Located 4666 miles from PARIS and 1800 miles from NEW YORK, in the heart of the West Indies archipelago, between the Caribbean sea and the Atlantic Ocean , Guadeloupe is composed of two islands, Grande-Terre and Basse-Terre, separated by the river “Riviere salee”
Called the Emerald island, but also know as “the butterfly” since the island looks like a butterfly with its wings spread, its overall surface area is about 1800 Km2 and the average temperature is around 27 degres year round.
Basse-Terre, the first town built by the French is the administrative capital of Guadeloupe.
There are five other islands that fall under this administrative structure which include “Marie-Galante”, “Les Saintes”, “Desirade”, “Saint-Barthelemy” and “Saint-Martin”.
Pointe a Pitre, the commercial center of Grande-Terre, was founded by English people and named in reference on a Dutchman called Peter (Pointe-a-Peter).
“Grande-Terre” is slightly hilly and offers fine white sand beaches.
“Basse-Terre” has mountains ranges with high peaks. The highest point at 1467m is the top of the “Soufriere” volcano; the forest is dense and humid.
