Saint-Baptiste
Saint-Jean-Baptiste | |
|---|---|
Motto: "Nous esperons" "We hope" | |
 Location of Saint-Baptiste (dark green) | |
 Map of Saint-Baptiste | |
| Capital and largest city | Port-Anne |
| Official languages | Principean |
| Recognised national languages | Baptistois Creole |
| Ethnic groups (2020) | 64.4% Idican 26.1% Multiracial 8.6% Auressian 1.0% Other |
| Religion (2020) | 94.8% Perendist –51.9% Apostolic –32.4% Popilè –10.5% Classical 4.8% Irreligious 0.4% Other |
| Demonym(s) | Baptistois(e) |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic |
| Victor Azaïs | |
| Robert Ménard | |
| Legislature | Chamber of Deputies |
| Independence from Blayk | |
• Vervillian colony | 16 February 1556 |
• Blaykish annexation | 25 March 1785 |
• Separated from Amandine | 2 November 1807 |
• Home rule granted | 1 November 1930 |
• Independence | 1 July 1947 |
• Joined Assembly of Marceaunian States | 24 October 1971 |
• Current constitution | 10 March 1986 |
| Area | |
• Total | 148 km2 (57 sq mi) |
• Water (%) | Negligible |
| Population | |
• 2020 census | 31,880 |
• Density | 215/km2 (556.8/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $910 million |
• Per capita | $28,545 |
| GDP (nominal) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $680 million |
• Per capita | $21,330 |
| Gini (2023) |  27.2low |
| HDI (2023) |  0.720high |
| Currency | Baptistois livre (£) (SBL) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central Marceaunian Time) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (Central Marceaunian Time) |
| Driving side | left |
| Calling code | +19 |
| Internet TLD | .sb |
Saint-Baptiste (Baptistois Creole: Sen Batis), officially Saint-Jean-Baptiste (Baptistois Creole: Sen Jan Batis; lit. "Saint John the Baptist"), is an island country located in the Rum Gulf of the Demontean Ocean, to the south of Nova Kovaria and to the west of Amandine and Audonia. The smallest sovereign country in the world by population and second smallest by area, Saint-Baptiste is one of Marceaunia's major tourism destinations in the present day.
Originally colonized by Vervillia in 1551, the island of Saint-Baptiste was later annexed into Blaykish control, where it formed a dedicated cash crop economy based on primarily the cultivation of sugar, tobacco, and coffee, the latter dominating Baptistois exports in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, harvested mainly by an enslaved population during the colonial period. Saint-Baptiste officially gained independence from Blayk in 1947 after the Second Great War, with the newly-sovereign country being ruled by the dictator Claude-Antoine Bachelet as President until his death in 1984. During the Bachelet regime, Saint-Baptiste secured itself as a tourism destination initially favoured by the Balkish upper class and later the wider middle class from Amandine and Audonia. Since the fall of the Bachelet regime and democratization in the 1980s, Saint-Baptiste has been characterized by a quickly developing economy that is adjusting to a growing service industry, especially in regional tourism.
The capital and main port, Port-Anne, is located on the north-east of the island, and over half of the country's 32,000 inhabitants live in or around 10km from the town. Other towns and communities of note include Patois and Pointe-à-L'anse.
Due to Saint-Baptiste's expanding tourism industry, there has been concerns of ecological damage and degradation from construction and urban sprawl, especially in regards to the island's remaining agricultural industries. Attempts have been made since the 1990s to curb development on certain plots of lands, and the discussion of a national park or green belt have been proposed as solutions to preserve Saint-Baptiste's natural landscape.
History
Prior to colonization
Human habitation of Saint-Baptiste can be attested to as early as 100 CE, with the Taino settling the southern shore of the island around this period. Known as Conu'co (roughly meaning "farmland") by the indigenous inhabitants, Saint-Baptiste's volcanic soil was beneficiary to agriculture, particularly the growing of maize. A settlement just north of modern-day Port-Anne was established around the 4th century CE, acting as a dock for canoes and other vessels. This settlement was later abandoned in-between the late-15th and mid-16th centuries.
