Country Fast Facts: Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe has been a French possession since 1635.

Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea at 16°15'N, 61°35'W, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres (629 sq. mi). It is an overseas department of France.

As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe is also one of the 26 regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic.

As part of France, Guadeloupe is part of the European Union; hence its currency is the euro.

Guadeloupe is however not party to the Schengen Agreement.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population:
448,713 (July 2005 est.)

---

Age structure:
0-14 years: 24% (male 55,072/female 52,677)
15-64 years: 66.9% (male 148,880/female 151,238)
65 years and over: 9.1% (male 17,032/female 23,814) (2005 est.)

---

Median age:
total: 31.81 years
male: 30.91 years
female: 32.73 years (2005 est.)

---

Population growth rate:
0.92% (2005 est.)

---

Birth rate:
15.42 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

---

Death rate:
6.06 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

---

Net migration rate:
-0.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

---

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 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 (2005 est.)

---

Infant mortality rate:
total: 8.6 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 9.81 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 7.33 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

---

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 77.9 years
male: 74.74 years
female: 81.21 years (2005 est.)

---

Total fertility rate:
1.91 children born/woman (2005 est.)

---

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
NA%

---

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
NA

---

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA

---

Nationality:
noun: Guadeloupian(s)
adjective: Guadeloupe

---

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%

---

Languages:
French (official) 99%, Creole patois

---

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90%
male: 90%
female: 90% (1982 est.)

The Caribbean 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:
purchasing power parity - $3.513 billion (2003 est.)

---

GDP - real growth rate:
NA%

---

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $7,900 (2003 est.)

---

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 15%
industry: 17%
services: 68% (1997 est.)

---

Population below poverty line:
NA%

---

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

---

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
NA%

---

Labor force:
125,900 (1997)

---

Labor force - by occupation:
NA

---

Unemployment rate:
27.8% (1998)

---

Budget:
revenues: $225 million
expenditures: $390 million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1996)

---

Agriculture - products:

---

bananas, sugarcane, tropical fruits and vegetables; cattle, pigs, goats
Industries:
construction, cement, rum, sugar, tourism

---

Industrial production growth rate:
NA%

---

Electricity - production:
1.16 billion kWh (2002)

---

Electricity - consumption:
1.079 billion kWh (2002)

---

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2002)

---

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2002)

---

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

---

Oil - consumption:
13,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

---

Oil - exports:
NA

---

Oil - imports:
NA

---

Exports:
$140 million f.o.b. (1997)

---

Exports - commodities:
bananas, sugar, rum

---

Exports - partners:
France 60%, Martinique 18%, US 4% (1999)

---

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% (1999)

---

Debt - external:
$NA (yearend 2003 est.)

---

Economic aid - recipient:
NA; note - substantial annual French subsidies (2004)

---

Currency:
euro (EUR); French franc (FRF)

---

Currency code:
EUR; FRF

---

Exchange rates:
euros per US dollar - 0.81 (2004), 0.89 (2003), 1.06 (2002), 1.12 j(2001), 1.09 (2000)

---

Fiscal year:
calendar year