Guadeloupe Location:
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea at 16°15'N, 61°35'W, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres (629 sq. mi).[1] It is an overseas department of France. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe is also one of the twenty-six regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic. As part of France, Guadeloupe is part of the European Union; hence its currency is the euro.[2] Guadeloupe is however not party to the Schengen Agreement.
Guadeloupe Geography:
Guadeloupe comprises five islands: Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre (separated from Basse-Terre by a narrow sea channel called Salt River) with the adjacent islands of La Désirade, Les Saintes and Marie-Galante.
Basse-Terre has a rough volcanic relief, while Grande-Terre features rolling hills and flat plains.
Further to the north, Saint-Barthélemy and the French part of Saint Martin once came under the jurisdiction of Guadeloupe but on December 7, 2003, both of these areas voted to become an overseas territorial collectivity.
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On February 22, 2007 they officially became overseas collectivities of France.
Guadeloupe People:
Land area1 1,628 km2[1]
Population (Ranked 23rd)
- January 1, 2006 est. ca. 405,000[1]
- March 8, 1999 census 386,566[1]
- Density (2006) 249/km2[1]
Guadeloupe Economy:
The economy of Guadeloupe depends on tourism, agriculture, light industry and services. It also depends on France for large subsidies and imports.
Tourism is a key industry, with 83.3% of tourists visiting from metropolitan France, 10.8% coming from the rest of Europe, 3.4% coming from the United States, 1.5% coming from Canada, 0.4% coming from South America and 0.6% coming from the rest of the world.[9] 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, guinnep, noni, sapotilla, paroka, pikinga, giraumon squash, yam, gourd, plantain, christophine, monbin, prunecafé, cocoa, jackfruit, pomegranate, and many varieties of 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, solar energy, and many industrial productions. Most manufactured goods and fuel are imported. Unemployment is especially high among the youth. Hurricanes periodically devastate the economy.
The country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Guadeloupe is ".gp".
Guadeloupe More Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadeloupe | 
