World Country Guide

General Information

Area
Total: 1705 sq km (658.3 sq miles). Basse-Terre: 839 sq km (324 sq miles). Grand-Terre: 564 sq km (218 sq miles). Marie-Galante: 150 sq km (58 sq miles). La Dsirade: 29.7 sq km (11.5 sq miles). Les Saintes: 13.9 sq km (5.4 sq miles). St-Barthlemy: 95 sq km (37 sq miles). St-Martin (which shares the island with St Maarten, part of the Netherlands Antilles): 88 sq km (34 sq miles).

Population
444,515 (official estimate 2004).

Population density
247.8 per sq km.

Capital
Basse-Terre (administrative). Population: 12,410 (1999). Pointe--Pitre, on Grande-Terre (commercial centre). Population: 20,948 (1999).

Geography
Guadeloupe comprises Guadeloupe proper (Basse-Terre), Grande-Terre (separated from Basse-Terre by a narrow sea channel) and five smaller islands. Basse-Terre has a rough volcanic relief whilst Grande Terre features rolling hills and flat plains. All the islands have beautiful white- or black-sand palm-fringed beaches. There are also many lush mountainous areas with stunning and unspoiled tropical scenery.

Government
Guadeloupe is an Overseas Department of France and as such is an integral part of the French Republic. Head of State: President Jacques Chirac since 1995, represented locally by Prefect Dominique Vian since 2002.

Language
The official language is French. The lingua franca is Creole.

Time
GMT - 4.

Religion
The majority are Roman Catholic, with a minority of predominantly Evangelical protestant groups.

Electricity
220 volts AC, 50Hz.

Communications

Telephone
IDD is available. Country code: 590. Good internal network. There are no area codes. Phonecards (tlcartes) are necessary to make calls from public telephones.

Mobile telephone
GSM 900 network. Handsets can be hired at the airport. Network providers include Amris and France Tlcom. Coverage extends throughout the French West Indies and in French Guiana. St-Martin and St-Barthlemy also have digital analogue networks, system B, operated by St-Martin Mobiles (website: www.stmartinmobiles.com). These analogue networks are compatible with most US handsets, which can be activated on the island by dialling 0 or by registering online.

Internet
Local ISPs include wanadoo (website: www.wanadoo.fr), Antilles-net (website: www.antilles-net.com) and MediaServ (website: www.mediaserv.net). There are Internet cafes at Saint-Francois, Sainte Anne, Mare-Gaillard and Pointe-a-Pitre; there are also terminals in some larger post offices and public buildings.

Post
Airmail takes about one week to reach Europe.

Press
Newspapers are all in French. The main daily is France-Antilles.

Radio
BBC World Service (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice) and Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov) can be received. From time to time the frequencies change and the most up-to-date can be found online.