ST BARTHELEMY ISLAND PARADISE

摘要

The beautiful Caribbean island of St Barthelemy is a paradise for the rich and famous, being smaller, more expensive and exclusive than many of its Caribbean neighbours. It is only 9.7 sq miles (25km~2) in area and in 2013 its population was around 7,400. The first European to discover the island was Christopher Columbus in 1493, and since then it has had periods under British and Swedish rule, before coming under French oversight in 1878. St Barths, or St Barts as it is also known, is one of four territories in the French West Indies. It is situated 22 miles (35km) southeast of the larger island of St Martin (or St Maarten as the Dutch side is known) and 150 miles (240km) east of Puerto Rico. Now an overseas collectivity of France, the currency here is the euro and the main language is French.