The Place
Isle de St. Barthélemy is located at 18°N, 63°W, in the northeastern corner of the Caribbean Sea, 4400 miles from Paris, 1700 miles from New York, 125 miles east from Puerto Rico, and 15 miles southeast from St. Maarten.

It is small, a little more than eight square miles. Steep hills divide the island into several valleys, usually open on one side to the sea. Each valley is distinctive, with unique variations of topography, flora, density of settlement, and character of architecture. This creates the illusion of being in a much larger place.

The shoreline includes fourteen beaches of various sizes, all covered with gleaming white sand. Many are protected from ocean swells by a fringing reef; all, by law, are public and free. Several offshore areas are included in a Marine Reserve.

The climate is arid tropical maritime, which means that it rarely rains, and that year round temperatures range from 72° to 86° Fahrenheit.

There is one town, and a dozen villages, distributed more or less evenly over the landscape.

Its People
According to the last official count, in 1990, the resident population was a little over five thousand people, but, in recent years, there has been a sudden influx of newcomers, and, today, the number is closer to seven thousand.

More than two hundred thousand visitors came to St. Barths last year, and although a substantial percentage of these were day-tripping cruise ship passengers, this remains an impressive number for a community of less than seven thousand inhabitants.

Moreover, most of these people arrive between Christmas and Easter, a period locally referred to as "The Season". The phrase is used elsewhere to describe annual periods of legal hunting and fishing. Its use here, for the busiest time of the year, is not entirely coincidental.

Residents can be roughly divided into four groups: those that are born and raised in St. Barths by native parents those that have recently relocated from France those that have recently relocated from Portugal those that have recently relocated from somewhere else, often The United States. These four groups are quite distinct. The first is the largest, but not by much. It's easier than you might think to keep on sub-dividing these groups into smaller, more specialized groups until you arrive at the individual. Everyone is someone in small insular communities.

Most residents share a real affection for the place, though not unreservedly. The exception to this is the handful of mercantile predators who plan to make a quick tax-free bundle and return to wherever they came from.

Even they are likely to be seduced if they stick around long enough: the weather is beautiful, the residents are generally happy, the food is great, there is comparatively little official interference with private or commercial life, more wealth arrives than departs, and there are billions of gallons of salt water separating St. Barths from the lunacy that seems to be erupting everywhere else.

There are many active social groups in the community, including Rotary Club, a Lion's Club, an Environmental Association, and the Sub Protect Marine Preservation Association, among others.

The natives call themselves "St. Barths People", a phrase which reflects the hierarchy of their political and cultural loyalties: St. Barths first, France next, followed closely by the U.S.A., and distantly by Sweden, who ruled the island during most of the preceding century.

Guadeloupe, the Department of France of which St. Barths is a legal part, doesn't even rate an honorable mention. For the natives, the prospect of St. Barths becoming a dependency of an independent Guadeloupe is unthinkable.

Like most descendants of immigrants from a distant homeland, St. Barths People's loyalty to France is to a France that has all but disappeared. They are proud to be part of the same heritage as Napoleon, Madame Curie, Baudelaire, Gaugin - even Charles de Gaulle and Maurice Chevalier - but they are not much impressed with contemporary politicians and entertainers. (Gerard Depardieu is a notable exception to this, but virtually everyone in the world is impressed with him.)

Each native St. Barths hopes to visit Paris one day - many already have - but, they are perfectly content that it is 4000 miles away, across many hectares of agitated water.

Ethically, St. Barths People resemble rural Americans of seventy five years ago. They are modest and unpretentious, and inclined to keep their opinions to themselves. A man's word is honored, and business can be done on a handshake, though there is often a cunning eye out for one's own advantage. They keep their homes freshly painted, their yards raked, and their children scrubbed and obedient. They are fully conscious of both the right and the responsibility to make what they can out of their own lives, and do not look to government, the church, or anywhere outside of the community for the solutions to their problems. They don't hesitate to take what they can get, but they don't expect to be taken care of by far away government agencies. What little class distinction exists between them is economic, not social, and is therefore subject to change at any moment. Family life means a great deal, and they have a keen sense of family history.

This similarity to traditional American values results from a parallel experience. Both groups descend from pioneering immigrants who carved a place for themselves in a hostile wilderness, and evolved ethical practices to suit the circumstances. A New World, whether insular or continental, required new solutions to the eternal questions of a structure for society, and a distant disinterested Motherland left self-determination as the only alternative.

Another American influence is the special relationship between St. Barths and the U.S. Virgin Islands, 125 miles downwind.

After the Second World War, St. Barths was in pretty rough economic shape, and France wasn't offering any help. The Virgin Islands were growing rapidly and badly needed competent and industrious workers. Many St. Barths People tentatively relocated there, and as hopes were fulfilled, more came in such numbers that they established their own neighborhood communities, the most notable being Frenchtown on the western side of St. Thomas harbor. Their mercantile abilities, and their remarkable aptitude for catching fish soon made them an important part of the Virgin Islands' economy. Many became American citizens; most sent badly needed money back to their families in St. Barths.

It is not hard to understand St. Barths adoption of many American mannerisms, methods, and ideals.

Links & Sources:

• Frommers
• St.Barth.com
• Gustava Map
• St.Barthelemy Road Map