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46-547: Les Abymes is located some 3 km north-east of Pointe-à-Pitre , 7 km east of Baie-Mahault , and 10 km south-west of Morne-à-l'Eau . Access to the commune is by Route nationale N1 from Baie-Mahault in the west which passes along the southern border of the commune and continues south as the N4. The N5 branches off the N1 and goes north-east through the centre of the commune and continues north-east to Morne-a-L'eau. The N11 branches off

92-556: A limestone plateau, which was a factor for the construction of the city. The bay, Petit Cul-de-Sac Marin, offers a sheltered port. The name Pointe-à-Pitre, literally the " headland of Pitre", is popularly believed to derive from a Dutch sailor/fisherman called "Pieter", who may have 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". However, this theory

138-640: A consonant and 'w' and 'y' after nouns ending in a vowel. All other possessive adjectives are invariable. Kaz ou - Your house, Kouto'w - Your knife Madanm li - His wife, Sésé'y - Her sister The indefinite article is placed before the noun and can be pronounced as on, an, yon, yan . The word yonn means "one". On chapo, Yon wavèt An moun, Yan tòti This exemples doesn't work for Guadeloupe Creole where article are always "la", and for haitian creole whose article are more similar but have "nan" in addition. In Creole, there are five definite articles (la, lan, a, an, nan) which are placed after

184-584: A literary revival of Creole in the French-speaking islands of the Lesser Antilles, with writers such as Raphaël Confiant and Monchoachi employing the language. Édouard Glissant has written theoretically and poetically about its significance and its history. Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc was a French trader and adventurer in the Caribbean who established the first permanent French colony, Saint-Pierre , on

230-417: A population of 15,410 in the city ( commune ) of Pointe-à-Pitre proper and 250,952 inhabitants in the urban unit Pointe-à-Pitre–Les Abymes. It is part of the metropolitan area of Les Abymes. 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 . The current mayor of Pointe-à-Pitre

276-560: A resort, Les Abymes is the second most important economic centre of Guadeloupe after the industrial zone of Jarry. The Milénis shopping centre is located in the commune. The "Family Plaza Complex" including a multiplex cinema, a shopping mall, and a leisure centre is due to open in 2015. There are several educational institutions in the commune: Public primary level: Public junior high schools: Public sixth-form colleges/senior high schools: Private primary level: Private secondary schools under contract: The Apprentice Training School for

322-400: A result, they were forced to develop a new form of communication by relying on what they heard from their colonial enslavers and other slaves. According to Jesuit missionary Pierre Pelleprat, French settlers would change their way of speaking to a simpler form to be more accommodating to the enslaved people. For example, to say "I have not eaten" settlers would say "moi point manger" even though

368-461: A sentence, the word "point" to inflect the negative, and the non-distinguished adverbs and adjectives. The language emerged in a context of plantation slavery in the French Antilles . Due to differing native tongues, it was difficult for French settlers to communicate with the enslaved Africans and vice versa, as well as for slaves of different ethnic origins to communicate between each other. As

414-451: A small colony on the island in 1805. As a result, Dominica uses English as an official language, but Antillean Creole is still spoken as a secondary language because of Dominica's location between the French-speaking departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique. In Trinidad , the Spanish possessed the island but contributed little towards advancements, with El Dorado being their focus. Trinidad

460-737: A total capacity of 862 beds with 319 doctors, 120 interns, and 3,000 hospital workers. The hospital is to be rebuilt at Perrin (commencing 2016 for delivery in 2019). The Polyclinic of Guadeloupe is located at Morne Jolivière and is a private care centre with a total capacity of 110 beds including 20 beds for maternity. The commune has a number of buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments: The commune has two religious buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments: Pointe-%C3%A0-Pitre Pointe-à-Pitre ( French pronunciation: [pwɛ̃tapitʁ] ; Guadeloupean Creole : Pwentapit , [pwɛ̃tapit] , or simply Lapwent , [lapwɛ̃t] )

506-511: Is Harry Durimel . Pointe-à-Pitre is situated on the southwest portion of the island of Grande-Terre , facing the Caribbean Sea; it lies in the centre 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

