Pointe-à-Pitre

Pointe-à-Pitre, town in eastern Guadeloupe (an overseas department of France), on south-west Grande-Terre Island in the West Indies. Situated on an ocean channel that separates Grande-Terre Island and Basse-Terre Island, it is the largest town, principal seaport, and commercial headquarters of Guadeloupe. Rum, sugar, and bananas are its chief exports. Pointe-à-Pitre is the seat of the University Centre of Antilles-Guyane (1970) and the Pasteur Institute of Guadeloupe (1948), which has medical research laboratories. The community was settled by the French in the mid-17th century. Population 20,000 (2001 estimate).