Pointe-à-Pitre

Pointe-à-Pitre

A view of Pointe-à-Pitre, from the seaport

Coat of arms

Location of the commune (in red) within Guadeloupe
Coordinates: 16°14′28″N 61°31′59″W / 16.2411°N 61.5331°W / 16.2411; -61.5331Coordinates: 16°14′28″N 61°31′59″W / 16.2411°N 61.5331°W / 16.2411; -61.5331
Country France
Overseas region and department Guadeloupe
Arrondissement Pointe-à-Pitre
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Jaques Bangou[1]
Area1 2.66 km2 (1.03 sq mi)
Population (2013)2 15,992
 • Density 6,000/km2 (16,000/sq mi)
Time zone UTC-4
INSEE/Postal code 97120 / 97110

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Pointe-à-Pitre (French: Pointe-à-Pitre, pronounced: [pwɛ̃tapitʁ]; Creole: Lapwent, [lapwɛ̃t]) is the largest city of Guadeloupe, an overseas région and département of France located in the Lesser Antilles, of which it is a sous-préfecture, being the seat of the Arrondissement of Pointe-à-Pitre.

Although Pointe-à-Pitre is not Guadeloupe's administrative capital (that distinction goes to Basse-Terre), it is nonetheless the region's largest city and economic capital. In 1999 it had a population of 171,773 inhabitants in its urban area, of whom 17,541 lived in the city (commune) of Pointe-à-Pitre proper. The inhabitants are called "Pointois".

Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport, Guadeloupe's main international airport, is located 3 km (1.9 mi) north of downtown Pointe-à-Pitre in the commune of Les Abymes.

Jacques Bangou is the current mayor of Pointe-à-Pitre.[2]

Geography

Pointe-à-Pitre is situated on the southwest portion of the island of Grande-Terre, facing the Caribbean Sea and is an ideal place in the center of Guadeloupe and is near the Rivière Salée ("Salt River"), which separates Grande-Terre from Basse-Terre Island. The town of Pointe-à-Pitre is surrounded by the communes of Les Abymes, Baie-Mahault and Le Gosier. Pointe-à-Pitre is on a limestone plateau, which was a factor for the construction of the city. The bay, Petit Cul-de-Sac Marin, offers a sheltered port.

Name[3]

The name Pointe-à-Pitre, literally the "headland of Pitre", is often said to derive from a Dutch Jewish sailor/fisherman called "Pieter", who settled in the 17th century on a promontory facing the Îlet à Cochon ("Hogs Islet"), just to the south of today's downtown Pointe-à-Pitre. The promontory came to be called "Pointe-à-Pieter" (the "headland of Peter") and later "Pointe-à-Pitre".

This explanation, however, is nowadays contested. A map from 1667 by Engineer François Blondel shows near today's downtown Pointe-à-Pitre a morne de Pitre ("Pitre hill") and a marigot de pitre ("Pitre swamp"). Other maps from the end of the 17th century show a îlet à Pitre ("Pitre islet") and a rivière à Pitre ("Pitre river") in the same area. It is unlikely that a Dutch Jew called Pieter would have settled at the same time on a promontory, on a hill, on an islet, near a swamp and along a river.

It seems more likely that the name "Pitre" comes from Spanish pitera meaning "agave" or "sisal", whose very resistant fibers were used to make ropes. Agave or sisal are also known as pita in Spanish, and the word was borrowed in French creole where it is known as pite (particularly in Haiti). It is thus possible that pitera grew on the islets, the headlands and around the swamps, and that it gave its name to the area. The headland named after the pitera plant then later gave its name to the city of Pointe-à-Pitre.

History

French colonial authorities had long thought about establishing a city on the current location of Pointe-à-Pitre, at the junction of Guadeloupe's two main 'island' districts (Basse-Terre Island and Grande Terre), but several attempts around 1713-1730 failed due to the insalubrious swampy ground.

During the British occupation of Guadeloupe (1759–1763) a settlement appeared on a hill overlooking the swamps. After the return of Guadeloupe to France in 1763, the city of Pointe-à-Pitre was officially founded under governor Gabriel de Clieu in 1764 by royal edict, and the swamps where downtown Pointe-à-Pitre stands today were drained in the following years, thus allowing the urban development of the city.

The development of the city was relatively rapid, partly thanks to the corsairs. In 1780, however, a great fire entirely destroyed the city. Sixty three years later, in 1843, it was again destroyed by an earthquake. The history of Pointe-à-Pitre is marked by many disasters: the fires of 1850, 1871 and 1931, the earthquakes of 1851 and 1897 and the hurricanes of 1865 and 1928. The city also experienced several epidemics of cholera. Its location and large sheltered port have nonetheless allowed Pointe-à-Pitre to become Guadeloupe's largest city and economic capital.

