Travel Destination - Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Saint Pierre and Miquelon

North America :: Saint Pierre and Miquelon

(territorial overseas collectivity of France)

page last updated on June 24, 2010

Introduction ::Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Background:
First settled by the French in the early 17th century, the islands represent the sole remaining vestige of France's once vast North American possessions.

Geography ::Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Location:
Northern North America, islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, south of Newfoundland (Canada)

Geographic coordinates:
46 50 N, 56 20 W

Map references:
North America

Area:
total: 242 sq km 13 land: 242 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes eight small islands in the Saint Pierre and the Miquelon groups

Area - comparative:
1.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
0 km

Coastline:
120 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate:
Current Weather cold and wet, with considerable mist and fog; spring and autumn are often windy

Terrain:
mostly barren rock

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Morne de la Grande Montagne 240 m

Natural resources:
fish, deepwater ports

Land use:
arable land: 12.5% permanent crops: 0% other: 87.5% (2005)

Irrigated land:
NA

Natural hazards:
persistent fog throughout the year can be a maritime hazard

Environment - current issues:
recent test drilling for oil in waters around Saint Pierre and Miquelon may bring future development that would impact the environment

Geography - note:
vegetation scanty

People ::Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Population:
6,010 (July 2010 est.) 27

Age structure:
0-14 years: 17.9% (male 554/female 524) 15-64 years: 67% (male 2,047/female 1,980) 65 years and over: 15.1% (male 367/female 538) (2010 est.)

Median age:
total: 41.7 years male: 41.3 years female: 42.2 years (2010 est.)

Population growth rate:
-0.849% (2010 est.) 31

Birth rate:
9.15 births/1,000 population (2010 est.) 08

Death rate:
8.49 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

Net migration rate:
-9.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.) 3

Urbanization:
urban population: 89% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 0.1% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.037 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 7.62 deaths/1,000 live births 65 male: 8.9 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.28 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 79.75 years 7 male: 77.49 years female: 82.12 years (2010 est.)

Total fertility rate:
1.53 children born/woman (2010 est.) 84

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA

Nationality:
noun: Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women) adjective: French

Ethnic groups:
Basques and Bretons (French fishermen)

Religions:
Roman Catholic 99%, other 1%

Languages:
French (official)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (1982 est.)

Education expenditures:
NA

Government ::Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Country name:
conventional long form: Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon conventional short form: Saint Pierre and Miquelon local long form: Departement de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon local short form: Saint-Pierre et Miquelon

Dependency status:
self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France

Government type:
NA

Capital:
name: Saint-Pierre geographic coordinates: 46 46 N, 56 11 W time difference: UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins second Sunday in March; ends first Sunday in November

Administrative divisions:
none (territorial overseas collectivity of France); note - there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are two communes - Saint Pierre, Miquelon at the second order

Independence:
none (territorial collectivity of France; has been under French control since 1763)

National holiday:
Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)

Constitution:
4 October 1958 (French Constitution)

Legal system:
the laws of France where applicable apply

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Nicolas SARKOZY (since 16 May 2007); represented by Prefect Jean-Pierre BERCOT (since 28 July 2008) head of government: President of the Territorial Council Stephane ARTANO (since 21 February 2007) cabinet: NA (For more information visit the World Leaders website ) elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held on 6 May 2007 (next to be held in 2012); prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; president of the Territorial Council elected by the members of the council

Legislative branch:
unicameral Territorial Council or Conseil Territorial (19 seats, 15 from Saint Pierre and four from Miquelon; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) elections: elections last held on 19 and 26 in March 2006 (next to be held in March 2012) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - AD 16, Cap sur l'Avenir 2, SPM 2000/AM 1 note: Saint Pierre and Miquelon elect one member to the French Senate; elections last held on 21 September 2008 (next to be held in September 2014); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP 1; Saint Pierre and Miquelon also elects one member to the French National Assembly; elections last held on, first round - 10 June 2007, second round - 17 June 2007 (next to be held in 2012); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Left Radical Party 1