The indigenous peoples on Conu'co had connections and intensive trade with the southern coast of Marceaunia Major, where most historians believe the island's inhabitants originally came from, and Conu'co was an integral point in a chain of commerce between the islands of the Rum Gulf and the mainland to the north. Despite its importance to the Taino of the region, archaeological studies have found the island's population stayed relatively low, with the settlement north of Port-Anne having a peak population of around 3,500 in the 10th century. Over its pre-contact history, Conu'co stayed in a stable and peaceful position, with no signs of warfare or conflict found at archaeological sites.
The first Auressian account of Conu'co comes from a map created in 1526 by cartographer Jean-Baptiste Amand, showing the island of Conouco. Although Amand's notes stated he visited the island, it wasn't until 1551 when Vervillian explorer Fidélias Tétreault landed on Conu'co, originally sailing from Amandine. By the time of Tétreault's arrival, the indigenous population had been decimated from the spread of disease from the Auressian colonies in Amandine and Albrennia throughout Marceaunia, and Tétreault stated in his diary after his landfall that "the Natives and Heathens are but a Few, and the Isle has all but been cleared." Later study shows that the indigenous inhabitants numbered at most only 300 by the time of Auressian contact. The island was quickly claimed in the name of Vervillia by Tétreault's expedition.
The date Tétreault made landfall, 24 June, is the feast day of Saint John the Baptist in the Apostolic Church, leading him to christen the island Saint-Jean-Baptiste des Marcéunies (Saint John the Baptiste of the Marceaunias), shortened to Saint-Jean-Baptiste and later Saint-Baptiste. Within a year of Tétreault's arrival, he had returned with a group of settlers from Anne-Marie, and had founded the Vervillian settlement of Port-Anne, the first Auressian community on Saint-Baptiste.
Early colonial rule
The Vervillian colony on Saint-Baptiste initially only incorporated the settlement at Port-Anne and the surrounding hillside, with the rest of the island only nominally claimed by the colonists. This lack of control allowed a Rythenean ship, the Superior, to dock on the north point of the island in late 1551. Originally meant to dock in Albrennia, the Superior had accidentally turned south and ended up in the Rum Gulf, where it later docked on Saint-Baptiste. The Rythenean colonists in turn formed the settlement of Newport in what is now Pointe-à-L'anse, and claimed the island for Rythene, not knowing that Port-Anne had already been settled for months. The two colonies quickly formed a rivalry, and Saint-Baptiste (or on Rythenean maps, Newport Island) became contested between the Vervillians and Rytheneans.
The rivalry between the Vervillian and Rythenean settlements was relatively lop-sided, as the colony at Port-Anne was more protected and featured a garrison of troops, as well as regional support from Vervillia's colonial possessions in Amandine. Newport, in comparison, suffered a harsh first year with mass starvation and little contact to the rest of Rythene's colonies in Marceaunia. This gap in colonial development widened by 1553, when a further two-hundred colonists settled in Port-Anne. The two colonies reached a boiling point when the Vervillians began to settle in what is now Saint-Marie Parish in the summer of 1553, with the settlement of Le Beauvis becoming a centre of tension between the Vervillians and Rytheneans who had began homesteading the area around the same time. The murder of the Rytheanean Thomas Crosswell and his son on 22 November 1553 by nearby Vervillian planter Déric Perron regarding a land dispute set off the sparks for the Newport massacre, where the Port-Anne garrison set fire to Newport and deliberately killed or exiled over a hundred Rythenean families during the two days after the murder of the Crosswell family. Although some Rythenean documents attest the Newport colony remained standing until 1554, the massacre effectively removed Rythene from Saint-Baptiste, and Vervillia claimed the island in full as a colonial possession with no opposing claims until 1785. The island would officially become a province of the territory of Lower Marceaunia in 1556, cementing the island's political and cultural connections to colonial Amandine.
