Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometers (629 sq. mi). It is an overseas department of France. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe is also 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; hence, as for most EU countries, its currency is the euro. Howeve...r, Guadeloupe does not fall under the Schengen Agreement. The prefecture of Guadeloupe is Basse-Terre.

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).