Compare Saint Barthelemy (2008) - British Virgin Islands (2007)

Compare Saint Barthelemy (2008) z British Virgin Islands (2007)

	Saint Barthelemy (2008)	British Virgin Islands (2007)

Administrative divisions	-	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Age structure	-	0-14 years: 20.2% (male 2,410/female 2,337) 15-64 years: 74.5% (male 9,004/female 8,534) 65 years and over: 5.4% (male 665/female 602) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products	-	fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish
Airports	1	3 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 1 under 914 m: 1	total: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007)
Area	21 sq km	total: 153 sq km land: 153 sq km water: 0 sq km note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the islands of Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, Jost van Dyke
Area - comparative	less than an eighth of the size of Washington, DC	about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC
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 appelations 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.	First inhabited by Arawak and later by Carib Indians, the Virgin Islands were settled by the Dutch in 1648 and then annexed by the English in 1672. The islands were part of the British colony of the Leeward Islands from 1872-1960; they were granted autonomy in 1967. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency.
Birth rate	-	14.82 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget	-	revenues: $204.7 million expenditures: $180.4 million (2004)
Capital	name: Gustavia geographic coordinates: 17 53 N, 62 51 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour behind Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight savings: +1 hour, starts 20 March and ends 17 October	name: Road Town geographic coordinates: 18 27 N, 64 37 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate	tropical, with practically no variation in temperature; has two seasons (dry and humid)	subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds
Coastline	-	80 km
Constitution	4 October 1958 (French Constitution)	13 June 2007
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	conventional long form: none conventional short form: British Virgin Islands abbreviation: BVI
Death rate	-	4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external	-	$36.1 million (1997)
Dependency status	overseas collectivity of France	overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (overseas collectivity of France)	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (overseas collectivity of France)	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Disputes - international	-	none
Economic aid - recipient	-	$NA
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.	The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 820,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 2005. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, made the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the US dollar as its currency since 1959.
Electricity - consumption	-	41.85 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports	-	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	-	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - production	-	45 million kWh (2005)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Caribbean Ocean 0 m highest point: Morne du Vitet 286 m	lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Sage 521 m
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	limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments)
Ethnic groups	white, Creole (mulatto), black, Guadeloupe Mestizo (French-East Asia)	black 83%, other 17% (includes white, Indian, Asian and mixed)
Exchange rates	euros per US dollar - NA (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003)	the US dollar is used
Executive branch	chief of state: President Nicolas SARKOZY (since 16 May 2007), 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	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor David PEAREY (since 18 April 2006) head of government: Premier Ralph T. O'NEAL (since 23 August 2007) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the House of Assembly elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed premier by the governor
Exports	-	NA bbl/day
Exports - commodities	-	rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand
Exports - partners	-	Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US (2006)
Fiscal year	-	1 April - 31 March
Flag description	the flag of France is used	blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful)
GDP - composition by sector	-	agriculture: 1.8% industry: 6.2% services: 92% (1996 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-	1% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates	17 90 N, 62 85 W	18 30 N, 64 30 W
Geography - note	-	strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
Household income or consumption by percentage share	-	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Illicit drugs	-	transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering
Imports	-	NA bbl/day
Imports - commodities	-	building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery
Imports - partners	-	Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US (2006)
Independence	none (overseas collectivity of France)	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Industrial production growth rate	-	NA%
Industries	-	tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center
Infant mortality rate	-	total: 16.13 deaths/1,000 live births male: 18.82 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-	2% (2005)
International organization participation	UPU	Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate), UPU
Irrigated land	-	NA
Judicial branch	-	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction
Labor force	-	12,770 (2004)
Labor force - by occupation	-	agriculture: 0.6% industry: 40% services: 59.4% (2005)
Land boundaries	0 km	0 km
Land use	-	arable land: 20% permanent crops: 6.67% other: 73.33% (2005)
Languages	French (primary), English	English (official)
Legal system	the laws of France, where applicable, apply	English law
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 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	unicameral House of Assembly (13 elected seats and 1 non-voting ex officio member in the attorney general; members are elected by direct popular vote, 1 member from each of nine electoral districts, 4 at-large members; to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 20 August 2007 (next to be held in 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - VIP 45.2%, NDP 39.6%, independent 15.2%; seats by party - VIP 10, NDP 2, independent 1
Life expectancy at birth	-	total population: 76.86 years male: 75.71 years female: 78.07 years (2007 est.)
Literacy	-	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97.8% (1991 est.) male: NA% female: NA%
Location	located approximately 125 miles northwest of Guadeloupe	Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico
Map references	Central America and the Caribbean	Central America and the Caribbean
Maritime claims	-	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of France	defense is the responsibility of the UK
National holiday	Bastille Day, 14 July (1789); note - local holiday is St. Barthelemy Day, 24 August	Territory Day, 1 July (1956)
Nationality	-	noun: British Virgin Islander(s) adjective: British Virgin Islander
Natural hazards	-	hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October)
Natural resources	has few natural resouces, its beaches being the most important	NEGL
Net migration rate	-	8.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
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]	Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL]
Political pressure groups and leaders	-	NA
Population	6,852 (1999 March census)	23,552 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line	-	NA%
Population growth rate	-	1.923% (2007 est.)
Radio broadcast stations	-	AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2004)
Religions	Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jehovah's Witness	Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, other 2%, none 2% (1991)
Sex ratio	-	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.031 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.055 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.105 male(s)/female total population: 1.053 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age, universal	18 years of age; universal
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	general assessment: worldwide telephone service domestic: NA international: country code - 1-284; connected via submarine cable to Bermuda; the East Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS) optic submarine cable provides connectivity to 13 other islands in the eastern Caribbean (2007)
Telephones - main lines in use	-	11,700 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	8,000 (2002)
Television broadcast stations	-	1 (plus 1 cable company) (1997)
Terrain	hilly, almost completely surrounded by shallow-water reefs, with 20 beaches	coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly
Total fertility rate	-	1.72 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Transportation - note	nearest airport for international flights is Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) located in Sint Maarten (Netherlands Antilles)	-
Unemployment rate	-	3.6% (1997)

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