elected by the members of the Council for a five-year term
Election results: Bruno MAGRAS unanimously elected president by the Territorial Council on 16 July 2007

Legislative branch: unicameral Territorial Council (19 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
Elections: last held 1 and 8 July 2007 (next to be held in July 2012)
Election results: percent of vote by party - SBA 72.2% Action-Equilibre-Transparence 9.9% Ensemble pour Saint-Barthelemy 7.9% Tous Unis pour Saint-Barthelemy 9.9%; seats by party - SBA 16 Action-Equilibre-Transparence 1 Ensemble pour Saint-Barthelemy 1 Tous Unis pour Saint-Barthelemy 1
Note: Saint Barthelemy elects one seat to the French Senate; elections last held 21 September 2008 (next to be held in September 2014); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP 1

Political parties and leaders: Action-Equilibre-Transparence [Maxime DESOUCHES]; Ensemble pour Saint-Barthelemy [Benoit CHAUVIN]; Saint-Barth d'Abord! or SBA [Bruno MAGRAS]; Tous Unis pour Saint-Barthelemy [Karine MIOT-RICHARD]

International organization participation: UPU WFTU

Diplomatic representation
In the us: none (overseas collectivity of France)
From the us: none (overseas collectivity of France)

Flag description: the flag of France is used

Economy overview: The economy of Saint Barthelemy is based upon high-end tourism and duty-free luxury commerce serving visitors primarily from North America. The luxury hotels and villas host 70,000 visitors each year with another 130,000 arriving by boat. The relative isolation and high cost of living inhibits mass tourism. The construction and public sectors also enjoy significant investment in support of tourism. With limited fresh water resources all food must be imported as must all energy resources and most manufactured goods. Employment is strong and attracts labor from Brazil and Portugal.

Exchange rates: euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.7345 (2007) 0.7964 (2006) 0.8041 (2005) 0.8054 (2004) 0.886 (2003)

Telephone system
General assessment: fully integrated access
Domestic: direct dial capability with both fixed and wireless systems
International: country code - 590; undersea fiber-optic cable provides voice and data connectivity to Puerto Rico and Guadeloupe

Internet
Country code: .bl; note - .gp the internet country code for Guadeloupe and .fr the internet country code for France might also be encountered

Airports: 1 (2009)
Rank: 215
With paved runways total: 1
With paved runways under 914 m: 1 (2009)