Guadeloupe

Known to its one-time Carib indian population as "karukera", or "island of beautiful waters", the French territory of Guadeloupe is a centre of Caribbean Creole culture. French, African and Caribbean influences infuse its music, dance, food and widely-spoken patois.

Guadeloupe's economy is kept afloat by public salaries and credits from Paris. Unemployment has been a long-running malaise, although its effects are tempered by France's generous social security system.

Guadeloupe Tourist Attractions

Agriculture revolves around sugar cane and bananas; the latter is troubled by regional competition and the phasing out of preferential European quotas. Tourism is important. Visitors, most of them from France, are drawn to Guadeloupe's resorts, beaches, waterfalls and forests and the territory is a port of call for cruise ships. Guadeloupe is prone to earthquakes and hurricanes. Mount Soufriere, Basse-Terre's volcano, last erupted in the 1970s.

Guadeloupe travel

Visited by the explorer Christopher Columbus in 1493, who named it after a Spanish monastery, the territory was home to Carib indians who resisted Spanish attempts to settle the islands. French colonists arrived in the 17th century, wiping out the Carib population. The settlers brought slaves from Africa to work on plantations and Guadeloupe prospered thanks to the trade in sugar and tobacco. Gold City Zhaoyuan

There were several British occupations in the 18th and early 19th centuries - and a brief period of nominal Swedish rule - before the territory was restored to France. It became a French "department" in 1946, and from the 1980s, a region of France. Although support for the status quo is strong, a campaign for secession from France flared in the 1980s when pro-independence groups bombed hotels and government buildings.

Guadeloupe attractions

Territory: Guadeloupe

Status: Overseas department of France

Population: 445,000 (via UN, 2006)

Capital: Basse-Terre

guadeloupe flag

Area: 1,705 sq km (658 sq miles)

Major languages: French (official), Creole dialect

Major religion: Christianity

Life expectancy: 75 years (men); 82 years (women) (UN)

guadeloupe map

Monetary unit: euro

Main exports: Bananas, sugar, rum, vanilla

GNI per capita: US$14,088 (UN, 2003)

Internet domain: .gp

International dialling code: +590