Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an overseas administrative district of France in the West Indies.Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France in the Leeward Islands of the West Indies. It consists of Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre and nearby small islands; the island of St. Barthélemy and part of the island of St. Martin, some 100 miles (160 km) to the north, are dependencies. Some of the islands are mountainous; others are low-lying limestone and coral formations. The total area is 687 square miles (1,779 km 2 ). Guadeloupe has a tropical climate, tempered by the trade winds. The economy is based largely on agriculture and tourism; French financial aid is vital, and many necessities must be imported. Sugarcane is the chief crop.
The islands were reached by Columbus in 1493. France began colonizing the islands in 1635 and held them despite British attacks and occupations, which ended in the early 1800's. Guadeloupe was made an overseas department in 1946.
The population—mainly blacks and mulattoes—was estimated at 419,500 in 1995. Pointe-à-Pitre, the chief city, had 26,096 people; Basse-Terre, the capital, 14,003.