Guadeloupe

Group of islands in the Leeward Islands, West Indies (nine of which are inhabited), an overseas département of France; area 1,705 sq km/658 sq mi; population (1999 est) 422,500. The main islands are Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre. The chief town and seat of government is Basse-Terre; the largest town is Pointe-à-Pitre on the island of Grande-Terre. Agriculture was long the basis of the economy, though tourism (mostly from the USA) has become the main earner of foreign exchange since the 1980s. Sugar cane and bananas are the major crops, though with the Single European Act of 1987 the export of these crops to European markets became more difficult and resulted in considerable agricultural unemployment on the islands. Industries include cement, rum distilling, and sugar refining.

The two main islands were called Karukera (Isle of Beautiful Waters) by the indigenous Carib inhabitants. Christopher Columbus reached here in 1493, and the Caribs fought against Spanish colonization. A French colony was established in 1635 and the people of the smaller islands of St Barthélemy and Les Saintes are mainly descended from Norman and Breton settlers.

French is the official language and Creole the main spoken one.