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Guide to Guadeloupe

Introduction

Background: Guadeloupe has been a French possession since 1635. The island of Saint Martin is shared with the Netherlands; its southern portion is named Sint Maarten and is part of the Netherlands Antilles and its northern portion is named Saint-Martin and is part of Guadeloupe

Geography

Location: Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Puerto Rico
Geographic coordinates: 16 15 N, 61 35 W
Map references: Central America and the Caribbean
Area: total
Area - comparative: 10 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 306 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
Climate: subtropical tempered by trade winds; moderately high humidity
Terrain: Basse-Terre is volcanic in origin with interior mountains; Grande-Terre is low limestone formation; most of the seven other islands are volcanic in origin
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: cultivable land, beaches and climate that foster tourism
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 20 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: hurricanes (June to October); Soufriere de Guadeloupe is an active volcano
Environment - current issues: NA
Geography - note: a narrow channel, the Riviere Salee, divides Guadeloupe proper into two islands

People

Population: 448,713 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 0.92% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 15.42 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 6.06 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 1.91 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA%
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: black or mulatto 90%, white 5%, East Indian, Lebanese, Chinese less than 5%
Religions: Roman Catholic 95%, Hindu and pagan African 4%, Protestant 1%
Languages: French (official) 99%, Creole patois
Literacy: definition

Government

Country name: conventional long form
Dependency status: overseas department of France
Government type: NA
Capital: Basse-Terre
Administrative divisions: none (overseas department of France)
Independence: none (overseas department of France)
National holiday: Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)
Constitution: 4 October 1958 (French Constitution)
Legal system: French legal system
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: unicameral General Council or Conseil General (42 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the unicameral Regional Council or Conseil Regional (41 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) elections
Judicial branch: Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel with jurisdiction over Guadeloupe, French Guiana, and Martinique
Political parties and leaders: Communist Party of Guadeloupe or PCG [Mona CADOCE]; FGPS [Dominique LARIFLA]; Left Radical Party or PRG [Flavien FERRANT]; Progressive Democratic Party or PPDG [Henri BANGOU]; Socialist Party or PS [Marlene MELISSE and Favrot DAVRAIN]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Marcel ESDRAS]; Union for a Popular Movement or UMP (including RPR) [Robert JOYEUX]
Political pressure groups and leaders: Christian Movement for the Liberation of Guadeloupe or KLPG; General Federation of Guadeloupe Workers or CGT-G; General Union of Guadeloupe Workers or UGTG; Movement for Independent Guadeloupe or MPGI; The Socialist Renewal Movement
International organization participation: WCL, WFTU
Diplomatic representation in the US: none (overseas department of France)
Diplomatic representation from the US: none (overseas department of France)
Flag description: the flag of France is used

Economy

Economy - overview: The Caribbean economy depends on agriculture, tourism, light industry, and services. It also depends on France for large subsidies and imports. Tourism is a key industry, with most tourists from the US; an increasingly large number of cruise ships visit the islands. The traditional sugarcane crop is slowly being replaced by other crops, such as bananas (which now supply about 50% of export earnings), eggplant, and flowers. Other vegetables and root crops are cultivated for local consumption, although Guadeloupe is still dependent on imported food, mainly from France. Light industry features sugar and rum production. Most manufactured goods and fuel are imported. Unemployment is especially high among the young. Hurricanes periodically devastate the economy.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $3.513 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: NA%
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $7,900 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 125,900 (1997)
Labor force - by occupation: NA
Unemployment rate: 27.8% (1998)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
Budget: revenues
Agriculture - products: bananas, sugarcane, tropical fruits and vegetables; cattle, pigs, goats
Industries: construction, cement, rum, sugar, tourism
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity - production: 1.16 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 1.079 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 13,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: NA
Oil - imports: NA
Exports: $140 million f.o.b. (1997)
Exports - commodities: bananas, sugar, rum
Exports - partners: France 60%, Martinique 18%, US 4% (1999)
Imports: $1.7 billion c.i.f. (1997)
Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, fuels, vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods, construction materials
Imports - partners: France 63%, Germany 4%, US 3%, Japan 2%, Netherlands Antilles 2% (1999)
Debt - external: $NA (yearend 2003 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: NA; note - substantial annual French subsidies (2004)
Currency (code): euro (EUR)
Currency code: EUR
Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 j(2001), 1.0854 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 210,000 (2001)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 323,500 (2002)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 17, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: 113,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 5 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 118,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .gp
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 3 (2000)
Internet users: 20,000 (2002)

Transportation

Highways: total
Ports and harbors: Basse-Terre, Gustavia, Pointe-a-Pitre
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 9 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total

Military

Military branches: no regular military forces
Military - note: defense is the responsibility of France

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: none
Last updated: 20 October, 2005