Thursday, January 21, 2016

Visit Guadeloupe


Visit Guadeloupe


Visit Guadeloupe is an insular region of France located in the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. Administratively, it is an overseas region consisting of a single overseas department. It has a land area of 1,628 square kilometres (629 sq. mi) and a population of 403,750 (as of January 2014).  Visit Guadeloupe 

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Guadeloupe's two main islands are Basse-Terre to the west and Grande-Terre to the east, which are separated by a narrow strait that is crossed with bridges.

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They are often referred to as a single island. The department also includes the Dependencies of Guadeloupe which include the smaller islands of Marie-Galante and La Désirade, and the Îles des Saintes.

Guadeloupe, like the other overseas departments, is an integral part of France. It is thus part of the European Union and the Eurozone; as for many Eurozone countries, its currency is the euro. As an overseas department, Guadeloupe is not part of the Schengen Area. The prefecture (regional capital) of Guadeloupe is the city of Basse-Terre, which lies on the island of the same name. The official language is French, and virtually the entire population except recent arrivals from metropolitan France also speaks Antillean Creole (Créole Guadeloupéen).
Located as the southernmost of the Leeward Islands in the eastern Caribbean Sea, Guadeloupe comprises two main islands: Basse-Terre Island and Grande-Terre (separated from Basse-Terre by a narrow sea channel called Salt River). The adjacent French islands of La Désirade, Les Saintes, and Marie-Galanteare under jurisdiction of Guadeloupe.
Western Basse-Terre has a rough volcanic relief while eastern Grande-Terre features rolling hills and flat plains.[ La Grande Soufrière is the highest mountain peak in the Lesser Antilles - 1467 m.
Further to the north, Saint-Barthélemy and the northern French part of Saint Martin were previously under the jurisdiction of Guadeloupe but on 7 December 2003, both of these areas voted to become an overseas territorial collectivity, a decision which took effect on 22 February 2007.
Guadeloupe has a population of 403,977 (2012).
The population of Guadeloupe is mainly of African or mixed descent. It is largely Roman Catholic, speaking French and a Creole patois (Antillean Creole). There are also Europeans, Indians, Lebanese, Syrians, Chinese, and IñeriAmerindians (remnants of the original pre-European population). The archipelago of Îles des Saintes is mostly populated by the descendants of colonists from Brittany andNormandy.
Guadeloupe's culture is probably best known for the islanders' literary achievements, particularly the poetry of Saint-John Perse, the pseudonym used by Alexis Léger. Perse won the 1960 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the soaring flight and the evocative images of his poetry, which, in a visionary fashion, reflects the conditions of our time."
Guadeloupe has always had a rich literary output, continued today by many living writers, poets, novelists, essayists and journalists, among them Mesdames Maryse Condé and Simone Schwarz-Bart, Ernest Pépin (fr).
Music and dance are also very popular, and the widely accepted interaction of African, French and Indian cultures has given birth to some original new forms specific to the archipelago. Islanders enjoy many local dance styles including zouk, zouk-love, kompa, as well as the modern international dances such as hip hop, etc.
One of his most famous artists was Henri Debs (1932-2013) a musician and producer of French, origin of Lebanese parents, who made many Caribbean rhythms like Zouk (Soca in Spanish) and Belé heard throughout the Antilles, North, Central, Suramerica and France.
Traditional Guadeloupean music includes la biguine, kadans, cadence-lypso, zouk, andgwo ka such as Anzala and Ti Celeste. Popular music artists and bands such asExperience 7, Francky Vincent, Kassav' (which included Patrick St-Eloi), and Gilles Floroembody the traditional music style of the island and the new generation of music, while some other musical artists, like Tom Frager (who grew up in Guadeloupe), perform colorful reggae music that defines the Guadeloupe island as paradise-like. Many international festivals take place in Guadeloupe, like the Creole Blues Festival, hosted inMarie-Galante.

All the Euro-French forms of art are also ubiquitous. The melting pot is emphasized by other communities (from Brazil, Dominican Republic, Haiti, India, Lebanon, Syria), who live on the island and share their cultures. Visit Guadeloupe
While not in the Guadeloupean style, Catherine Quinol ("Katrin"), is known worldwide as the lip-synching icon of the piano-house trio Black Box, who burst on to the music scene in the late 1980s with songs such as "Ride On Time". Katrin is, however, a trained singer and she went on to release her own work. Visit Guadeloupe
Another element of Guadeloupean culture is its dress. A few women (particularly of the older generation) wear a unique style of traditional dress, with many layers of colourful fabric, now only worn on special occasions. On festive occasions they also wore a madras (originally a "kerchief" from South India) head scarf tied in many different symbolic ways, each with a different name. The headdress could be tied in the "bat" style, or the "firefighter" style, as well as the "Guadeloupean woman". Jewelry, mainly gold, is also important in the Guadeloupean lady's dress, a product of European, African and Indian inspiration. Visit Guadeloupe
French born dancers, choreographers, comedians Laurent and Larry Bourgeois are also of Guadelupean descent. Noted for their fresh take on hip-hop dance, this twin duo made an impression on the dance world while touring with Michael Jackson and Beyonce on the Immortal tour. Visit Guadeloupe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

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