Saint Barthélemy
The island of Saint-Barthélemy, also known as Saint Barts, Saint Barths, or Saint Barth, is in the Caribbean among the Leeward Islands. Its land area is 21.0 km² (8.1 sq. miles). Administratively, the whole island of Saint-Barthélemy was a French commune (commune de Saint-Barthélemy). It was part of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas région and overseas département of France. For this reason, it is part of the European Union. In 2003, the people voted in favour of becoming independent from Guadeloupe. They wanted to form a separate overseas collectivity (COM) of France. On February 7, 2007  the  French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both Saint-Barthélemy and neighbouring Saint-Martin. The new status took effect on 22 February 2007, when the law was published in the Official Journal.