Basse-Terre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the city of Basse-Terre. For the island on which the city is located, see Basse-Terre Island. Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, should not be confused with Basseterre the capital of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
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Commune of Basse-Terre |
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| Location | |
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| Location of the commune (in red) within Guadeloupe | |
| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Guadeloupe (préfecture) |
| Department | Guadeloupe |
| Arrondissement | Basse-Terre |
| Canton | Basse-Terre (1st, and 2nd) |
| Intercommunality | Communauté de communes du Sud Basse-Terre |
| Mayor | Guy Georges |
| Statistics | |
| Land area¹ | 5.78 km² |
| Population² (1999 census) |
12,410 |
| - Density | 2,147/km² (1999) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 97105/ 97100 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
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Basse-Terre is the capital city of Guadeloupe, an overseas région and département of France located in the Lesser Antilles. The city of Basse-Terre is located on Basse-Terre Island, the western-half of Guadeloupe.
Although it is the administrative capital of Guadeloupe, Basse-Terre is only the second-largest city in Guadeloupe behind Pointe-à-Pitre, with 44,864 inhabitants in its urban area in 1999 (12,400 of whom lived in the city of Basse-Terre proper).
[edit] Name
See Basse-Terre Island for the origin of the name Basse-Terre.
[edit] History
The city was founded in 1643, in the mountainous section of Basse-Terre, one of the two islands which compose Guadeloupe. It was destroyed many times as a consequence of the Anglo-French wars. Today the town is quiet with its French provincial atmosphere and colourful port life.
[edit] Sights
In town is the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul, a 19th century building which has a notable grey stone highlighted by white statues; many other colonial buildings; La place du Champ d'Arbaud, the main square and Le Jardin Pichon, the park adjoining to the south & the Zoological and Botanical Park lies on a 1,500-foot (460 m) hilltop garden on the banks of La Rivière-aux-Herbes. This is a reserve of the plants and animals of Guadeloupe.
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