Welcome to Saint Barthélemy!
Saint-Barthélemy is a French island in the Caribbean among the Leeward Islands. Its land area is 21.0 km² (8.1 sq. miles). Administratively, the whole island of Saint-Barthélemy is a French Overseas Collectivity, and is part of the European Union.
The island is also known as St Barts, Saint Barths, or Saint Barth.
St Barts has long been considered a playground of the rich and famous and is known for its beautiful pristine beaches, gourmet dining in chic restaurants and high-end designer shopping. There is one small airport that can only accommodate small prop planes from St Martin and San Juan, and the harbor is too small to accommodate cruise ships. The fact that it is hard to get to is part of the island's appeal.
Singer Jimmy Buffett is a frequent visitor on the island, and owns a house there. He also owned a hotel, the Autor de Rocher, which burned down in the early 1980s. David Letterman and Steve Martin also own property on the island, as did the French singing star Johnny Hallyday.
Noteworthy annual events include New Year's, Carnival in February, The Bucket in late March (a sailing event featuring the largest sailing yachts in the world), and Bastille Day.
Saint Barthélemy (French: Saint-Barthélemy), officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. It is often abbreviated to St-Barth in French, and St. Barths or St. Barts in English. The island lies about 35 kilometres (22 mi) south-east of the Caribbean island Saint Martin, and is north-east of the Dutch islands of Saba, Sint Eustatius, and 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 in order 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) and a population of 9,961 at the Jan. 2017 census. Its capital is Gustavia, 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..