The initial economy of the colonies on Saint-Baptiste revolved around subsistence farming and gathering local resources, and both colonist groups faced the risk of famine and lack of food, especially when early attempts to grow Auressian crops such as wheat and barley failed to provide sustenance. There is evidence to suggest that colonialists began to include indigenous crops such as maize, tomatoes, squash, and sweet potatoes into their diet by the later 1550s, and later attempts to grow Auressian staple crops on the island proved more successful by the 1570s. Forestry and logging also became lucrative, as Saint-Baptiste's forests were cut down for building material and the excess shipped to Vervillia proper. By the beginning of the 17th century, Port-Anne boasted a bustling harbour, and Saint-Baptiste became one of the fastest growing colonies in Marceaunia, with an estimated population of 6,000 by 1650. A population boom, driven by white immigration from primarily Amandine in the mid-1600s, saw further growth outside the environs of Port-Anne, and in 1641 the six parishes of Saint-Baptiste were created in order to better organize and parcel out land to farmers and homesteaders. A large minority of these white immigrants were indentured servants, who formed the backbone of the labour force on the island, working on large farms and growing tobacco plantations, which since the early 17th century had emerged as a viable and lucrative cash crop among many early Baptistois planters.
The 18th century and the coffee boom
Alongside tobacco, coffee beans and sugar, both introduced externally by plantations in the mid-1600s, became popular cash crops among the growing Vervillian planter elite. This increasing popularity meant cash crops made up half of Saint-Baptiste's exports by the later 17th century. Agricultural production began to shift towards cash crops and monoculture in the last decades of the 1600s, and along with this a shift in the island's demographics. The growth of cash crop plantations pushed out a large percentage of white farmers and labourers, causing an exodus to Amandine and Vervillia proper. Facing labour shortages, Baptistois planters began in the later 17th century to focus on importing enslaved labour from Idica. The first accounts of slavery on Saint-Baptiste stem from the 1640s, as Auressian states entered into Idica as colonizers and merchants, forming the trans-Hesperian slave trade in the process. The popularization of slavery on Saint-Baptiste was directly connected to the growth of cash crop plantations on the island, and by the start of the 18th century, it is assumed over a majority of the colony's population was made up of black enslaved labour.
The growth of plantations on the island during the 18th century was driven by a demand in Auressia for coffee and sugar, in which Vervillian authorities encouraged and subsidized monoculture planting. Ecologically, the growth and domination of these cash crops led to mass deforestation over the century as fields and plantations grew, and by the mid-1700s Saint-Baptiste was importing lumber and food from Amandine. The coffee boom saw a select number of planter families form a local elite, with the Granet, Robiquet, and Le Sueur families becoming the wealthiest planters on the island, and with strong connections to the "Marceaunian lobby" in Vervillia proper. Coffee remained the main export of the island during the century, as almost twenty-five percent of Auressia's coffee came from Saint-Baptiste by the end of the 1700s. This economic growth was primarily driven by the slave labour employed by the plantation system on the island. Due to this, unrest and acts of sabotage were common, and garrisons on the island were often aimed at suppression of the enslaved as much as the defense of Saint-Baptiste from externa forces.
In the aftermath of the War of the Tyrnican Succession, the colonial administration of Vervillian Marceaunia, including Amandine and Saint-Baptiste, was transferred to the Grand Kingdom of Blayk in 1785. The transition in turn brought renewed prioritization toward Saint-Baptiste, as Blaykish authorities positioned the island as a significant port of trade and supplier of coffee and sugar. Port-Anne's harbour front was drastically renovated for more shipping during the 1790s, and the importing of slaves from Idica peaked in 1793, with 900 enslaved persons entering through Port-Anne that year. Despite this growth, Saint-Baptiste's economic fortunes were shaky; a growing number of planters and merchants were operating their estates in absentee, typically from the port cities of Blayk and Amandine. Concurrently, acts of sabotage and defiance from slaves grew, eventually resulting in the 1798 Saint-Maurice Slave Riots, where enslaved Idicans in Saint-Maurice Parish unsuccessfully revolted against their owners, burning down the village of Les Marrons in the process.
The Great Upheaval and the 19th century
Early 20th century and the Great Wars
Post-independence
Geography
Saint-Baptiste is located in the northern region of the Rum Gulf, off the coast of Marceaunia Major. The island, with a total landmass of 148 square kilometres, is dominated by hills and valleys that extend from Mont Saint-Jean-Baptiste, the highest point of the island at 988 m (3240 ft) above sea level. The mountain range essentially splits Saint-Baptiste into a rocky south and a more flat and arable north, where the majority of the island's population resides and has historically settled. The closest landmass to Saint-Baptiste is Nova Kovaria to the north, which is a part of the larger Rum Islands alongside Saint-Baptiste.
