Chameau, Les Saintes
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Terre-de-Haut Island (; ; also formerly known as ''Petite Martinique'') is the easternmost island in the
Îles des Saintes The Îles des Saintes (; ), also known as Les Saintes (, ), is a group of small islands in the archipelago of Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France. It is part of the Canton of Trois-Rivières and is divided into two communes: Terre- ...
, part of the archipelago of
Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...
. Like name of neighboring
Terre-de-Bas Island Terre-de-Bas Island (; officially in French: Terre-de-Bas des Saintes ''(literally: Lowland of les Saintes)'') is an island in the ÃŽles des Saintes archipelago, in the Lesser Antilles. It belongs to the commune (municipality) of Terre-de-Bas in ...
, name Terre-de-Haut comes from the maritime vocabulary, which called the islands exposed to the "highland" winds and those protected from the wind, "lowlands".


Geography

Terre-de-Haut is separated from Terre-de-Bas by a narrow channel of . Besides Terre-de-Bas, several small islands surround Terre-de-Haut. It is an island of dominated in the north by Morne Mire hill () and
Morel ''Morchella'', the true morels, is a genus of edible sac fungi closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi in the order Pezizales ( division Ascomycota). These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges ...
hill (). Morel is on the North of the island, between the bay of Marigot and the bay of Pompierre. There is an ancient fortress there, Caroline battery. The Chameau , in the southwest, is the highest elevation in the archipelago. It is covered with forest. On the summit, there is a watchtower, called La tour modèle. Chameau is the property of the
Conservatoire du littoral The ''Conservatoire du littoral'' ("Coastal protection agency") (official name: ''Conservatoire de l'espace littoral et des rivages lacustres'') is a French public organisation created in 1975 to ensure the protection of outstanding natural areas o ...
and is a protected site category IV
IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
.Guadeloupe et dépendances
BIODIVERSITÉ ET CONSERVATION EN OUTRE-MER


History

The first recorded European colonizer was
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
in November 1493. The First colonists arrived in 1648. In 1666, the church Notre Dame de l'Assomption was built. The strategic position of Petite Martinique (its former name) was important. In August 1666 French victory over the British ensured French sovereignty over these islands. However, from 1759 to 1815, alternations of British and French Dominions. In 1777 France built the defensive system Fort Napoléon des Saintes. In April 1782 the
Battle of the Saintes The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...
. The British, who occupied les Saintes in 1809, kept Fort Joséphine and added water butt to it. From the later French dominion it became a
penitentiary A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state, usually ...
from 1851, but it was ravaged by a hurricane in 1865. It continued however to welcome convicts on the way towards
ÃŽles du Salut The Salvation Islands ( French: ''ÃŽles du Salut'', so called because the missionaries went there to escape plague on the mainland), sometimes mistakenly called the Safety Islands, are a group of small islands of volcanic origin about off the co ...
, in
French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...
until 1902. In 1871, Îlet à Cabrit became a place of
quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...
: a lazaretto, was opened instead of the penitentiary. The local vocabulary says: "to go up" to move towards the windward ''quartier'' (to Fort Napoléon) and "to go down" to move towards the leeward ''quartier'' (to Pain-de-sucre).


Demographics

The low quantitative precipitation forecast do not allow the establishment of agriculture. Few slaves were brought onto these islands. The population is constituted historically by
Bretons The Bretons (; or , ) are an ethnic group native to Brittany, north-western France. Originally, the demonym designated groups of Common Brittonic, Brittonic speakers who emigrated from Dumnonia, southwestern Great Britain, particularly Cornwal ...
,
Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...
and by inhabitants of
Poitou Poitou ( , , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical ...
who came to fish. In 2017 the population of Terre-de-Haut was 1,532, with a density of population of 255 inhabitants/km2. The number of households was 676.


Populated areas

The oldest settlements are the villages of Mouillage and Fond-du curé. The population is spread among 20 quartiers, grouped into two halves:


See also

* Fort Napoléon des Saintes *
Dependencies of Guadeloupe The dependencies of Guadeloupe are three islands or island groups in the Leeward Islands chain which are administratively part of the neighboring French overseas department of Guadeloupe in the French Lesser Antilles. They are nearby island entitie ...


Gallery

File:Anse du Fond Curé.JPG, Fond-du-Curé, les Saintes File:Orgues du pain de sucre.jpg, Pain de sucre File:Morne morel.jpg, Morel hill viewed from Fort Napoléon


References

{{authority control Islands of Guadeloupe Inhabited islands of ÃŽles des Saintes