Saint Barthelemy History

History
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 of France. The collectivity is one of four territories among the Leeward Islands in the northeastern Caribbean that comprise the French West Indies, along with Saint Martin, Guadeloupe and Martinique.

Saint Barthélemy is a volcanic island fully encircled by shallow reef. Its capital is Gustavia, which also contains the main harbour to the island. It is the only Caribbean island that was a Swedish colony for any significant length of time; Guadeloupe was under Swedish rule only briefly at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Symolism 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. 

Timeline
1648 - Saint Barthélemy was under the jurisdiction of France 1784 - Saint Barthélemy was under the jurisdiction of Sweden 1878 - Saint Barthélemy was under the jurisdiction of France