Climate
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Saint-Baptiste lies in a tropical rainforest climate, typical for the islands and coast in the Rum Gulf. The island sees consistent weather ranging around the mid-20s to low-30s Celsius year-round, and typically sees a large amount of sunlight over the year, helping the formation of a robust tourism industry around Saint-Baptiste's consistent climate. The rainy months are usually from August to November, with September seeing the most precipitation during the year. The tropical climate of the island helped the growth of the sugar, coffee, and tobacco industries during the 18th and 19th centuries, which remain important agricultural exports of Saint-Baptiste.
Flora and fauna
The flora and fauna of Saint-Baptiste are typical of Rum Gulf islands, including endemic flora such as Anne's rose, the national flower of Saint-Baptiste. Coconuts and mahogany are also found on the island, with the latter providing for a notable woodworking cottage industry in the 17th and 18th centuries. Endemic fauna include the rock iguana and the tree frog, as well as a variety of sea life from sea turtles to sharks
The extensive dependency on plantation agriculture during the colonial period between the 16th and 19th centuries has destroyed much of the island's indigenous wildlife and flora, especially due to soil erosion and deforestation. This has lead to almost all native species being deemed endangered by the scientific community, with some being critically endangered. Alongside this is a large amount of invasive species that have taken root on Saint-Baptiste, mainly during the colonial period. According to some estimates, around 87% of Saint-Baptiste's fauna are considered not native to the Rum Gulf region. This includes domesticated animals such as cattle, pigs, and goats. In terms of flora, almost all of the island is covered by invasive species, mostly numerous oak species endemic to Auressia. The quizzical existence of a grove of baobab trees, native to Idica, on the former Les Chantes estate is seen as a prime example of Saint-Baptiste's ecological changes due to colonization.
Government
Saint-Baptiste is a unitary parliamentary republic in which the current constitution, ratified in 1986, provides the framework of a democratic system based off the Tyrnican system of governance. The Prime Minister holds the majority of legislative power in the country, and as the head of government, forms and heads the country's cabinet. The President is the head of state, and holds a primarily symbolic role in the country, mainly in representing Saint-Baptiste abroad and officiating bills into law.
Saint-Baptiste has a unicameral legislature, the Chamber of Deputies, which is elected for a four-year term by direct election by first-past-the-post voting. The Chamber creates and debates legislation, and also gives its support to the Prime Minister to form and maintain a government. The fifteen deputies are elected in and represent fifteen single-member districts on the island. The average deputy represents around 2,125 people, meaning that elections are traditionally run in small communities and local and personal politics often are given high priority by candidates.
Before the 1986 constitution, Saint-Baptiste was de facto a presidential republic, in which the President held the vast majority of actual legislative power, despite the original 1947 constitution placing legislative matters in the hands of the Chamber of Deputies. This consolidation of power under President Claude-Antoine Bachelet from the late 1940s until his death in 1984 created an effective one-party dictatorship with the Prime Minister and Chamber acting as rubber stamps.
The country's legal system is heavily influenced and built from the Blaykish legal system, and as such has built its judicial system around common law. Since independence in 1947, the court of final appeal is the Constitutional Court, which sits in the capital of Port-Anne.
Saint-Baptiste has been an active member of the international community since democratization, joining the Assembly of Marceaunian States in 1971. Since then, the country has involved itself heavily with both the Assembly and individual foreign relations, mainly with the states of Amandine, Audonia, Albrennia, and Nova Kovaria.
Elections and political parties
Saint-Baptiste has a two-party system between the centre-right People's Action Party and the left-wing Saint-Baptiste Labour Party, who dominate the Baptistois political scene. Including ideological differences, political divisions on the island are based more in patronage and personal ties than ideology. Third parties historically have had difficulty finding success in Saint-Baptiste, although the Defense of the Republic and Rally for Progress has garnered some limited support in more recent years.