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552-650: Is a French-based creole that is primarily spoken in the Lesser Antilles . Its grammar and vocabulary include elements of French , Carib , English , and African languages . There are two main geographical and linguistic groups in the Antilles or Caribbean Islands : the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles . Intercomprehension between these two groups is possible, but despite a large proportion of shared vocabulary and largely similar grammatical functioning, it

598-966: 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. Public preschools in Pointe-à-Pitre commune include: Public primary schools in Pointe-à-Pitre commune include: Elementary schools include: Public junior high schools in Pointe-à-Pitre commune include: Public senior high schools in Pointe-à-Pitre commune include: Private preschools and primary schools in Pointe-à-Pitre commune include: Private secondary schools under contract in Pointe-à-Pitre commune: Guadeloupean Creole Antillean Creole (also known as Lesser Antillean Creole )

644-591: Is also spoken in various Creole-speaking immigrant communities in the United States Virgin Islands , British Virgin Islands , and the Collectivity of Saint Martin . Antillean Creole has approximately thirteen million speakers and is a means of communication for migrant populations traveling between neighboring English- and French-speaking territories. Since French is a Romance language, French Antillean Creole

690-517: Is considered to be one of Latin America’s languages by some linguists. In a number of countries (including Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Brazil ( Lanc-Patuá ) and Venezuela) the language is referred to as patois . It has historically been spoken in nearly all of the Lesser Antilles , but its number of speakers has declined in Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada . Conversely, it is widely used on

736-602: Is divided into three cantons: List of Successive Mayors Les Abymes has twinning associations with: The inhabitants of the commune are known as Abymiens or Abymiennes in French. Most of the economic activity of Les Abymes is related to the presence of the Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport (formerly Aéroport du Raizet). The airline Air Caraïbes has its headquarters in Les Abymes. Although not

782-675: Is integrated into the urban area of Pointe-à-Pitre and, like the rest of the island, has a tropical climate. Les Abymes has a tropical monsoon climate ( Köppen climate classification Am ). The average annual temperature in Les Abymes is 26.7 °C (80.1 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,557.8 mm (61.33 in) with October as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 28.1 °C (82.6 °F), and lowest in February, at around 25.0 °C (77.0 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Les Abymes

828-624: Is limited by varying key vocabulary and different words for basic grammar. Nevertheless, it is easy to begin to understand each other completely, as long as one of the two has a basic knowledge of the other's language. Antillean Creole is spoken natively, to varying degrees, in Haïti , Saint Lucia , Grenada , Guadeloupe , Îles des Saintes , Martinique , Saint-Barthélemy (St. Barts), Dominica , French Guiana , Trinidad and Tobago , and Venezuela (mainly in Macuro , Güiria and El Callao Municipality ). It

874-434: Is now questioned by linguists, with a derivation from the Spanish word "pitera", meaning a type of rope made from agave, suggested as the true etymon of "pitre". 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

920-553: Is some variation in orthography between the islands. In St. Lucia, Dominica and Martinique 'dj' and 'tj' are used whereas in Guadeloupe 'gy' and 'ky' are used. These represent differences in pronunciations. Several words may be pronounced in various ways depending on the region: The letter 'r' in St. Lucia and Dominica represents the English / ɹ / whereas in Guadeloupe and Martinique it represents

966-433: Is the center of a larger urban area covering 11 communes. This urban area – with 250,952 inhabitants at the 2018 census, representing 65% of the population – is the largest in Guadeloupe and one of the largest among French Overseas territories and departments. The eleven communes making up the urban area of Pointe-à-Pitre, with their populations in 2017, are: The city is the commercial capital of Guadeloupe, serving as

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1012-538: Is the second most populous commune of Guadeloupe (after Les Abymes ). Guadeloupe is an overseas region and department 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 economic capital. The inhabitants are called "Pointois". In 2018, it had

1058-575: The Compagnie des Indes occidentales , formed one year earlier. Dominica is a former French and British colony in the Eastern Caribbean , about halfway between the French islands of Guadeloupe (to the north) and Martinique (to the south). Christopher Columbus named the island after the day of the week on which he spotted it, a Sunday (Latin: dies Dominica ), on 3 November 1493. In the 100 years after Columbus's landing, Dominica remained isolated. At

