Cruising in Guadeloupe

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: 1,780 sq km
Land: 1,706 sq km
Water: 74 sq km; note: Guadeloupe is an archipelago of nine inhabited islands, including Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Desirade, Iles des Saintes (2), Saint-Barthelemy, Iles de la Petite Terre, and Saint-Martin (French part of the island of Saint Martin)
Land boundaries: total: 10.2 km
Border countries: Netherlands Antilles (Sint Maarten) 10.2 km

Coastline

306 km

Maritime claims

Territorial sea: 12 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

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: Caribbean Sea 0 m
Highest point: Soufriere 1,484 m

Economy

This 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.

Transportation

Airports: 9 (2005)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 8
over 3,047 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 5 (2005)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2005)
Roadways: total: 947 km (2002)

Sailing Specifics: Ports and terminals

Basse-Terre, Gustavia, Pointe-a-Pitre  

Other Sailing Destinations in the Region

Anguilla - Antigua and Barbuda - Aruba - Bahamas - Barbados - British Virgin Islands - Cayman Islands - Cuba - Dominica - Dominican Republic - Grenada - Guadeloupe - Haiti - Jamaica - St. Kitts and Nevis - St. Lucia - Martinique - Montserrat - Netherlands Antilles - Puerto Rico - Trinidad and Tobago - Turks and Caicos - St. Vincent and the Grenadines - Virgin Islands (USA)

Further Reading

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