Administrative divisions
Saint-Baptiste is divided into six parishes (Principean: paroisses; Baptistois Creole: pawas yo), which are considered the only official subdivisions on the island. Port-Anne, the country's capital, is the only legally recognized town on the island, with local administration and boundaries being coterminous with the parish of Sainte-Anne. All other communities, even if recognized in a de facto form, are not legally distinct from the parish level.
| Arms | Parish | Population | Area km2 | Density km2 | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Sainte-Anne | 12,063 | 22 km2 | 548/km2 | |
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Saint-Antoine | 2,694 | 28 km2 | 96/km2 | |
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Saint-Luc | 4,228 | 30 km2 | 141/km2 | |
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Sainte-Marie | 4,946 | 27 km2 | 183/km2 | |
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Saint-Maurice | 1,460 | 40 km2 | 37/km2 | |
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Saint-Paul | 6,489 | 31 km2 | 209/km2 | |
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Saint-Baptiste | 31,880 | 148 km2 | 215/km2 |
Military and police
Since independence, Saint-Baptiste has not had a functioning military presence, and constitutionally is barred from raising a standing army "unless in times of war or destabilization", according to the wording of the 1990 constitution. On the foreign stage, the country has adamantly proclaimed itself a neutral country since at least 1958. In place of an armed forces, Saint-Baptiste organizes and operates a police force made up of around 500 officers, who have authority over customs and trade, maintaining the peace, and dispelling unlawful activity. The Baptistois police force historically has faced controversy during the Bachelet regime, operating as a militia beholden to the President and engaged in oppressive activity. The police force was disbanded and reformed under the current Saint-Baptiste National Police in 1992.
The country also has a national Coast Guard separate from the police, which patrols Saint-Baptiste's waters and partakes in joint operations with neighbouring nations, most prominently Amandine. The Coast Guard maintains a fleet of 50 patrol boats, the largest being the SBS Sirène. The Coast Guard's main activities include patrolling internal waters for illegal smuggling and fishing, rescue missions, and international operations within the Rum Gulf.
Demographics
As of 2018, Saint-Baptiste has a population of 31,880, the smallest population for a sovereign country in the world. The majority of the country's inhabitants live on the eastern coast of the island, focused primarily around the towns of Port-Anne and Pointe-à-L'anse. Port-Anne itself contains thirty-eight percent of the island's population, showing a strong trend of urbanization and growth in Saint-Baptiste's largest towns and communities.
Ethnicity
The vast majority of Saint-Baptiste derive from the slave population that was brought to the island from Idica during the 17th and 18th centuries. According to the 2018 census, 20,521 Baptistois (64.4%) claim ancestry from Idica and other groups traditionally classified as Idican, while 2,735 (8.6%) claim ancestry from various Auressian groups, traditionally from Vervillia and Amandine. A significant portion of Baptistois (8,304; 26.05%) identify as multiracial, having ancestral ties to both communities. During the colonial period, a strict and expansive racial classification system was in use, but in the present day, those with multiracial heritage are typical referred to as mélanges in Principean, or melanje in Baptistois Creole. A further 320 (1.0%) identify with another ethnicity, these being often temporary workers or recent immigrants.
Language
The sole official language of Saint-Baptiste is Principean. Brought by Vervillian colonists and settlers, Principean is considered the sole legal and professional language on the island, and traditionally was the language of "high culture" during the island's history as a colonial possession, and still remains the language of education, government, and commerce. Since colonization, Baptistois Principean has developed a separate dialect from standard Principean, retaining archaic structure and grammar from the 17th century. This is most seen in the retention of sacres, profane sentences with religious connotations that have been dropped by the rest of the Principean-speaking world over time.
Despite Principean's cultural clout, the majority of Saint-Baptiste's population speaks Baptistois Creole, a creole language derived from an admixture of Principean, Taino, and various Idican languages. Initially spoken by slaves on the island, the language, often just referred to as Kreyòl, remains the dominant language among black Baptistois, as well as a sizable portion, if not a majority, of multiracial people on the island. As Saint-Baptiste does not question use of language for its census, it is unclear how many native speakers of Baptistois Creole there are, although most scholars state around seventy-five percent of Baptistois speak it before they speak Principean. Traditionally, Baptistois Creole has held connotations of poor education, illiteracy, and classist and racist notions of inferiority, and as such has historically been oppressed by Principean-speaking elites. In the modern day, Baptistois Creole has garnered more recognition, and the language has begun to see more official use, particularly in local government use and trade. Since 1992, Baptistois Creole has been legally deemed by the Baptistois government as a "language of regional importance", although there is a notable movement to adopt it as Saint-Baptiste's second official language, or even replace Principean altogether.