1104-710: The Chamber of Crafts of Guadeloupe. Former schools?? The commune also hosts the headquarters of the Rector of the Académie de la Guadeloupe  [ fr ] ("Academy of Guadeloupe"). A new building is under construction in the Dothémare-Providence ZAC scheduled for completion in the first quarter 2015. The University Hospital (CHU) of Pointe-à-Pitre / Les Abymes was the largest on the island in 2013 bringing together some 40 hospital services covering all medical fields with

1150-570: The French settlements in the Caribbean. Dyel du Parquet became governor of the island. He remained in Martinique and did not concern himself with the other islands. The French permanently settled on Martinique and Guadeloupe after being driven off Saint Kitts and Nevis ( French : Saint-Christophe ) by the British. Fort Royal (now Fort-de-France) on Martinique was a major port for French battle ships in

1196-551: The N5 on the south-east of the town and continues north-west then west rejoining the N1. The D106 road also goes north from the commune to Vieux Bourg. The Route du Palais Royal passes north-east through the commune to join the N5. The Route de Chazeau branches from the Route du Palais Royal and goes north-east to Doubs. Access to the Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport is from the N11. Les Abymes

1242-560: The episcopal seat of a Roman Catholic Diocese of Pointe-à-Pitre on Grande-Terre . This was united with the present diocese for all Guadeloupe, at Basse-Terre , in 1951, since when its full title has been Roman Catholic Diocese of Basse-Terre-Pointe-à-Pitre . On the Köppen climate classification , Pointe-à-Pitre is on the border between tropical monsoon climate ( Am ) and tropical rainforest climate ( Af ). Like any other Eastern Caribbean city, it experiences rainfall quite evenly spread during

1288-505: The existence of a sizeable town dated from 1000 and 1200 AD (Troumassoid culture). The first village, located a few kilometres from the current urban centre, was founded in 1691. It consisted of a few houses and experienced some development through the cultivation of sugar cane , cocoa , and coffee . A Parish Church was built in Les Abymes in 1726. Les Abymes belongs to the community of communes called Cap Excellence which brings it together with Pointe-à-Pitre and Baie-Mahault. The commune

1334-558: The governors of the various islands. However, by the late 1640s, Cardinal Mazarin had little interest in colonial affairs, and the company languished. In 1651, it dissolved itself, selling its exploitation rights to various parties. The Du Paquet family bought Martinique, Grenada and Saint Lucia for 60,000 livres . The sieur d' Houël bought Guadeloupe , Marie-Galante , La Desirade and the Saintes . The Knights of Malta bought Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin and then sold them in 1665 to

1380-520: The influences from its origins, this creole has some distinctive linguistic features. Features of French included in Lesser Antillean Creole include infinitive forms of verbs, the use of only the masculine noun forms, oblique pronouns, and its subject to verb word order. Features from African languages include their verbal marking system as well as providing a West-African substrate. Other features of this creole also include doubling to emphasize

1426-463: 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

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1472-429: The island of Martinique in 1635. Belain sailed to the Caribbean in 1625, hoping to establish a French settlement on the island of St. Christopher (St. Kitts). In 1626, he returned to France , where he won the support of Cardinal Richelieu to establish French colonies in the region. Richelieu became a shareholder in the Compagnie de Saint-Christophe , created to accomplish that with d'Esnambuc at its head. The company

1518-454: The islands of Dominica and Saint Lucia ; though they are officially English-speaking, there are efforts to preserve the use of Antillean Creole, as there are in Trinidad and Tobago and its neighbour, Venezuela . In recent decades, Creole has gone from being seen as a sign of lower socio-economic status, banned in school playgrounds, to a mark of national pride. Since the 1970s, there has been

1564-530: The long history of British rule, Grenada's French heritage is still evident by the number of French loanwords in Grenadian Creole and the French-style buildings, cuisine and placenames ( Petit Martinique , Martinique Channel , etc.) In 1642, the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique received a 20-year extension of its charter. The king would name the governor general of the company, and the company would name

