Overview of Saint Bathelemy : Discover

Discover : Saint-Barthélemy Overview

Saint Barthelemy is situated in the very middle of the Caribbean, north of Guadeloupe and 15 miles (24 km) south of Saint Martin, spreading out over a surface area of 24 km². Its population is essentially Caucasian, and has been exempt from paying taxes for several decades.

• Status : Saint Barthelemy has been a French commune since 1948, dependent on Guadeloupe. 95,51% of the island’s inhabitants showed their willingness to modify existing institutional structures in the referendum of December 2003. As a result, Saint Barth is on the road to becoming a unique territorial community (C.O.M.), similarly to Saint Martin, as defined by the constitutional reform on decentralisation of the 28 March, 2003.
  

• Capital : Gustavia.
• Location : 24 km from Saint Martin, and 230 km North West of Guadeloupe.
• Surface area : 24 km²
• Number of inhabitants : 8 732
• Population younger than 25 years old : 26,8% (France 31,2%)
• Average household income in 2001 : 19.720 €(France : 15.551 €)
• Total number of companies in 2003 : 2.297
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• Unemployment rate on the 30 April, 2004 : 4,2 % (Guadeloupe : 23,5 %, France : 10,1 %)
• Languages spoken : French, English, Creoleli>
• Currency in use : the Euro, though US Dollars are accepted everywhere.
• Time difference : 6 hours in summer, 5 hours in winter.li>

A prestigious destination, with its colourful roofs, Creole-style architecture and villas scattered on the hillside. The island’s name is magical in itself, somewhat secretive: a conspiracy of a mysterious world. Local authorities have long understood that intensive development was not compatible with an island of such small size, and have thus severely controlled the expansion of the tourist sector here. Saint Barth has thus remained an intimate little place, offering the visitor a casual environment wrapped in genuine natural elegance.

Luxury hotels with reasonable sizes . Locals go to all measures to satisfy their clients. Hotels on Saint Barth are all smaller structures with a maximum of fifteen rooms, ensuring calmness, relaxation and discretion to their high class clientele. Villa, cottage and apartment rentals are extremely developed on Saint Barth, contrarily to other Caribbean tourist destinations. Prices vary from moderate to expensive, with quality according to the price, from the simply correct to the superb.

Tourist development under strict control. . Natural sites and personal security are maintained on Saint Barth as nowhere else on the planet. This explains why a growing number of celebrities choose this island as home, a beautiful, safe environment in total serenity.

Population

In defiance of all lootings, violence and deportations that Saint Bartheans have had to face, they are still around and apparently for good. Leaving their magnificent homeland has always proved a demanding feat, and whoever has been forced to do so has never stopped praying for the day he would be allowed to return.

Traditional family names on the island are Bernier, Greaux, Aubin…and many others, bearing little or no mark of the period of Swedish occupation: Swedes came and went without leaving any trace whatsoever on the Saint Barthean character.

Saint Barthelemy’s population bears no resemblance to that of Guadeloupe. The majority of the people are of European origin, descendent of Norman or Breton pilgrims who populated the island in the 17th century. Due to its unfavourable access and rather dry climate, Saint Barth never delved in natural resources, which probably accounts for its feeble population levels until the mid-1980s. Immigration here was scarce, as the cost of living was high, as were tickets to and from the island, and the island’s social structure remained family and tradition-based. Today still, more than half of Saint Barth’s inhabitants are issued from century-old Saint Barthean families.

The last 15 years have seen a dramatic rise in the island’s population: what used to be a mere 3000 people in 1982 has doubled to around 8000 to our days.

If immigrants continue to arrive at the same rhythm, the population will double every 20 years. As the last census has shown, almost half of Saint Barth’s permanent residents arrived to the island less than twenty years ago. There is, of course, another batch of population to consider: those who come only to spend their holidays.

Languages

Although the official language is French, English is also widely used. Certain locals of traditional descent sometimes converse in a local patois referred to as “vieux francois”, which originates from Breton and Norman dialects of the 18th century. As a matter of fact, two sorts of vieux francois are spoken on the island, depending on the area: Sous le Vent and Saline dialects differ slightly. Two varieties of Creole are also present on Saint Barth: one rather similar to French, widespread in the areas of “Vent de l’Ile”, and another, identical to Guadeloupean Creole, mostly used in Gustavia. Languages are thus rather varied for an area so small, which makes this island all the more interesting.