An overseas department of France, Guadeloupe is a small archipelago of the West Indies, in the Caribbean Sea. It lies 600 km to the north of the coasts of South America and to the southeast of the Dominican Republic.

The Guadeloupe archipelago comprises the following islands:
*Guadeloupe itself, which, in turn, is formed by two different islands separated by a narrow sea channel called the Salt River. Spanned by a pair of bridges, the islands in question are Basse-Terre (848 km²), which is the largest and most mountainous of the two, and is of volcanic origin (the island’s highest point, at 1,467 m, is found at the top of La Soufrière, an active volcano); and Grande-Terre (588 km²), which has a limestone substrate and consists of a jagged, arid plain with wild, rocky coasts. Most of Guadeloupe’s tourist resorts are found in an area known as La Riviera on the southern coast of Grande-Terre, which boasts white sandy beaches and coral reefs.
* La Désirade.
* Marie-Galante.
* Les Saintes, a group of 9 small islands, 2 of which are inhabited (Terre-de-Haut and Terre-de-Bas).
* The Petite Terre islands.