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Guadeloupe: France
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Because Guadeloupe is a department of France, the education system is the same as in France. Education is compulsory for 10 years from the ages of 6 to 16. The school year runs from the first week in September to the end of June. The school calendar includes the following holidays: one day at Mi-Carême (Mid-Lent) and at the Abolition de l'esclavage (the Abolition of Slavery Day) at the end of May, one week at La Toussaint (All Saints' Day) in early November and at Carnaval in late February, and two weeks at Noël (Christmas) and Pâques (Easter). French is the language of instruction.
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The Region of Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea at 16°15′N 61°35′W, with a total area of 1,780 square kilometres (687 sq. mi). It is an overseas department and an overseas region of France. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe is ... one of the twenty-six 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. it lies north of ► Dominica and south of ► Montserrat and ► Antigua and Barbuda.
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As a department of France, Guadeloupe enjoys the European country's press and speech freedoms. Guadeloupe's primary newspaper is its daily, the France-Antilles. Le Progrés Social is a popular weekly. There are two newspapers sponsored by the Communist Party, L'Etincelle, a weekly, and Combat Ouvrier, a bimonthly. Only Combat Ouvrier is available online.
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Guadeloupe maintains regular air and sea links with France and with the North American continent. The port of Pointe-à-Pitre is equipped to handle cargoes of minerals, sugar, and cereals. The port of Basse-Terre specializes in the banana export trade. Guadeloupe's international airport is located north of Pointe-à-Pitre.
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Guadeloupe's economy is based on agriculture, tourism, and light industry. About 25 per cent of the total land area is under cultivation. The chief products and exports are sugar, bananas, cocoa, coffee, vanilla, and rum. More than three-quarters of Guadeloupe's external trade is with metropolitan France. Tourism has been the principal source of foreign exchange since the late 1980s, but it has not made up for a decline in earnings from exports of sugar and bananas; sales of the latter which have been affected by the loss of special trade advantages with the European Union under the Single European Act. Guadeloupe has traditionally had a large balance of payments deficit, and relies heavily on French aid to make up the shortfall.
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Guadeloupe was officially annexed by the King of France in 1674. As the island prospered, it became the scene of great battles between the French and the British, who occupied it from 1759 to 1763.
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