Religion

The former cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul, testifies that Pointe-à-Pitre has been the episcopal see of a Roman Catholic Diocese of Pointe-à-Pitre on Grande-Terre. In 1951, this was united with the present diocese for all Guadeloupe, at Basse-Terre, whose full title is since Roman Catholic Diocese of Basse-Terre-Pointe-à-Pitre.

Climate

Like any other Eastern Caribbean city, Pointe-à-Pitre experiences quite evenly spread rainfall during the year, with a wetter season between July and November which coincides with hurricane season. The city receives 1500–2000 mm of rainfall. Tropical heat is the norm, bringing steady highs of around 32°C (89°F) that drop to 20°C (68°F) at night.

Climate data for Pointe-a-Pitre (Le Raizet Airport)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 31.8
(89.2)		 32.1
(89.8)		 32.8
(91)		 33.3
(91.9)		 33.3
(91.9)		 33.4
(92.1)		 34.2
(93.6)		 34.2
(93.6)		 34.1
(93.4)		 34.1
(93.4)		 33.4
(92.1)		 32.4
(90.3)		 34.2
(93.6)
Average high °C (°F) 29.2
(84.6)		 29.2
(84.6)		 29.7
(85.5)		 30.3
(86.5)		 30.9
(87.6)		 31.4
(88.5)		 31.6
(88.9)		 31.9
(89.4)		 31.7
(89.1)		 31.3
(88.3)		 30.5
(86.9)		 29.7
(85.5)		 30.6
(87.1)
Average low °C (°F) 20.7
(69.3)		 20.6
(69.1)		 21.0
(69.8)		 22.2
(72)		 23.6
(74.5)		 24.3
(75.7)		 24.3
(75.7)		 24.1
(75.4)		 23.8
(74.8)		 23.3
(73.9)		 22.4
(72.3)		 21.3
(70.3)		 22.6
(72.7)
Record low °C (°F) 13.5
(56.3)		 13.0
(55.4)		 13.9
(57)		 15.8
(60.4)		 16.4
(61.5)		 18.9
(66)		 19.6
(67.3)		 19.8
(67.6)		 19.5
(67.1)		 19.0
(66.2)		 16.8
(62.2)		 14.4
(57.9)		 13.0
(55.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 83.0
(3.268)		 60.0
(2.362)		 67.9
(2.673)		 96.5
(3.799)		 134.1
(5.28)		 107.8
(4.244)		 129.6
(5.102)		 169.1
(6.657)		 206.2
(8.118)		 214.5
(8.445)		 213.9
(8.421)		 134.0
(5.276)		 1,616.6
(63.646)
Average precipitation days 15.83 12.30 11.10 10.73 13.07 13.20 15.20 16.43 16.27 17.50 17.40 16.47 175.50
Mean monthly sunshine hours 192.4 182.7 217.5 211.4 212.7 206.5 198.3 221.5 200.6 181.7 181.4 189.1 2,395.7
Source: Meteo France[4][5]

The trade winds blow from the northeast and often temper the climate.

Urban area and demographics

The tiny commune (municipality) of Pointe-à-Pitre is the center of a larger urban area covering several communes. This urban area – with 171,773 inhabitants at the 1999 census, representing 40% of the population – is the largest in Guadeloupe and one of the largest among French Overseas territories and departments.

Communes

The seven communes making up the urban area of Pointe-à-Pitre, with their 1999 populations, are:

Economy

The city is the commercial capital of Guadeloupe, serving as the main port of call for cargo and passengers alike. The main seaport is the Port de Jarry located across the Bay of Cul-de-Sac Marin in the commune (municipality) of Baie-Mahault. It has one of the biggest container terminals in the Eastern Caribbean with a quay 600m[6] long. The main exports are food crops (bananas, cocoa, coffee and sugar), animal products (beef, milk, yogurt) and manufactured goods (refined petroleum, textiles and medicines). The extensive Zone Industrielle de Jarry, directly west of Pointe-à-Pitre is a major centre of commercial and light industrial activity, notably for warehousing and distribution. Agricultural production continues in the east of the area where cattle rearing, banana and sugarcane growing continues. The nearby suburb of Le Gosier is Guadeloupe's main seaside resort.

Seventy percent of residents of Pointe-à-Pitre resided in subsidized public housing in 2009.[7]

People

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.ville-pointeapitre.fr/municipalite/?ARB_N_ID=14&MOD_N_ID=16
  2. ↑ "Guadeloupe protesters shoot three police officers". AFP (Sydney Morning Herald). 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
  3. ↑ L’origine toponyme de Pointe-à-Pitre in Guide de Pointe-à-Pitre (édition 2006-2007).
  4. ↑ "Données climatiques de la station de Le Raizet" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Climat Guadeloupe". Meteo France. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  6. ↑ Kalmar Industries
  7. ↑ Davies, Lizzy (2009-02-18). "Guadaloupe riots turn paradise into war zone as one protester shot dead". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-02-19.

External links

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