A Caribbean island in the Lesser Antilles, Guadeloupe is a small overseas region of France with a population of less than half of a million. There are many smaller islands in addition to Guadeloupe considered a part of it as a whole.
Since Guadeloupe is a part of France, it is also part of the European Union and thus uses the Euro as its official currency. The country derives its name from a shortened version of what Christopher Columbus called it upon his arrival there in 1493. The terrain for such a small area is diverse, the product of being formed due to volcanic activity, being both mountainous more towards the west and having rolling flat lands in the east.
Saint-Bartholemy and Saint Martin were two smaller islands under the government of Guadeloupe at one time, but voted for autonomy in late 2003 which took effect in 2007.