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
Location: Location: Caribbean, islands in the eastern Caribbean Sea, southeast of Puerto Rico. Area: Total: 1,780 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), water: 74 sq km, land: 1,706 sq km. Area - comparative: 10 times the size of Washington, DC. Land boundaries: Total: 10.2 km border countries: Netherlands Antilles (Sint Maarten) 10.2 km. Coastline: 306 km.
Climate and Terrain: 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. Natural resources: Cultivable land, beaches and climate that foster tourism.
People: Population: 435,739. Ethnic groups: Black or mulatto 90%, white 5%, East Indian, Lebanese, Chinese less than 5%. Religions: Roman Catholic 95%, Hindu and pagan African 4%, Protestant 1%.
Government: Dependency status: Overseas department of France.
Capital: Basse-Terre.
Economy overview: The 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. GDP - composition by sector: Agriculture: 15%, industry: 17%, services: 68%. Unemployment rate: 28%.
Statistics: Telephones - main lines in use: 171,000. Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 17. Radios: 113,000. Television broadcast stations: 5. Televisions: 118,000. Internet users: 4,000. Highways: Total: 2,560 km, paved: 965 km, unpaved: 1,595 km. Airports - with paved runways: 8, with unpaved runways: 1,