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Saint Barthelemy

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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. 

Location :

located approximately 125 miles northwest of Guadeloupe 

Geographic Coordinates Center :

17 90 N, 62 85 W  (Latitude, Longtitude)

Geographic Coordinates Rectangle :

West -62.88
North 17.93
East -62.79
South 17.88

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 0 metres
highest point 286 metres

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 

Population :

7 448 

Age structure :

0-14 years 19.20 %
15-64 years 70.60 %
65 years and over 10.20 %

Median age :

total 39.10 years
male 39.30 years
female 38.90 years

Sex ratio :

at birth 1.05 male(s)/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

Religions :

Roman Catholic  
Protestant  

Languages :

French  
English  

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

Country Codes :

ISO 3166 BL
ISO Numeric 652
ISO3 BLM
FIPS TB
ccTLD bl
English Saint Barthelemy

Capital :

name Gustavia
geographic coordinates 17 53 N, 62 51 W
time difference -4.00

National holiday :

Bastille Day 1789-07-14
National Day 2010-08-24

Executive branch :

President Council Bruno MAGRAS President Nicolas SARKOZY

Legislative branch :

SBA 72.20 %
Action-Equilibre-Transparence 9.90 %
Ensemble pour Saint-Barthelemy 7.90 %
Tous Unis pour Saint-Barthelemy 9.90 %

Communications :

Internet Country code (ccTLD) bl

Transportation :

Airports with paved runways 1

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