Judicial branch:
Superior Tribunal of Appeals or Tribunal Superieur d'Appel

Political parties and leaders:
Archipelago Tomorrow or AD (affiliated with UDF/RPR list); Cap sur l'Avenir (affiliated with PRG); Left Radical Party or PRG; Rassemblement pour la Republique or RPR (now UMP); Saint Pierre and Miquelon 2000/Avenir Miquelon or SPM 2000/AM; Socialist Party or PS; Union pour la Democratie Francaise or UDF

Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA

International organization participation:
UPU, WFTU

Diplomatic representation in the US:
none (territorial overseas collectivity of France)

Diplomatic representation from the US:
none (territorial overseas collectivity of France)

Flag description:
a yellow three-masted sailing ship facing the hoist side rides on a blue background with scattered, white, wavy lines under the ship; a continuous black-over-white wavy line divides the ship from the white wavy lines; on the hoist side, a vertical band is divided into three parts: the top part (called ikkurina) is red with a green diagonal cross extending to the corners overlaid by a white cross dividing the rectangle into four sections; the middle part has a white background with an ermine pattern; the third part has a red background with two stylized yellow lions outlined in black, one above the other; these three heraldic arms represent settlement by colonists from the Basque Country (top), Brittany, and Normandy note: the flag of France used for official occasions

Economy ::Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Economy - overview:
The inhabitants have traditionally earned their livelihood by fishing and by servicing fishing fleets operating off the coast of Newfoundland. The economy has been declining, however, because of disputes with Canada over fishing quotas and a steady decline in the number of ships stopping at Saint Pierre. In 1992, an arbitration panel awarded the islands an exclusive economic zone of 12,348 sq km to settle a longstanding territorial dispute with Canada, although it represents only 25% of what France had sought. France heavily subsidizes the islands to the great betterment of living standards. The government hopes an expansion of tourism will boost economic prospects. Fish farming, crab fishing, and agriculture are being developed to diversify the local economy. Recent test drilling for oil may pave the way for development of the energy sector.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$48.3 million (2003 est.) 22

GDP (official exchange rate):
$NA

GDP - real growth rate:
NA%

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$7,000 (2001 est.) 26

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%

Labor force:
3,450 (2005) 21

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 18% industry: 41% services: 41% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate:
10.3% (1999) 19

Population below poverty line:
NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $70 million expenditures: $60 million (1996 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
8.1% (2005) 83

Agriculture - products:
vegetables; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish

Industries:
fish processing and supply base for fishing fleets; tourism

Industrial production growth rate:
NA%

Electricity - production:
53 million kWh (2007 est.) 97

Electricity - consumption:
49.29 million kWh (2007 est.) 98

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2008 est.)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2008 est.)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2008 est.) 36

Oil - consumption:
1,000 bbl/day (2008 est.) 00

Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2007 est.) 8

Oil - imports:
564 bbl/day (2007 est.) 96

Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.) 29

Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2008 est.) 36

Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2008 est.) 39

Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2008 est.) 34

Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2008 est.) 30

Natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.) 34

Exports:
$5.5 million (2005 est.) 15

Exports - commodities:
fish and fish products, soybeans, animal feed, mollusks and crustaceans, fox and mink pelts

Imports:
$68.2 million (2005 est.) 13

Imports - commodities:
meat, clothing, fuel, electrical equipment, machinery, building materials

Debt - external:
$NA

Exchange rates:
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.7338 (2009), 0.6734 (2008), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005)

Communications ::Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Telephones - main lines in use:
4,800 (2008) 13

Telephone system:
general assessment: adequate domestic: NA international: country code - 508; radiotelephone communication with most countries in the world; satellite earth station - 1 in French domestic satellite system

Radio broadcast stations:
AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998)

Television broadcast stations:
0 (2 repeaters rebroadcast programs from France, Canada, and the US) (1997)

Internet country code:
.pm

Internet hosts:
0 (2009) 32

Transportation ::Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Airports:
2 (2009) 04

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2009)

Roadways:
total: 117 km 13 paved: 80 km unpaved: 37 km (2000)

Ports and terminals:
Saint-Pierre

Military ::Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 1,097 females age 16-49: 1,096 (2010 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 36 female: 34 (2010 est.)

Military - note:
defense is the responsibility of France

Transnational Issues ::Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Disputes - international:
none