Forgotten World (219): Guadeloupe
The French territory of Guadeloupe with a population of 400,000 is a centre of Caribbean Creole culture. French, African and Caribbean influences infuse its music, dance, food and widely-spoken patois.
Guadeloupe’s economy is kept afloat by public salaries and credits from Paris. Unemployment has been a long-running malaise, although its effects are tempered by France’s generous social security system. Agriculture revolves around sugar cane and bananas; the latter is troubled by regional competition and the phasing out of preferential European quotas.