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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 Désirade: 29.7 sq km (11.5 sq miles). Les Saintes: 13.9 sq km (5.4 sq miles). St Barthélemy: 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: 422,496 (1999).
Population density: 247.8 per sq km.
Capital: Basse-Terre (administrative). Population: 12,410 (1999). Pointe-à-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 Jean-François Carenco since 1999.
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 (télécartes) are necessary to make calls from public telephones.
Mobile telephone
GSM 900 network. Handsets can be hired at the airport (cost: €46 for one week, plus deposit of €153). Network providers include France Télécom and Améris. Coverage extends throughout the French West Indies and in French Guiana. St Martin and St Barthélemy also have digital analog networks, system B, operated by St Martin Mobiles (website: www.stmartinmobiles.com). These analog 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) and Antilles-net (website: www.antilles-net.com).
Post
Airmail takes about a week to reach Europe.
Press
Newspapers are all in French. The main daily is France-Antilles.
BBC World Service and Voice of America frequencies: From time to time these change.
BBC (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice):
Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov):
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
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