An overseas department of France comprising the islands of Grande-Terre and Basse-Terre and smaller islands in the Leeward Islands of the West Indies. Inhabited by Arawaks and later by Caribs (15th century), the islands were discovered by Columbus in 1493 and colonized by the French in 1635. Basse-Terre is the capital. Population: 453,000.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