Education
Saint-Baptiste's education system is heavily influenced by the education system of Blayk, and operates a similar three-tier model. Primary (école primaire, typically ages 5-13) and secondary (école secondaire, 14-17) schooling is free of charge and accessible to all citizens and non-citizens of Saint-Baptiste, and primary education is mandatory by law. Since 1952, there are three public school boards on the island, administering four secondary schools and twelve primary schools. Alongside this system is the private Our Lady of Peace Collegiate, which provides a Perendist-derived education for both primary and secondary students.
Tertiary schooling (école optionnelle, or "optional school"), such as university degrees and doctorates, is provided locally by the University of Saint-Baptiste and Sacred Heart University. The University of Saint-Baptiste is a public secular university, while Sacred Heart University is a Perendist-run institution, accredited and funded by the Baptistois government. Despite opportunities for higher education in the country, Saint-Baptiste suffers from a brain drain from educated professionals, who often study in foreign universities and later immigrate permanently due to a lack of high-paying jobs within Saint-Baptiste, with Amandine particularly drawing in educated Baptistois.
Religion
The large majority of Baptistois (30,222; 94.8%) adhere to Apostolic Perendism, with a low percentage believing in another faith (127; 0.4%) or lacking religious belief altogether (1,531; 4.8%). Saint-Baptiste is considered one of the more religiously monolithic and devout nations in Marceaunia, and the Apostolic Church remains influential in education, politics, and everyday life. The religion initially came with Vervillian missionaries in the sixteenth century, and has been dominant since. Baptistois Apostolics are organized under the Bishopric of Sainte-Anne, under the Archbishopric of Colette, in Amandine.
Economy
Saint-Baptiste's economy is reliant heavily on tourism and the service industry around it, while agriculture remains a notable secondary industry on the island. Since 1971, Saint-Baptiste has been a member of the Assembly of Marceaunian States, and its economy is heavily tied to those of neighbouring Amandine and Audonia. The country's official currency is the Baptistois livre, and has a relatively high standard of living for the region, although income inequality has been deemed a noticeable issue on the island.
Tourism
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Tourism has been a notable industry on Saint-Baptiste since the late 19th century, when members of the Blaykish upper class visited the island under assumptions that the tropical air and climate would provide medicinal benefits. By the early 1960s, tourism became the dominant economic force in Saint-Baptiste, driven by a burgeoning middle class in neighbouring Amandine and Audonia. Today, tourism accounts for the vast majority of Saint-Baptiste's economic infrastructure, and the island sees around 1.1 million visitors yearly. Around 67% of Baptistois are employed in either the tourism sector or related service industries, such as retail. Main points of interest include the capital of Port-Anne, the island's beaches, and the hiking trails located in the country's interior. The majority of tourist arrive to Saint-Baptiste either through Jean-Jacques Celice International Airport or through the port-of-entry in Port-Anne.
Saint-Baptiste's reliance on tourism has worried both domestic and foreign groups regarding its lack of economic diversification, and the country has historically been hit hard in times of global economic downturn, most notably from 2005 to 2010.
Agriculture
Saint-Baptiste's second-largest industry is in agriculture and farming. Traditionally the island's economic backbone, Saint-Baptiste was a major supplier of coffee, sugar, and tobacco during the colonial period under Blayk through a complex plantation economy, and still retains a reputation for high quality coffee and rum. During the peak of the plantation system in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the island's labour force was primarily made up of enslaved labourers from Idica. Since the country's independence in 1947 and the growth of the tourist industry, the agricultural sector has sharply lost primacy as many Baptistois shifted towards the service industry, and today modern-day plantations and farms face the issue of urban sprawl from towns and a growing lack of arable land.
Fishing
Finance
Transport
Saint-Baptiste is connected to mainland Marceaunia by the port-of-entry of Port-Anne, as well as cruise ship docks located in Port-Anne, Pointe-à-L'anse, and Villenoire. The island is also serviced by the its only public airport, the Jean-Jacques Celice International Airport, established in 1940 and converted to civilian use in 1946. Around seventy-five percent of the country's annual 1.1 million visitors enter Saint-Baptiste through Jean-Jacques Celice International, with the remainder from cruise ships.
