Arctic Ocean (2001) | Guadeloupe (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | - | none (overseas department of France) |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years:
24.99% (male 55,030; female 52,722) 15-64 years: 66.22% (male 141,294; female 144,232) 65 years and over: 8.79% (male 15,901; female 21,991) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | - | bananas, sugarcane, tropical fruits and vegetables; cattle, pigs, goats |
Airports | - | 9 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | - | total:
8 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 5 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total:
1 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Area | total:
14.056 million sq km note: includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies |
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 |
Area - comparative | slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US | 10 times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the recently delimited Southern Ocean). The Northwest Passage (US and Canada) and Northern Sea Route (Norway and Russia) are two important seasonal waterways. A sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes circumscribes the Arctic Ocean. | Guadeloupe has been a French possession since 1635. The island of Saint-Martin is divided with the Netherlands (whose southern portion is named Sint Maarten and is part of the Netherlands Antilles). |
Birth rate | - | 16.91 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues:
$225 million expenditures: $390 million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1996) |
Capital | - | Basse-Terre |
Climate | polar climate characterized by persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow | subtropical tempered by trade winds; moderately high humidity |
Coastline | 45,389 km | 306 km |
Constitution | - | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) |
Country name | - | conventional long form:
Department of Guadeloupe conventional short form: Guadeloupe local long form: Departement de la Guadeloupe local short form: Guadeloupe |
Currency | - | French franc (FRF); euro (EUR) |
Death rate | - | 6.02 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $NA |
Dependency status | - | overseas department of France |
Diplomatic representation from the US | - | none (overseas department of France) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | - | none (overseas department of France) |
Disputes - international | some maritime disputes (see littoral states) | none |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $NA; note - substantial annual French subsidies |
Economy - overview | Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals. | 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. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 1.209 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | - | 1.3 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Fram Basin -4,665 m highest point: sea level 0 m |
lowest point:
Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Soufriere 1,467 m |
Environment - current issues | endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage; thinning polar icepack | NA |
Ethnic groups | - | black or mulatto 90%, white 5%, East Indian, Lebanese, Chinese less than 5% |
Exchange rates | - | Euros per US dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997), 5.1155 (1996) |
Executive branch | - | chief of state:
President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Jean FEDINI (since NA 1996) head of government: President of the General Council Marcellin LUBETH (since NA March 1998); President of the Regional Council Lucette MICHAUX-CHEVRY (since 22 March 1992) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils election results: NA |
Exports | - | $140 million (f.o.b., 1997) |
Exports - commodities | - | bananas, sugar, rum |
Exports - partners | - | France 60%, Martinique 18%, US 4% (1997) |
Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
Flag description | - | three horizontal bands, a narrow green band (top), a wide red band, and a narrow green band; the green bands are separated from the red band by two narrow white stripes; a gold five-pointed star is centered in the red band toward the hoist side; the flag of France is used for official occasions |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $3.7 billion (1997 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture:
15% industry: 17% services: 68% (1997 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $9,000 (1997 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 90 00 N, 0 00 E | 16 15 N, 61 35 W |
Geography - note | major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia; floating research stations operated by the US and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean; snow cover lasts about 10 months | - |
Highways | - | total:
2,560 km paved: 965 km unpaved: 1,595 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | - | $1.7 billion (c.i.f., 1997) |
Imports - commodities | - | foodstuffs, fuels, vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods, construction materials |
Imports - partners | - | France 63%, Germany 4%, US 3%, Japan 2%, Netherlands Antilles 2% (1997) |
Independence | - | none (overseas department of France) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | NA% |
Industries | - | construction, cement, rum, sugar, tourism |
Infant mortality rate | - | 9.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | NA |
International organization participation | - | FZ, WCL, WFTU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 3 (2000) |
Irrigated land | - | 30 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | - | Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel with jurisdiction over Guadeloupe, French Guiana, and Martinique |
Labor force | - | 125,900 (1997) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | NA |
Land boundaries | - | total:
10.2 km border countries: Netherlands Antilles (Sint Maarten) 10.2 km |
Land use | - | arable land:
14% permanent crops: 4% permanent pastures: 14% forests and woodland: 39% other: 29% (1993 est.) |
Languages | - | French (official) 99%, Creole patois |
Legal system | - | French legal system |
Legislative branch | - | unicameral General Council or Conseil General (42 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the unicameral Regional Council or Conseil Regional (41 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held 22 March 1998 (next to be held by NA 2004); Regional Council - last held 15 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - diverse left parties 11, PS 8, RPR 8, PPDG 6, diverse right parties 5, PCG 3, UDF 1; Regional Council - percent of vote by party - RPR 48.03%, PS/PPDG/diverse left parties 24.49%, PCG 5.29%, diverse right parties 5.73%; seats by party - RPR 25, PS/PPDG/diverse left parties 12, PCG 2, diverse right parties 2 note: Guadeloupe elects two representatives to the French Senate; elections last held NA September 1995 (next to be held NA September 2004); percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - RPR 1, FGPS 1; Guadeloupe elects four representatives to the French National Assembly; elections last held 25 May - 1 June 1997 (next to be held NA 2002); percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - FGPS 2, RPR 1, PPDG 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population:
77.16 years male: 74.01 years female: 80.48 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 90% male: 90% female: 90% (1982 est.) |
Location | body of water between Europe, Asia, and North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle | Caribbean, islands in the eastern Caribbean Sea, southeast of Puerto Rico |
Map references | Arctic Region | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | - | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,240 GRT/109 DWT ships by type: passenger 1 (2000 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of France |
Military branches | - | French Forces, Gendarmerie |
National holiday | - | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
Nationality | - | noun:
Guadeloupian(s) adjective: Guadeloupe |
Natural hazards | ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually ice locked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May | hurricanes (June to October); Soufriere is an active volcano |
Natural resources | sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales) | cultivable land, beaches and climate that foster tourism |
Net migration rate | - | -0.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | - | Communist Party of Guadeloupe or PCG [Christian CELESTE]; Progressive Democratic Party or PPDG [Henri BANGOU]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Aldo BLAISE]; Socialist Party or PS [Georges LOUISOR]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Marcel ESDRAS] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | Christian Movement for the Liberation of Guadeloupe or KLPG; General Federation of Guadeloupe Workers or CGT-G; General Union of Guadeloupe Workers or UGTG; Movement for Independent Guadeloupe or MPGI |
Population | - | 431,170 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | NA% |
Population growth rate | - | 1.07% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US) | Basse-Terre, Gustavia (on Saint Barthelemy), Marigot, Pointe-a-Pitre |
Radio broadcast stations | - | AM 1, FM 17, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | - | 113,000 (1997) |
Railways | - | total:
NA km; privately owned, narrow-gauge plantation lines |
Religions | - | Roman Catholic 95%, Hindu and pagan African 4%, Protestant 1% |
Sex ratio | - | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | - | general assessment:
domestic facilities inadequate domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); microwave radio relay to Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, and Martinique |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | 171,000 (1996) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | NA |
Television broadcast stations | - | 5 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that averages about 3 meters in thickness, although pressure ridges may be three times that size; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight-line movement from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge) | 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 |
Total fertility rate | - | 1.93 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | - | 27.8% (1998) |
Waterways | - | none |