Guadeloupe is an overseas département of France located in the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, the curving chain of islands at the eastern end of the Caribbean Sea. The two main islands of Guadeloupe together are shaped remarkably like a butterfly. The two wings of the butterfly, Grande-Terre island to the east and Basse-Terre to the west, are nearly joined by a narrow isthmus crossed by a even narrower channel. Also included in the département are the nearby islands of Marie Galante, La Désirade, Petite-Terre, and Les Saintes. France colonized Guadeloupe as early as 1635 and has held the territory since except for interruptions by British invasions during the Seven Years War and the Napoleonic Wars. As an overseas department Guadeloupe is legally part of France; it is included in the European Union and uses the euro as its currency. French is the official language in Guadeloupe and is widely spoken, along with a French-based creole dialect. The French word for a lighthouse is phare, although a smaller light or harbor light is called a feu (literally "fire," but here meaning "light") or a balise (beacon). In French île is an island, cap is a cape, pointe is a promontory or point of land, roche is a rock, récife is a reef, baie is a bay, estuaire is an estuary or inlet, détroit is a strait, rivière is a river, and havre is a harbor. Aids to navigation in Guadeloupe are operated by the Grand Port Maritime de la Guadeloupe, the local port authority, also called Guadeloupe Port Caraïbes. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume J of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 110.
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Antigua and Barbuda | South: Dominica
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Posted December 8, 2005. Checked and revised February 23, 2025. Lighthouses: 15. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.