Discovered in 1493 by Christopher COLUMBUS who named it for his brother Bartolomeo, Saint Barthelemy was first settled by the French in 1648. In 1784, the French sold the island to Sweden, which 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 1877 and took control the following year. It was placed under the administration of Guadeloupe. Saint 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 islanders voted to secede from Guadeloupe, and in 2007, the island became a French overseas collectivity. In 2012, it became an overseas territory of the EU, allowing it to exert local control over the permanent and temporary immigration of foreign workers including non-French European citizens. Hurricane Irma hit the island in September 2017 causing extensive damage, but Saint Barthelemy recovered by early 2018.
land: 25 sq km
water: negligible
lowest point: Caribbean Ocean 0 m
7,093 (2023 est.)
French, Portuguese, Caribbean, Afro-Caribbean
French (primary), English
major-language sample(s):
The World Factbook, une source indispensable d’informations de base. (French)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jehovah’s Witnesses
0-14 years: 14.1% (male 515/female 485)
15-64 years: 63.8% (male 2,442/female 2,083)
65 years and over: 22.11% (2023 est.) (male 787/female 781)
total dependency ratio: 30.8
youth dependency ratio: 17.5
elderly dependency ratio: 13.3
potential support ratio: 7.5 (2021)
total: 47 years (2023 est.)
male: 46.7 years
female: 47.4 years
-0.11% (2023 est.)
9.3 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
9.2 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
-1.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
most of the populace concentrated in and around the capital of Gustavia, but scattered settlements exist around the island periphery
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.17 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female
total population: 1.12 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
total: 6.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
male: 7.7 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 5.4 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 80.8 years (2023 est.)
male: 77.7 years
female: 84 years
1.64 children born/woman (2023 est.)
0.8 (2023 est.)
NA
improved: urban: 100% of population
rural: NA
total: 100% of population
unimproved: urban: 0% of population
rural: NA
total: 0% of population (2020)
NA
NA
improved: urban: 100% of population
rural: NA
total: 100% of population
unimproved: urban: 0% of population
rural: NA
total: 0% of population (2020)
NA
NA
total population: NA
male: NA
female: NA
land-based pollution; urbanization; with no natural rivers or streams, fresh water is in short supply, especially in summer, and is provided by the desalination of sea water, the collection of rain water, or imported via water tanker; overfishing
tropical, with practically no variation in temperature; has two seasons (dry and humid)
high-income French Caribbean territorial economy; duty-free luxury commerce and tourism industries; import-dependent for food, water, energy, and manufacturing; large Brazilian and Portuguese labor supply; environmentally fragile
France 60%, Germany 27% (2019)
beauty products, broadcasting equipment, sunflower seed oil, plastics, cars (2019)
France 78%, Switzerland 7%, Italy 7% (2019)
furniture, wine, refined petroleum, jewelry, food preparation materials (2019)
0.885 (2017 est.)
0.903 (2016 est.)
0.9214 (2015 est.)
0.885 (2014 est.)
electrification - total population: 100% (2021)
1 (2021)
1
note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
total: 40 km
major seaport(s): Gustavia
nearest airport for international flights is Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) located on Sint Maarten
manyapis