Basse-Terre Island (French: île de Basse-Terre or île de la Basse-Terre) is the name of the western-half of Guadeloupe proper, in the Lesser Antilles. It is separated from the other half of Guadeloupe proper, Grande-Terre, by a narrow sea channel called the Rivière Salée (in English Salt River).
Basse-Terre Island has a land area of 847.82 km² (327.35 sq. miles). At the 2006 census the population of Basse-Terre Island was 186,661 inhabitants living in 16 communes (municipalities). The population density was 220 inhabitants per km² (570 inh. per sq. miles). The largest city on Basse-Terre Island is the city of Basse-Terre which had 37,455 inhabitants in its urban area at the 2006 census. The city of Basse-Terre is the prefecture (capital) of Guadeloupe.
Read more about Basse-Terre Island: Name, Geography, Towns, Sights
Famous quotes containing the word island:
“We crossed a deep and wide bay which makes eastward north of Kineo, leaving an island on our left, and keeping to the eastern side of the lake. This way or that led to some Tomhegan or Socatarian stream, up which the Indian had hunted, and whither I longed to go. The last name, however, had a bogus sound, too much like sectarian for me, as if a missionary had tampered with it; but I knew that the Indians were very liberal. I think I should have inclined to the Tomhegan first.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)