1610-680: 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 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

1656-525: The more French-like sound / ɣ / . Form Personal pronouns in Antillean Creole are invariable so they do not inflect for case as in European languages such as French or English. This means that mwen, for example, can mean I, me or my; yo can mean they, them, their etc. Possessive adjectives are placed after the noun; kay mwen 'my house', manman'w 'your mother' 'ou' and 'li' are used after nouns ending in

1702-412: The nouns they modify, in contrast to French. The final syllable of the preceding word determines which is used with which nouns. If the last sound is an oral consonant and is preceded by an oral vowel , it becomes la : If the last sound is an oral consonant and is preceded by a nasal vowel , it becomes lan : If the last sound is an oral vowel and is preceded by an oral consonant , it becomes

1748-677: The pidgin "baragouin" in 1635. It was spoken by French settlers, the Africans they enslaved, and Aboriginal peoples that resided on the islands. It originated in the Guadeloupe and Martinique areas of the Lesser Antilles. It was not until 1700, when there was an increase in African influences, that this pidgin transitioned into the creole that it is today. The formation of this creole was influenced by many different dialects and languages. These include dialects of French, other European languages, Carib (both Karina and Arawakan), and African languages. Due to

1794-416: The proper French translation is "Je n'ai pas mangé". This simpler form of French, along with linguistic influences from other languages, eventually evolved into Antillean Creole. (or à before an n) p à n (when not followed by a vowel) nasalized [ a ] (when not followed by a vowel) nasalized [ ɛ ] (when not followed by a vowel) nasalized [ o ] There

1840-515: The region from which the French were able to explore the region. In 1638, Dyel du Parquet decided to have Fort Saint Louis built to protect the city against enemy attacks. From Fort Royal, Martinique, Du Parquet proceeded south in search for new territories, established the first settlement in Saint Lucia in 1643 and headed an expedition that established a French settlement in Grenada in 1649. Despite

1886-686: The time, it was inhabited by the Island Caribs , or Kalinago people. Over time, more settled there after they had been driven from surrounding islands, as European powers entered the region. In 1690, French woodcutters from Martinique and Guadeloupe begin to set up timber camps to supply the French islands with wood and gradually become permanent settlers. France had a colony for several years and imported slaves from West Africa , Martinique and Guadeloupe to work on its plantations. The Antillean Creole language developed. France formally ceded possession of Dominica to Great Britain in 1763. The latter established

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1932-748: 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. The former cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul, testifies that Pointe-à-Pitre has been

1978-417: The year, with a wetter season between July and November which coincides with the hurricane season . The city receives 1500–2000 mm of rainfall annually. Tropical heat is the norm, bringing steady highs of around 32 °C (89 °F) that drop to 20 °C (68 °F) at night. The trade winds blow from the northeast and often temper the climate. The tiny commune (municipality) of Pointe-à-Pitre

2024-585: Was 34.2 °C (93.6 °F) on 21 July 2001 and 10 August 1995; the coldest temperature ever recorded was 13.0 °C (55.4 °F) on 4 February 1958. The islands have been occupied since Pre-Columbian era . Some remains have been found in the Dothémare area but the most remarkable were those found in Belle Plaine where surveys conducted by the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles (DRAC) in 2006 revealed

2070-517: Was not particularly successful, and Richelieu had it reorganised as the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique. In 1635, d'Esnambuc sailed to Martinique with 100 French settlers to clear land for sugarcane plantations . After six months on Martinique, d'Esnambuc returned to St. Christopher , where he soon died prematurely in 1636, leaving the company and Martinique in the hands of his nephew, Jacques Dyel du Parquet , who inherited d'Esnambuc's authority over

2116-501: Was perfect for its geographical location. Because Trinidad was considered underpopulated, Roume de St. Laurent, a Frenchman living in Grenada, was able to obtain a Cédula de Población from King Charles III of Spain on 4 November 1783. Trinidad's population jumped to over 15,000 by the end of 1789, from just under 1,400 in 1777. In 1797, Trinidad became a British crown colony, despite its French-speaking population. Antillean Creole began as

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