1987 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1987 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Climate
subtropical tempered by trade winds; relatively high humidity
Coastline
306 km
Comparative area
about half the size of Rhode Island
Continental shelf
200 meters or to depth of exploitation
Environment
subject to hurricanes (June :0 December)
Extended economic zone
200 nm
Land use
18% arable land; 5% permanent crops; 13% meadows and pastures; 40% forest and woodland; 24% other; includes \% irrigated
Special notes
none
Terrain
Basse-Terre is volcanic in origin with interior mountains; Grand-Terre is low limestone formation
Territorial sea
12 nm
Total area
- 20 km Pointe-a-Pitre
- 1,780 km?; land area: 1,760 km?
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
90% black or mulatto; 5% white; less than 5% East Indian, Leba1ese, Chinese
Infant mortality rate
18.6/1,000 (1983)
Labor force
120,000; services, government, and commerce 53.0%; industry 25.8%; agriculture 21.2%; significant unemployment
Language
French, creole patois
Life expectancy
67
Literacy
over 70%
Nationality
noun—Guadeloupian(s); idjective—Guadeloupe
Organized labor
11% of labor force
Population
336,354 (July 1987), average innual growth rate 0.61%
Religion
95% Roman Catholic, 5% Hindu and pagan African
Government
Administrative divisions
3 arrondissements; 34 communes, each with a locally elected municipal council
Branches
executive, Prefect appointed by Paris; legislative, popularly elected General Council of 36 members and a Regional Council composed of members of the local General Council and the locally elected deputies and senators to the French parliament; judicial, under jurisdiction of French judicial system
Communists
3,000 est.
Elections
General Council elections are normally held every five years; last General Council election took place in June 1981; regional assembly elections held in February 1983 Political parties and leaders: Rally for the Republic (RPR), Gabriel Lisette; Communist Party of Guadeloupe (PCG), Henri Bangou; Socialist Party (MSG), leader unknown; Progressive Party of Guadeloupe (PPG), Henri Rodes; Independent Republicans; Federation of the Left; Union for French Democracy (UDF); Union for a New Majority (UNM); Socialist Party Federation of Guadeloupe (PS)
Government leader
Yves BONNET, Prefect of the Republic (since 1985)
Legal system
French legal system; highest court is a court of appeal) based in Martinique with jurisdiction over Guadeloupe, French Guiana, and Martinique
Member of
WFTU
Official name
Department of Guadeloupe
Other political or pressure groups
Popular Union for the Liberation of Guadeloupe (UPLG), Caribbean Revolutionary Alliance (ARC), Popular Movement for Independent Guadeloupe (MPGI), Union for the Liberation of Guadeloupe (UPLG), General Union of Guadeloupe Workers (UGTG), General Federation of Guadeloupe Workers (CGT-G)
Suffrage
universal over age 18
Type
overseas department and region of France; represented by three deputies in the French Nationa! Assembly and two senators in the Senate; last Assembly election, 21 June 1981 Capital; Basse-Terre
Voting strength
3 deputies in French National Assembly; 2 senators in Senate; 1 councillor on Economic and Social Council; in Regional Council election of February 1983—RPR 21 seats, PCG 1] seats, PS 9 seats
Economy
Agriculture
sugarcane, bananas, pineapples, vegetables
Aid
bilateral ODA and OOF commitments (1970-79) from Western (non-US) countries, $2.4 billion
Budget
$198 million (1981)
Electric power
103,000 kW capacity; 315 million kWh produced, 940 kWh per capita (1986)
Exports
$89.2 million (1981); bananas, sugar, rum
Fiscal year
calendar year
GNP
$998 million (1983), $3,151 per capita; real growth rate 15.7% (1979-80 average)
Imports
$560 million (1981); vehicles, foodstuffs, clothing and other consumer goods, construction materials, petroleum products
Major industries
construction, cement, rum, light industry, tourism
Major trade partners
exports—88% franc zone; imports—73% franc zone, 3% Italy (1981)
Monetary conversion rate
6.62 French francs=US$1 (November 1986)
Natural resources
scenery, cultivable land
Communications
Airfields
9 total, 9 usable, 8 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 1 with runways 1,220-2,439
Civil air
2 major transport aircraft
Highways
1,954 km total; 1,600 km paved, 340 km gravel and earth
Ports
1 major (Pointe-a-Pitre), 3 minor |
Railroads
privately owned, narrow-gauge plantation lines { } ! |
Telecommunications
domestic facilities inadequate; 57,300 telephones (17.4 per 100 popl.); interisland radio-relay to Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, and Martinique; 2 AM, 6 FM, 9 TV stations; 1 INTELSAT satellite station
Military and Security
Military manpower
males 15-49, 89,000