The only highway encircling the island, SB-A, was officially designated in 1938 as a way to connect military operations on the island during the Second Great War, and today services most communities in Saint-Baptiste, allowing drivers to circumnavigate the country in around four hours. Since 2005 the public bus system GO Saint-Baptiste has operated transportation services throughout the island, primarily for tourists.
Energy
Culture
Sports
Association football is considered the most popular sport in Saint-Baptiste, and the country's national football team has successfully entered the quarterfinals of the [INSERT not!FIFA HERE] numerous times since its formation. Cricket is also popular in Saint-Baptiste, with wicketkeeper Joseph Adnet being the most well-known Baptistois cricketer, further popularizing the sport in the 1970s and 1980s.
Cuisine
Baptistois cuisine heavily incorporates methods and traditions from numerous cultures, namely colonial Blaykish cuisine and modified indigenous Idican methods of cooking and preparing food. As a centre of sugar production throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Baptistois dishes have often used sugar as a notable ingredient, especially in desserts. Also commonly included as ingredients are rice, fish, and wheat. Saint-Baptiste also has a deep culinary history with both seafood and barbecue, the latter one of the few pre-colonial indigenous customs to survive on the island. Due to this, barbecue (or in Baptistois Creole, babekyou) has remained a defining feature of a unique Rum Gulf cuisine. The most internationally recognized dish from the island is commonly considered either pelau, an admixture of meat (usually goat) and rice, or poulet sec (literally "dry chicken"), a barbecue dish usually paired with brown rice.
In terms of alcohol, Saint-Baptiste maintains a robust and vibrant drinking culture, especially around rum. The island at peak sugar production in the mid-18th century supplied almost a quarter of the world's rum, and still in the present day produces a substantial quantity. The largest rum producer in the country, Les Portiellers, has since the early 18th century established itself as a producer of luxury and quality spiced rum.
Music
Baptistois musical tastes are diverse, with much of the island's traditional music originating from spirituals and work songs popular among Idican slaves during the colonial period, often referred to by the Baptistois Creole term kantik. In the modern day, kantik have helped to influence the genres of reggae and calypso, although niether are entirely native to Saint-Baptiste. In recent decades, rock, punk, and Auressian-based pop music have seen growing popularity.
Public holidays and festivals
Public holidays in Saint-Baptiste are often considered statutory holidays, and are celebrated or commemorated with festivals, speeches, rallies, and street parties. Celebratory holidays such as Emancipation Day and Independence Day are often week-long affairs that are the centre of a larger festival season on the island, and the week between 24 June and 1 July (the Nativity of John the Baptist and Independence Day, respectively) is treated typically as one large holiday unofficially referred to as "Saint-Baptiste Week" (Principean: Semaine Saint-Baptiste; Baptistois Creole: Semèn Sen Batis), which often sees the highest concentration of tourists to the island during the year. More somber occasions, such as Remembrance Day, traditionally see businesses and government services closed for reflection and commemoration.
| Date | Name | Principean name | Baptistois Creole name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January | New Year's Day | Le jour de l'An | Joudlan | Celebrates the start of a new year. |
| 1 May | International Workers' Day | la journée internationale des travailleurs | Jounen Entènasyonal Travayè yo | Celebrates workers and the labour movement. |
| First Sunday of May | Jubilation Day | Jour de liesse | Jou Rejwisans | |
| 21 June | Indigenous Peoples' Day | Journée des peuples autochtones | Jounen Pèp Endijèn yo | Commemorates the original Taino inhabitants of Saint-Baptiste. |
| 24 June | St John the Baptist Day | Fête de la Saint-Jean-Baptiste | Fèt Sen Jan Batis | The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, the patron saint of Saint-Baptiste. |
| 1 July | Independence Day | Le jour de l'indépendance | Jou Endepandans | National day, commemorates the independence of Saint-Baptiste from Blayk. |
| 15 September | Emancipation Day | Fête de l'émancipation | Fèt Emansipasyon or Fèt Libète | Celebrates the emancipation of slaves in 1816, also referred to as "Liberty Day". |
| 28 October | Remembrance Day | Jour du Souvenir | Jou Souvni | Commemorates all victims of war and conflicts. |
| 21 December | Tribulation Day | Jour de tribulation | Jou Tribilasyon | |
| 31 December | New Year's Eve | Réveillon du jour de l'an | Lavèy nouvèl ane a | Celebrates the end of the year. |
