ludes irrigated 1%
Environment:
subject to hurricanes (June to October); La Soufriere is an active volcano
Note:
located 500 km southeast of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea

:Guadeloupe People

Population:
409,132 (July 1992), growth rate 2.1% (1992)
Birth rate:
19 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
6 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
8 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
10 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
74 years male, 80 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
2.0 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Guadeloupian(s); adjective - Guadeloupe
Ethnic divisions:
black or mulatto 90%; white 5%; East Indian, Lebanese, Chinese less than 5%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 95%, Hindu and pagan African 5%
Languages:
French, creole patois
Literacy:
90% (male 90%, female 91%) age 15 and over can read and write (1982)
Labor force:
120,000; 53.0% services, government, and commerce, 25.8% industry, 21.2%
agriculture
Organized labor:
11% of labor force

:Guadeloupe Government

Long-form name:
Department of Guadeloupe
Type:
overseas department of France
Capital:
Basse-Terre
Administrative divisions:
none (overseas department of France)
Independence:
none (overseas department of France)
Constitution:
28 September 1958 (French Constitution)
Legal system:
French legal system
National holiday:
Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)
Executive branch:
government commissioner
Legislative branch:
unicameral General Council and unicameral Regional Council
Judicial branch:
Court of Appeal (Cour d'Appel) with jurisdiction over Guadeloupe, French
Guiana, and Martinique
Leaders:
Chief of State:
President Francois MITTERRAND (since 21 May 1981)
Head of Government:
Commissioner of the Republic Jean-Paul PROUST (since November 1989)
Political parties and leaders:
Rally for the Republic (RPR), Marlene CAPTANT; Communist Party of Guadeloupe
(PCG), Christian Medard CELESTE; Socialist Party (PSG), Dominique LARIFLA;
Popular Union for the Liberation of Guadeloupe (UPLG); Independent
Republicans; Union for French Democracy (UDF); Union for a New Majority
(UNM)
Suffrage:
universal at age 18
Elections:
French National Assembly:
last held on 5 and 12 June 1988 (next to be held June 1994)