-the Arawak were the first inhabitants and they called the country « Karukéra » which means « the island of beautiful waters » in reference to the many rivers in Basse-Terre side.

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-the Kalinago Indians were great warriors and they defeated the Arawak Indians.

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-November 1493: Christopher Columbus landed on the island and named it « Guadalupe », in reference to the Spanish monastery of Santa Maria de Guadalupe.

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June 1635: abandoned by the Spanish, the French began colonization. Mandated by the

« Compagnie des îles d’Amérique », their mission was to evangelize the indigenous populations and develop the growing of tobacco for exportation to France. They waged a merciless war against the Kalinago Indians.

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-1649: The « Compagnie des Îles d’Amérique » cedes Guadeloupe and its dependencies due to economic problems.

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-1656: slaves are already more than 3,000 working on the archipelago.

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-1674: Guadeloupe becomes a French colony, directly attached to the royal power of Louis XIV.

He decided to develop the cultivation of sugar cane, which was more profitable than

tobacco.

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-1685: The Black Code is proclaimed by King Louis XIV. It endorses slavery practices in the

French colonies.

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-1759: Seven Years’ War. The island was occupied by the English who founded the port of

Pointe-à-Pitre.

After unsuccessful attempts, the British seized Guadeloupe for the first time in 1759. They only kept Guadeloupe for four years, until 1763.

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-1763: The Treaty of Paris puts an end to the war and restores Guadeloupe to France.

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-April 1794: taking advantage of the troubles generated by the French Revolution, the British briefly regain possession of the island.

Victor Hugues, appointed as a National Commissioner in Guadeloupe, moved them away in May 1794, helped by the slaves,and promised them freedom.

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-1794: first abolition of slavery

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-1802: restoration of slavery

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- 1810: the English lead a new invasion campaign

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-1812: Great Britain integrates Guadeloupe into its West Indian colonial possessions while the war was intensified in Europe.

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March 1813: England gave up Guadeloupe to Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, former marshal of

Napoleon who became a crown prince of Sweden for him and his descendants, in compensation for the war effort that Sweden planned to kill Napoleon and to compensate

Bernadotte to have given up his titles in the French Empire.

But the rapid collapse of the Napoleonic empire, a few months later, and the Paris peace treaty of May 1814 did not leave the Swedes the leisure to replace the British on the island.

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-April 1848: second Abolition of slavery by decree

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-December 1854: the first mainly Tamil Indian immigrants disembark aboard the « Aurélie »

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-1859: 208 Chinese workers were recruited in Guadeloupe, mainly from the Canton region

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-July 1861: last convoy of African slaves to Guadeloupe

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-1870: arrival of the first Syrians and Lebanese fleeing first the inter-religious massacres, then for economic reasons.

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-December 1894: arrival of 590 Japanese immigrant workers. They will leave Guadeloupe gradually and the last will be repatriated to Japan in June 1896.

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-1928: a terrible huricane addition almost destroyed the country,and more than 1,300

people lost their lives.

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- March 1946: Guadeloupe became a French department like the other departments in the

mainland France

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February 1952: « Saint Valentine‘s Day Massacre »  A movement of workers in the sugar

industry is bloodily pushed up, leaving 4 dead and 14 injured

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-May 26 and 27, 1967: after almost a month of strike to demand a 2% of salary increase,

clashes between workers and the police left between 7 and 87 dead.

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1976 : eruption of the volcano « la Soufrière ». No deaths was reported

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-September 1989: Hurricane Hugo. 107 injured and 11 deaths.

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- May 2001: the French government adopted the Text recognizing the slave trade and slavery as a crime against humanity.

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-April 2014 : our region officially became a member of the ACS Association of Caribbean States