SAINT-BARTHLEMY

also called Saint Bart's, island at the northern end of the Windward group of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. It constitutes a commune and, together with Saint Martin, forms an arrondissement of Guadeloupe, an overseas dpartement of France. The island is 120 miles (200 km) north of Guadeloupe island. It is 11 miles (17.5 km) long and 2.5 miles (4 km) wide, with an area of 8 square miles (21 square km). The island is both mountainous, with a maximum height of 1,000 feet (300 m), and fertile, despite relatively poor rainfall. The capital and only town is Gustavia, which stands on a well-sheltered harbour. Saint-Barthlemy was occupied by the French in 1648; it was sold to Sweden in 1784 but was returned to France in 1877 after a plebiscite. Tropical fruits, cotton, salt, and livestock are produced, and there is some fishing. There are minor lead and zinc deposits. Because its rocky, arid soil never supported slave plantations, the population of the island is mostly of European extraction (Swedish and French), and the spoken language is a 17th-century dialect of Normandy. Pop. (1990) 5,038.