St. Barthélemy

Heading to St. Barthlémey for 5 days. More when I get back!

Two Islands

As I mentioned in a very early post, Guadeloupe is actually composed of two islands, Grande Terre (the eastern 'wing') and Basse Terre (the western 'wing'). La Rivière Salée (the salty river). which is actually a very narrow strait between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, separates the two islands. Basse Terre, composed entirely of volcanic rock, was formed by various volcanic activity. The oldest portions of the island are approximately 3.5 million years old, making Basse Terre relatively young. Grand Terre, composed mostly of limestone, was pushed above sea level by movements of the Atlantic and Caribbean tectonic plates. Grande Terre is more than 50 million years old.

It is often difficult to see that there are two distinct islands because the mangrove covers a substantial area at the two mouths of the strait (Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin to the north, and Petit Cul-de-Sac Marin to the south). However, looking carefully at a satellite map, the distinction is clear:

Left, the Google satellite map of Guadeloupe, with la Rivière Salée in the center.















I've use Photoshop to highlight the coastline. The mangrove has been lightened along with the water. Substantial portions of the mangrove - especially in the Petit Cul-du-Sac Marin, where the light industrial/commercial area of Jarry is located - have been dredged and paved over. These areas can be easily mistaken to form part of the original coastline.

16 15 N, 61 35 W

France is divided into administrative regions called départements. One of four overseas départements (1), Guadeloupe is located in the Caribbean, southeast of Puerto Rico. Half of the island sits in the Caribbean Sea while the other half sits in the North Atlantic Ocean. People often have trouble understanding how Guadeloupe and France relate to one another, often assuming that Guadeloupe is some sort of colony. It is not a colony of France (though it once was) ... or a territory, or a protectorate. To help people grasp the idea of Guadeloupe, I often make the comparison of Guadeloupe/France to Hawaii/United States, even though départements and states are not equivalent on an administrative level.
Guadeloupe is actually composed of two islands: Grand Terre and Basse Terre. Separating the two is a a salt water strait, la Rivière Salée (Salty River). These two islands form the left and right 'wings' that create the butterfly of Guadeloupe. While it cannot compare with the region's largest islands (Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico), Guadeloupe is still fairly large. Measuring a surface area of 1,373 km², Guadeloupe is more than 20 times the size of Manhattan.


(1) The three other overseas departments, called departements d'outre mer (DOM) are Martinique, Guyane and la Réunion.